June 3, 2012

WHEN WILL YOU CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY?

I CHALLENGE YOU TO BE HAPPY 

NOW!!!

For the majority of my life, I was never happy. I was constantly searching for happiness. I was always telling people, "I will be happy when I get a new car." "I will be happy when I get a bigger house." "I will be happy when I get these bills paid off." I will be happy when never seemed to come true even after I got the new car, the bigger house, and the bills got paid off. What I never realized is that I could be happy NOW on the journey to getting the new car, the bigger house, and the bills paid off.

Do you know what happens when you can't get happy for what you have been blessed with? Slowly, those blessings will be stripped away from you. Sometimes, God will knock us on our bottoms to make us realize how blessed we really are. When I couldn't get happy when I was blessed with many wonderful materialistic objects, then things started to happen that turned my life upside down.

My family had no debt other than the mortgage, our monthly utility bills, and our student loans. All our other debts had been paid off, and we had a nice little nest egg saved for our future. However, since I was not happy, do you have any idea what happened? My husband was diagnosed with cancer, and our world was turned upside down. That little nest egg quickly disappeared, and our debt went from zero to so incredible that it will take us 25 years to get it all paid off.

When having my husband nearly dying didn't seem to set me on the right track to happiness, then another tragic event took place. That nice, brand new black Dodge Charger that I loved so much was taken away from me. Yep! On a back road on my way home from work while it was raining, that car decided to have a mind of it's own, and I ended up totaling it in the matter of 30 seconds. It was an accident that I should have never walked away from, but as that car began to roll over and over, the only thought that went through my mind was, "Oh GOD! I do not want to die! I do not want to leave my family yet!" Do you know what, the car was taken from me, but my life was spared! Thank you, GOD!

Something that day happened on the inside of me. Something changed! I suddenly realized that it does not take material objects to make us happy. We can be happy and grateful for what we have already been blessed with. I always wondered why some of the poorest people I knew were so happy. It's because they already knew this little secret. Our circumstances do not hold the key to our happiness! The key to happiness lies within ourselves! Be grateful for what you have been blessed with already, but be more grateful for the people who are special in your life! I challenge you to be happy NOW regardless of your circumstances!