justinstout
29th November 2005, 04:01 AM
Thankfulness and happiness go hand in hand. When you find someone who is truly happy you will always find a thankful heart. Thankful people do not have more good things happening than others do, they are just more aware of the good things.
Conversely, unthankful people are never happy. Sadly, most unhappy people believe they will be thankful when they are happy. But just the opposite is true. They will become happy when they become thankful for what they presently have.
The Bible says, "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits."Psalm 68:19. That means that everyday I have something for which to be thankful, if I am only aware of it.
Thankfulness is not simply having a feeling; it is also expressing those feelings. In Luke 17:12, ten lepers were healed, but only one returned to give thanks. The other ten, no doubt, had some feelings of thankfulness but they were never expressed.
Proverbs 27:5 says,"Better is open rebuke than hidden love." NIV. Hidden love is of little or no value. For it to have value it must be expressed. Likewise, for our thankfulness to be of any value it must be expressed. When it is expressed it not only benefits the other person; it releases something in us.
I want to be a thankful person. I want to be a person who expresses my appreciation for people. I do not want people around me to never know when I appreciate them. The following are some questions that I have asked myself. I would encourage you to consider them. It may give you great insight into your current state of happiness.
What is your agenda for the people around you? Is it your intention to use people to make you happy or are you seeking to contribute to their life emotionally? The person who uses people is never happy. The person who is looking for someone to make them happy will never be satisfied. Who can do enough to keep another person happy?
Are you enjoying what you have? Someone has said, "We always have enough to be happy if we are enjoying what we dohave - and not worrying about what we don’t have." But what are we the most aware of, what we do have or what we do not have?
Are you expressing your appreciation to those around you? If you are not expressing it, they don’t believe it. People want to hear that they are appreciated. Sometimes we are afraid that if we express appreciation people won’t do as much for us? Actually, the opposite is true. If you are not expressing appreciation to the people around you, it is unlikely that you are expressing it to God.
Are you an internalist or an externalist? Psychologists divide people into two groups. Externalists believe that things happen to them. They feel they have little control over the events of life. Someone once said, "Nothing can happen to us. Everything happens through us." Internalists, on the other hand, believe you influence the events around your life. Internalists believe we shape our world, we create our environment. Internalists are generally much happier and live more of their dreams.
Many people believe God has let them down. They feel life is happening to them. They feel they have no choices in their destiny. John B. Sheerin said, "Happiness is not in our circumstances, but in ourselves. It is not something we see, like a rainbow, or feel, like the heat of a fire. Happiness is something we are."
Do you complain more than you express appreciation? Complainers drive happiness away and attract pain. The children of Israel continually complained about the eleven-day journey across the wilderness. Their complaints turned that eleven-day hike into forty years of trouble. "Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise. They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the LORD."Psalm 106:24-25
The complainers never entered the promise land. When they had the opportunity, they saw it, they complained, they missed the chance. I have to wonder how many chances I missed because I was seeing the effort required instead of the reward promised.
What is the stipulation you have put on being happy? Ecclesiastes 11:3 says, "Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap."NIV Too often we have put stipulations on our happiness. "When "this" happens, then I’ll be happy. Without meaning to, we are saying, I will not be happy until "this" changes." What if the situation we are waiting on never changes?
We sometimes choose unhappiness by the stipulations we place on our willingness to be happy. Unhappiness is always a choice. It is a choice about how we will view life. It is a choice about where we place our values. It is a choice about what we magnify. We often choose to be unhappy to justify unacceptable behavior.
The truth is, the person who will not be happy now will never be happy. You think you will, but you won’t. You will still be you when you get what you want.
What conditions are you waiting on to be happy? Is it worth it? You could change your focus and change your life. By changing your focus you could change what you are experiencing. You could be happy while you are waiting on your dreams to be fulfilled. My advice to you…CHOOSE HAPPINESS! Why not?
(written by James B. Richards)
www.impactministries.com (http://www.impactministries.com)
Conversely, unthankful people are never happy. Sadly, most unhappy people believe they will be thankful when they are happy. But just the opposite is true. They will become happy when they become thankful for what they presently have.
The Bible says, "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits."Psalm 68:19. That means that everyday I have something for which to be thankful, if I am only aware of it.
Thankfulness is not simply having a feeling; it is also expressing those feelings. In Luke 17:12, ten lepers were healed, but only one returned to give thanks. The other ten, no doubt, had some feelings of thankfulness but they were never expressed.
Proverbs 27:5 says,"Better is open rebuke than hidden love." NIV. Hidden love is of little or no value. For it to have value it must be expressed. Likewise, for our thankfulness to be of any value it must be expressed. When it is expressed it not only benefits the other person; it releases something in us.
I want to be a thankful person. I want to be a person who expresses my appreciation for people. I do not want people around me to never know when I appreciate them. The following are some questions that I have asked myself. I would encourage you to consider them. It may give you great insight into your current state of happiness.
What is your agenda for the people around you? Is it your intention to use people to make you happy or are you seeking to contribute to their life emotionally? The person who uses people is never happy. The person who is looking for someone to make them happy will never be satisfied. Who can do enough to keep another person happy?
Are you enjoying what you have? Someone has said, "We always have enough to be happy if we are enjoying what we dohave - and not worrying about what we don’t have." But what are we the most aware of, what we do have or what we do not have?
Are you expressing your appreciation to those around you? If you are not expressing it, they don’t believe it. People want to hear that they are appreciated. Sometimes we are afraid that if we express appreciation people won’t do as much for us? Actually, the opposite is true. If you are not expressing appreciation to the people around you, it is unlikely that you are expressing it to God.
Are you an internalist or an externalist? Psychologists divide people into two groups. Externalists believe that things happen to them. They feel they have little control over the events of life. Someone once said, "Nothing can happen to us. Everything happens through us." Internalists, on the other hand, believe you influence the events around your life. Internalists believe we shape our world, we create our environment. Internalists are generally much happier and live more of their dreams.
Many people believe God has let them down. They feel life is happening to them. They feel they have no choices in their destiny. John B. Sheerin said, "Happiness is not in our circumstances, but in ourselves. It is not something we see, like a rainbow, or feel, like the heat of a fire. Happiness is something we are."
Do you complain more than you express appreciation? Complainers drive happiness away and attract pain. The children of Israel continually complained about the eleven-day journey across the wilderness. Their complaints turned that eleven-day hike into forty years of trouble. "Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise. They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the LORD."Psalm 106:24-25
The complainers never entered the promise land. When they had the opportunity, they saw it, they complained, they missed the chance. I have to wonder how many chances I missed because I was seeing the effort required instead of the reward promised.
What is the stipulation you have put on being happy? Ecclesiastes 11:3 says, "Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap."NIV Too often we have put stipulations on our happiness. "When "this" happens, then I’ll be happy. Without meaning to, we are saying, I will not be happy until "this" changes." What if the situation we are waiting on never changes?
We sometimes choose unhappiness by the stipulations we place on our willingness to be happy. Unhappiness is always a choice. It is a choice about how we will view life. It is a choice about where we place our values. It is a choice about what we magnify. We often choose to be unhappy to justify unacceptable behavior.
The truth is, the person who will not be happy now will never be happy. You think you will, but you won’t. You will still be you when you get what you want.
What conditions are you waiting on to be happy? Is it worth it? You could change your focus and change your life. By changing your focus you could change what you are experiencing. You could be happy while you are waiting on your dreams to be fulfilled. My advice to you…CHOOSE HAPPINESS! Why not?
(written by James B. Richards)
www.impactministries.com (http://www.impactministries.com)