What Makes You Happy? ............ 3/2/15

    What makes you happy?  Do you remem-ber as a kid, you could spend hours, play-ing with blocks? What hap-pened to that sense of wonder and the ability to enjoy the simple things of life?  Does your happiness depend upon how the
world is working out for you?   Or, are you happy, even though the pressure in on, and life is not turning out as you imagined?  Without happiness the vibrancy of life can easily seep away through the sieve of disappointment.

  Several losses I am enduring, causing me to inventory how much happiness lies on the shelf of my life, and the source of it.

     Happiness happens:
1.  When I am my authentic self.  Not in the grips of pleasing others.
2.  I feel God flowing through me. Being as clean a conduit possible, the result of knowing His love, power and forgiveness.  Seeing others touched by Him, as He works through me.
3.  When I see the progressive accomplishment of worthwhile goals.

4.  When I reframe what vexes me, see-ing the benefits in even the most trying circumstances, the severest of misfor-tunes.
5.  When happiness is no longer the fo-cus, but joy.  Happi-ness is usually externally based, the attaining of things, when we want it, be it money, status or someone who loves us.  Joy is character driven, not circumstances driven.  It can be had during dire times, it is attitudinally related, often transcending our circumstances.