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How rewarding is your job? In a 1996 survey of American males…
• 62.6 % said that morale is bad where they work,
• 60.1 % said that their jobs interfere with home life and personal relationships,
• 46.1 % said that their jobs cause conflict with personal and religious beliefs,
• 63.2 % said that their companies do not give back to the community,
• 68.5 % said that they work too much overtime, and
• Only 31.6 % said that they are able to give equal priority to work time and family time.
If you are one of the many who find themselves in less-than-rewarding work situations, don't lose heart! Remember that, even though it may require a bit of extra effort, it IS still possible to perform your job in a way that glorifies God.
Source: GQ, January 1997, pp. 103-105.
A layman in a British church was assigned to meet an incoming guest preacher at the train station. Upon seeing a certain somber-looking man in dark clothes, he stepped forward and said, "You must be the Reverend Smith."
The man replied, "No, I'm not a clergyman at all. I'm not even interested in religion. It's my indigestion that makes me look like this!"
________
Matthew 6:16: "Do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do…"
Source: Lowell M. Atkinson, in "The Minister's Manual for 1994," p. 41.
Topics/Tags: Countenance; Happiness; Joy
Hugh Downs said, "A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes." When we find our attitudes drifting away from the godly attitudes God desires for us to have, we must be quick and faithful in letting God do the adjustment which He sees is necessary.
Source: "20/20," ABC, date unknown
Marcia Brown reminisces about "The Barefoot Days of Summer":
"What joy there is in letting unfettered toes wriggle in mud after a summer rain.
"If reveling in going barefoot means being labeled a 'hillbilly,' I accept the appellation with pride. Let those city folk make fun if they like. If they only knew the pure pleasures of this tactile freedom, they would join in far more often. . . . I recommend it as a supreme gift to oneself . . . It has no calories, no cholesterol, and no age barrier. It's good for us, from sole to soul!"
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All of us should take time to enjoy the "simple pleasures" of the world God has given us.
Source: Mature Living, August 1998, p. 10-11.
We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another.
Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are.
After that we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.
We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.
The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?
Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.
For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin—real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin.
At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life!.
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no "way to happiness." Happiness is "the way."
So, treasure every moment that you have. And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time… and remember that time waits for no one...
So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school,until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy...
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
— Patty Hobson
Source: Ida Richardson
Topics/Tags: Happiness; Waiting; Contentment; Time
"Work like you don't need money,
Love like you've never been hurt, and
Dance like no one's watching."
— Patty Hobson
Source: Ida Richardson
Life would be more pleasant if we could forget our troubles as easily as we forget our blessings.
Source: "Christian Leadership" email discussion list
Happiness is like a sunbeam which the least shadow intercepts, while adversity is often as the rain of spring.
—Chinese Proverb
Have you not learned great lessons from those who reject you, and brace themselves against you? Or who treat you with contempt, or dispute the passage with you?
—Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
He said not,
Thou shall not be tempested,
Thou shall not be travailed,
Thou shall not be afflicted,
But he said,
Thou shall not be overcome.
—Julian of Norwich (C. 1342- After 1413)
Source: Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entries 174-176
Topics/Tags: Adversity; Perseverance; Happiness
USA Weekend polled Americans in July 1998 to determine who is happy and why. The results were surprising. 2 out of 3 adults rated their happiness at 8 or higher on a 10-point scale. The poll and subsequent interviews revealed the following reasons people give for being happy:
* Younger isn't better. Most people report being happier at their current age than they've ever been.
* Health matters more than wealth. Three-fourths of those who said their health was excellent or very good were very happy. Just 4 percent said a high income was the most important factor.
* After health, religious faith was the next most important factor in feeling happy.
* People who live with others are happier than those who live alone.
* Extremely happy people are active and social.
Source: Proclaim!, Spring 1999, p. 35.
"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet."
- James Oppenheim
Source: - _Instant Quotation Dictionary_, p. 153.
Topics/Tags: Happiness
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