Seth asked us to watch a documentary on Netflix called “Happy.”
It was interesting to hear that a dramaticallypoor Indian rickshaw driver is just as happy as a normal American. This man lives his whole life pulling people around in an older rickshaw, a job that would make most Americans feel depressed about where they are in life.
The movie shares some interesting incite into being happy. After doing studies they have found that 50% of happiness is genetic, 10% is hinged upon circumstances and 40% is from intentional activity.
This is saying quite a bit about how I chose to live my life.
Whether or not you believe the statistics above, you cannot argue that intentional activity can change your attitude.
How you chose to live your life as a Christian must be a very intentional act.
If you live based upon your feelings, you’ll find those very feelings crushing all of your happiness.
If you live your life based upon what you own, you’ll find that everything is rusting away to nothing.
If you live your life based upon others, you’ll find that they will let you down.
It is your own intentional activity that creates a pattern of happiness in your life. One that is based upon activities you can control instead of outsourcing your joy to others.
The movie challenges you to be authentic person you were created to be but cultivate happiness. That you should actually think of happiness more as a life skill.
The movie stated that, “Students who counted their blessings once a week were happier.” A simple act of saying, “Thank You” made the students more happy.
This is something I’ve been challenged in recently by God and by a person I really treasure. To look at life in a more positive light, by doing this God has been telling me to count my blessings. Saying, “Thank you” in situations when I’m struggling to see what is happening. Being grateful in situations when I could be negative or even be perceived as negative. (Perception is reality.)
What you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing; it also depends on what sort of person you are. -C.S. Lewis
Another activity that the movie touched on was random acts of kindness.
A bold statement in the movie was, “Random acts of kindness are the most effective way to increase happiness.”
Do you believe that?
How have you seen random acts of kindness bring you the most joy?
How do you plan to cultivate happiness in your life?
Isaiah 58:11 says, “The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”
“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 58: 13-14 NIV)
