The Secret to Happiness

There is a secret to being happy.    It isn't free health care, free college, free lunches, free houses, or anything politicians try to tell you will make you happy.  The secret to happiness isn't in money, things, or even in great power.  The secret to happiness is being content.  Personally, I believe if more of us subscribed to contentment, it cold help improve the lives of people everywhere.  Happiness isn't found just in Christianity, although I believe it goes a long way to making a difference. 
Though I profess Christ, and live for my faith,  the happiness that comes from contentment isn't in Christ either. I've seen too many people live happily without a faith in Christ to make it a prerequisite for happiness. At the same time I've seen far too many Christians living lives devoid of contentment, and wracked with despair.  So, why am I writing about the secret to happiness in a blog dedicated to a profession in Jesus Christ?
The answer to that question is simple; I don't want to see my brothers and sisters in Christ looking for happiness in places that will not bring them any joy. 
If you use a clinical description of happiness, you will discover it is fleeting in it's duration, but so powerful in it's force, that it makes everyone of us seek to be happy for but just a moment.  Happiness is such a powerful emotion we look for ways to induce it.  Within this need for happiness is the root of almost all of our addictions.  Our bodies betray us because the 'high' from being happy is like nothing else we experience. The need to be happy whether through artificial means, or through natural means, can lead us into the depths of despair if we aren't careful.  That doesn't mean our need for happiness is completely destructive.  The 'arts' are born out of happiness.  Games, comedies, jokes, hobbies, and yes, even storytelling in its many varied forms are a means to happiness.  Sadly, the flood of hormones that accompanies true happiness is limited in its ability to be sustained for long periods of time. The greatest sorrow is when we live our lives in search of happiness instead of yielding to the joy found in every moment.  When jobs, marriages, homes, cars, and the accessories of life become the driving force for satisfaction we miss the moments within ourselves that bring true happiness.  This opens the door for disappointment, sorrow, and grief, which are far more easily sustained. Somehow, in the rush for a new 'happy' high, we leave the real source of happiness behind.  This is true whether we are rich or poor, Christian or non-Christian.  When contentment eludes us, happiness quickly flees. 
Over my lifetime I've seen great men and women of God become lost and empty vessels devoid of joy, peace or happiness.  Christians can easily be fooled into believing that a ministry, study, or even a cause will bring them happiness.  Ministries can push you beyond your purpose in Christ into fears of failure fueled by the minister's comparison of their life with those of more successful ministries. People who feel bible study, or the search for spiritual truth can bring  happiness often fail to discover that happiness, allowing the study itself to rob them of the joy found in living in the joy of the moment.  Probably the worst thief of happiness among Christians is the need to defend their faith or advance that faith into secular causes.  I've seen too many good Christians become enslaved to the angrier side of their passions to the point they hate the very people God has called us to reach.
Happiness is found in being content with forgiveness, and forgiving.  This is the simple power we all carry within us, but it is the springboard for more joy than you can contain.  So much of what I'm seeing in the news media today is driven by a failure to forgive, and let go.  Then again, I know we can become consumed by our passions to the point where happiness is driven far from us.  Political, cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity are important things when it comes to aligning ourselves in tribes. Belonging to a tribe can be a great source of joy and happiness, but if we allow them to exclude us from tolerance, and contentment,  they can suck the happiness out of our lives.  You hear a lot these days about 'diversity' but it seems the more diverse we attempt to be as a nation, the more unhappy we become.  Diversity robs us of happiness by building walls of 'difference,' and before you know it, you don't have the happiness that comes from tolerating people who are different from you.  "Intersectionality" is a word you hear a lot about lately because of the 'diversity' craze.  It's the moment when the goals of one 'diverse' group conflicts with the goals of another.  Someday, when the dust settles from this crazy need to be unique, we'll wonder how we allowed ourselves to be so overcome with the celebration of diversity. Instead of celebrating our humanity, we become obsessed with defending our uniqueness.  At one point or another 'diversity' will bring you into conflict with another diverse person.  This is why I said that many Christians aren't happy.  Tolerance, which is simply forgiving another person for being different from you, is rarely practiced among denominations.  It's the result of hundreds of years of conditioning, and is often based on tribalism, and in that alone, the fear of losing a unique identity. 
Contentment speaks of true faith.  I've seen it in the lives of those in foreign countries less prosperous than the United States.  I've seen happiness in children's laughter everywhere I've been.  That is why I can say that happiness isn't found in things, money, or power.  Happiness is found in any moment you choose to savor and enjoy.   I see it in my simple enjoyment of the sparrows that are carrying on outside my front door.  I don't know why it brings me so much joy to look out my storm door and watch the antics of these tiny little creatures who inhabit my front yard.  All I know is that they bring a smile to my face, which is usually a clue that I'm happy.  It won't last for long, I'll have to close the door because it's getting colder, and they'll have to carry on without my observing them, but they will carry on.  That brings another smile to my face.