Are you really happy? Do you love life?

[DaughterofKing]

Are you really happy? Do you wake up every morning with a spring i your step and a smile on your face? I dont. Why do you? Why do you love life?

[Marnie]

Yes, I am happy. I love life because I came so close to losing it. I love waking up in the morning and being able to go about my business in freedom and security because I am so blessed to live in this great country. I love being able to log on to papajohns.com and order a pizza and have it delivered. Man, is that awesome or what?? A person who cant speak, ordering takeout! Wow. It is good to be alive in America.

[ayin jade]

The Lord is good.

[Guest LadyC]

i don't wake up with a spring in my step every morning. nobody does EVERY morning! but yes, i'm truly happy. why shouldn't i be? God has seen me through 41 years of a typical roller coaster existance, and i can rest assured that he will see me through many more years.

it's not easy all the time... if i wanted to waller in self pity, i could find plenty to whine about. i'm finding myself in a position where for the first time in nearly a decade, i have to not only get out and work to support my family, i have to humble myself to the realization that i'll be making less in a month than my husband often brought home in a week. i have to resign myself to the fact that the only dining out we'll be doing is burger king... which is far cheaper than eating at home, but not nearly as tasty. i have to resign myself to the fact that i'll not only be the one doing the cooking (when it's not burger king), and the dish washing, and the laundry, but that i'll be juggling that with a full time job. i have to deal with the fact that my husband is in so much pain most of the time that he can barely handle sitting at the computer, but he gets tired of laying in bed, and can't stand for long at a time. i have to accept the fact that we may have to get help from the government to cover back surgery for him because when his boss (who has graciously paid for his insurance for the laast month even though he hasn't worked) finds out that it may be over a year before he can work again will probably drop his insurance... and when mine picks up, it won't cover his pre-existing condition. i have to come to grips with the fact that my oldest daughter is over in iraq risking her life every day, and that my youngest is likely to end up a statistic of divorce before her 20th birthday, and will need help taking care of and supporting her son.

but ya know what? i wake up every morning and thank God that i HAVE a husband whom i love and who loves me back, and that i HAVE a roof over my head, and that i HAVE pots and pans to cook with, and that i HAVE two arms and legs to be able to do the laundry and dishes, and that i LIVE in a country that allows me to work, and that offers its citizens medical assistance through the government when things get rough, and that i HAVE two daughters who love me, even when one of them tries hard to pretend she doesn't.

that's more than a lot of folks have, and it makes me happy.

[willsmom]

I'm not a morning person so I don't spring up in the mornings. But even through my grumpy morning disposition I still praise God for all he has given me. Sometimes we just don't feel like praising but praise is an action not a feeling. I sometimes have to literally make myself worship but when I do the Holy Spirit takes over and the grumpys go away and I just focus on my Savior and all He did on Calvery as well as the miracles He has done in my life. I do sometimes get overwhelmed with Life and all its struggles but I know that at the end of this road I will be with my Savior and All is well with my soul.

[cmariebright]

I just recently bought a key chain that I carry with me that says that each day is a gift from God. I am very happy! I love God! I have an awesome husband and a family whom I am close to and I am satisfied working at my job. I work at a hospital and I live 5 minutes away and I am constantly hearing sirens and police cars. Recently there have been a lot of young people who have passed..... in motor vehicle accidents and having overdoses on pills and trying to take their lives. Just recently a guy my brother grew up with and went to school with died of brain cancer. (He was a devout Christian and he was only 25) I thank God for each day that he gives me because it could be my last..cms

[Micah68]

Yes, because I know God. He's the one who carries me through difficult times and great times. He's the one who directs my path. He's the one who leads me on this great adventure of life. He's the one who teaches me to be content in whatsoever state I'm in. Life has its ups and downs. The ups are great but, you know what? The downs are okay too because God is there and you learn from them. So, all in all, He teaches me faith and trust no matter what's happening.

[KatieK]

No I don't think I'm happy either. today was a crummy day. I woke up still thinking about how awful a night I had yesterday. On the bus I listened to the woes of friends and attempted (and succeeded) in not lunching into my own list of how terrible is my life things. that gave me more things to worry about or pray for. I missed my Bible time in the morning because of the lack of 'spring in my step' and the early arrival of the bus. that did not help any.

Do I love life is a completely different issue. I am not happy but I love life. I love life because I know the Lord and as crummy as today has been so far (and the weekend too) I love life because He's in it. My future is secure. It will never get too hard because I can lean on God's strength. I'm not happy that's too circumstancial but I do have Joy and Peace in Jesus.

I'll pray for you. Life hurts.

KatieK

[Keith]

This is a really great question, DoK! I'd like to give you a completely honest answer.

Right now, in my life, I am very happy. I don't always have a smile on my face or a spring in my step, but I really am very happy. One thing I have learned is how to change my thinking. I used to be very miserable. Incredibly sad and lonely. Even years after I accepted Jesus in my heart, I was so sad it would hurt!

As I read the Bible and began spending time with Jesus, I noticed changes in my life. I wasn't sad or lonely during the times I spent with Him or reading His word. The problem was, I was still separating my every day life and my life with Jesus. So, I was sad during the times I was still living my own life and not including Him. I knew that wasn't a coincidence, so I performed a little experiment that changed my entire life!

For one month I decided that I wasn't going to watch anything (TV or movies) that didn't honor or please Him. Things I wouldn't watch without Him physically sitting beside me. I also didn't listen to any music that didn't praise Him or read any books that didn't talk about Him. It was a little tough in the beginning because I was breaking old, worn in habits. But I persevered.

All of a sudden, before I knew it, two months had gone by! I looked back over the past two months and noticed that I had actually been happy most of the time! When my thoughts wandered, they wandered into things about Him. When I found myself humming, it was a song that honored Him! I didn't even miss television or think about watching it anymore. I knew that I had found the key to living a happy, fulfilled life that glorified God!

Things weren't perfect though. Stuff still happened and I still had hard times. But I found myself talking to Him about them and not thinking about them all the time. I began trusting Him with those things. I kept going with my "experiment" and have never turned back. If I find myself sad again, when I look at my life, I find that it happens during times when I haven't spent much time with Him. I found scriptures and wrote them down on little cards to keep with me. They applied to a lot of different situations. When I was being tempted, I would pull out the scriptures that dealt with that and read them. When I was discouraged, I pulled out encouraging scriptures. When I felt like nothing was worth it anymore, I pulled out scriptures of His promises of our eternal future with Him. Inadvertently I had memorized these scriptures and didn't need the cards anymore because I found the Holy Spirit would bring them to my remembrance. My circumstance no longer dictated whether or not I was happy or not.

I would encourage everyone to try this one month experiment. I promise you, it will change your walk. The Word and your relationship with Jesus will become alive and very real! The loneliness will lessen tremendously and you'll find you begin to hear God when He speaks... and you'll recognize it's Him.

[jamie]

Are you really happy? Do you wake up every morning with a spring i your step and a smile on your face? I dont. Why do you? Why do you love life?

Without the Lord I used to be happiest when I could go out and party and drink and do stuff like that. Those were my crutches.

It took outward things to make me happy for a 'moment', and even that depended on the circumstances.

Now I have the joy of the Lord, which doesn't depend on outward circumstances or counterfeit crutches. It is an inward satisfaction and contentment that comes from being in His presence. If I start to drift away from God I start losing that peace and contentment.

It helps me understand why people are reaching for anti-depressants and other crutches, if we don't fill the void with the Holy Spirit, we will fill it with something.