Day #16: The Search for Happiness

Our world is full of stuff. With almost 7 billion people, who all like it, it's no surprise... 

Everyone searches for happiness, and people may get a taste of it in many different things, but things will never bring us true happiness. I've thought many times about things that I want, and how much better off I would be if I had them, but look at the lives of people who can have basically anything they want! Celebrities, politicians, and the wealthy people of the world can be some of the most discontent people alive. Many of them lose the ability to find happiness in simplicity. It is simple, money and stuff cannot bring you happiness. Some people's appetites for money, power and stuff is insatiable,  the more they get, the more they want, and the more they waste their lives. 

Contentment is the key to happiness. To be content with what you have, will not leave you chasing things, and feeling like you never have enough. Look around, most of us have family and friends, and those of us that believe in God, always have him to look to. Collecting things for ourselves may never make us truly happy, but doing things for others definitely can! Usually, when we do something to make others happy, we end up being just as happy or more ourselves. Matthew 6:19-20 says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." 

Happiness is what you make of it. There have been many people who have been in horrible situations, and yet they still find happiness in simply knowing that there is a God that loves them. They have contentment in the middle of hell. Happiness is not about everything going your way, but instead learning to look beyond the imperfections, and being thankful for what we have been given. Frederick Keonig said, "We tend to forget that happiness does not come as a result of getting what we don't have, but rather recognizing and appreciating what we do have."

The more you have, the more you want, the saying goes, and that is the reason that the world is full of stuff. People think that possessions, power and money will bring them happiness, when they're missing out on happiness greater than any other. Psalm 118:24 says,"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."