You can be Happy

“It has been my observation that people are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be,” Abraham Lincoln, the former US President once said. And I want to take a good look at what that good man had in mind with this nugget, YOU CAN BE HAPPY.
Dear Reader, are you happy?

According to Abraham Lincoln, you can decide to be happy. In other words, happiness is a matter of choice. Someone said that happiness depends on happenings. I believe rather that happiness depends on how we respond to happenings and we can choose how we respond to our circumstances. YOU CAN DECIDE TO BE HAPPY.

Not making a decision is a decision. Not deciding to be happy is deciding to by unhappy. This passive decision to be unhappy is what a countless number of people make unconsciously everyday. It is the easiest thing in the world to be unhappy. It happens when we are not prepared to make the necessary decisions and efforts required for happiness.

Of course, we must be realistic. Many of the problems that beset us are beyond our control or not under our direct influence but we must quickly remind ourselves that we may not be in control of situations all the time but we are always in control of our attitudes; of how we respond to those situations. Whatever the circumstances, we can choose to be happy, “but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast” says the Bible.

Having a merry heart means that happiness has become our habit. We have made up our minds to be happy all the time. When we have cultivated this habit for happiness that verse say life will become a continual feast for us everyday.

I believe that you can now see that happiness is a matter of choice for us. Norman Vincent Pearle in his book, Power of Positive Thinking, says “a very large proportion of the unhappiness of the average individual is self-manufactured.” People manufacture unhappiness by thinking unhappy thoughts thereby developing a Negative Mental Attitude. With a negative mental attitude, some do not attract happiness they repel it.

But we can manufacture our happiness by thinking happy thoughts which, when done consistently, will give us a Positive Mental Attitude. A positive mental attitude will always attract happiness. With a positive mental attitude, you will always expect the best and when you expect the best, you will get it.

The best way to start a happy day is to begin with happy thoughts. We should remember that God is present with us. Psalm16:11 say that, “In God’s presence, there is fullness of joy”. To come into God’s presence, the Bible says we should enter into His gates with thanksgiving in our hearts and into His courts with praise. Thanksgiving and praise create an atmosphere of God’s presence around us.

We can also confess and sing the words of Psalm 118:24, “This is the day which the Lord has made; we shall rejoice and be glad in it.” And I might add, “No matter what!”
Dear Reader, do this tomorrow morning. Start your day by thinking happy thoughts. Thoughts from the word of God and thoughts of the good things God has done for you. Don’t start your day with thoughts like, “I must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed” or, this is going to be another tough day” or “Why are things always working against me?” Another one is “I don’t know what to do.” Once you begin to think like this, it’s time to re-examine yourself. Time to caution yourself.

When such thoughts come to your mind, eject them immediately and say to yourself, “This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” Children are far better than us adults in this area and Jesus said we have to become like them to enjoy the Kingdom of God. I love to look into the face of my boy every morning, especially when he was two months old. He starts his day with smiles. He evidently expects the best from each day. When I see those smiles, I say out loud, this will be a great day. We are on top today. All things are working together for good for us today.

Dear reader, start this today, whatever your circumstances, and tomorrow will be a happy day, the day after, and all the days of your life in Jesus’ name. Amen.

You will Succeed!
Sam Adeyemi