Three Things to Help You Remain Truly Happy
Anxiety diminishes your ability to trust, fills your mind with scenarios that do not reflect reality, and has an odd way of inhibiting you from hearing others speak TRUTH. Why might we be anxious these days? The entire world seems to conflict with itself.
“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.” … Tom Bodett
Why do I quote Tom? You may know who Tom is from the Motel 6 commercials. What is it about him that makes you want to believe him? His voice and manner, that folksy style projects a sense of calmness and believability. At the end of a long, tiering day you look for comfort and rest.
We always seem to be busy in life with something to do, someplace to go. And perhaps the most critical of all is hope.
What is love? The Bible in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 describes it the best:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
Something to do can be just as difficult, at least finding the somethings we enjoy doing most. Steve Jobs puts it this way. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.
This translates to our personal time as well. Volunteer, find a hobby, write, or just spend time with others. Life is way too short to waste any of it doing things we don’t enjoy.
“Where there's life there’s hope,” J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in The Lord of the Rings. Hope is a universal and powerful human need and an integral part of all our lives. It is that spark that keeps us looking and moving forward, not giving up in the face of impossible odds. It is dynamic and active; hope is never a static or passive thing. It produces results!
I recently took a break from writing an article and publishing each day. I thought that I had nothing else to say. My writing encompasses two key areas of happiness, something to do, and something to hope for, but it is also something I love to do. Several of you reached out to offer encouragement and affirmation! It was appreciated and just what I needed to get back on track. And it was absolutely amazing how many new ideas came to me in the process.
So, are these all you need to be happy in this world? My recommendation is to take some time away with someone you love, explore what is important to you, and work at renewing and fortifying your hope. Each day rise to thank God for another day, for the love in your life, for having important things to do, and for the hope that He promises. But yes, there are other things that we place priority upon. Let us explore a couple together.
First, I would suggest family. Most think just about our immediate families when this is brought up, but we need to broaden this horizon. We form many different groups and relationships. Many we may not think of as “family” but if we spend any time with them at all they become a family, many times closer than our immediate families. Especially with busy lifestyles, we often spend more time with people we work with than our blood families. We share secrets, birthdays, other important events, and our personalities.
An extension of hope is faith. My faith tops my list of priorities, but I must confess that it is not always the most important thing in my daily life. Faith directs our ways, establishes our priorities, and gives us hope. My faith is the focus of what I have been calling OneTRUTH Leadership, my pursuit of TRUTH in the world today. I believe in the TRUTH of God and have faith in this knowledge.
The last area I want to cover for now is service to others. This is the area in which I have the most to accomplish, and the least clear direction. I believe that OneTRUTH Leadership provides opportunities that I am pursuing, but that path is not yet entirely clear. I have been very fortunate to make many new friends through my articles and LinkedIn profile, continuing to reach out and make new connections.
With each accepted request for a connection, I respond with the desire to stay in touch and learn more from them (you). A few do, for at least a short while. Others who respond, I get the opportunity to meet with and develop relationships with, and even friendships. In each connection I offer to help in some way. I fully understand how busy life can be and how difficult it is to maintain any relationships today, and I don’t always follow through in the ways I should, but I try.
I have also found that a large number of my subscribers to this newsletter are not current connections. First, I want to Thank You for being a subscriber to my LinkedIn Newsletter, The TRUTH Digest, and to invite you to connect with me. My thanks also go out to all my connections that subscribe. I welcome your input, comments, and ideas for new topics in 2025. Please help me grow interest in this important topic of TRUTH by sharing articles with others in your connections or to your feed. And finally, to my connections that have not yet subscribed, please do so and join in the conversation.
The bottom line is that life is short and filled with challenges and problems. Take time to be happy and seek the things that make you happy every day! Happy New Year!