More money might contribute to happiness, but it isn’t a guarantee. Neither are possessions, friends, family… They all contribute. But no external thing will ever make you happy. It’s all about the internal.
And unfortunately, just being a Christian doesn’t mean happiness. Ideally, if you’re submitting to the Holy Spirit’s work in your life, you’ll experience joy. And ultimately, that should be the goal of any believer. But while that’s happening, I believe there are things you can do right now to experience more joy and happiness in your life.
Here are a few things the happiest people on earth do. And if you started doing them, I guarantee you could find yourself in that group too.
1. Happy people limit negative voices in their life.
Listening to negativity gets into your heart and that’s eventually what buzzes around inside you. So if you’re always filling yourself with news media, the Facebook ranters, and the Debbie Downers in your life, that’s what you’re going to have running around in your head.
Why not hide those negative Facebook commenters, switch off the news channels, and hang around positive people?
2. They look for the best in people.
I don’t care how many times you’ve been hurt before, expecting that from people will give you an unhappy life. It’s impossible to live a happy, paranoid life.
The truth is, very few people (if any) are out to get you. Most people are just busy trying to survive. When we start seeing the good in people, we fill ourselves with positivity. It makes us happier.
3. They choose not to form opinions.
I don’t know if it was college essays or YouTube technology that made me start believing my opinion mattered… But somewhere along the line I started thinking I needed an opinion on everything that happened. That made me miserable.
Frankly, most things in this world don’t need my opinion. Only things that I can directly affect need my opinion. The rest doesn’t need me. And I’ve been far happier since I stopped opining on everything.
4. They make the most out of a bad situation.
My wife, her sister, and I were stuck in four hours of traffic last weekend. We literally turned our car off and sat stuck in traffic between the barricades and semi-trucks. We made the most of the situation. We downloaded a party game on our phone and passed the time that way.
We could have experienced four hours of misery. But instead we had fun.
5. They eschew comparison.
Comparison is the thief of joy. In no way does someone else’s success, looks, or resources affect you. There’s no benefit to comparison. And while it’s difficult to stop comparing if you’ve been in the habit to compare all your life, you can choose from now on to stop it as soon as you recognize you’re doing it.
6. They give.
Happy people give with open hands. Miserable people hold tightly to what they have. Even if the Bible didn’t command us to give [Luke 6:38], it would be worth it just for the happiness we experience from giving.
7. They forgive.
Bitterness has been likened to burning down your house to kill a rat. It might feel good temporarily to hold back forgiveness from someone, but ultimately it destroys yourself.
Want to be happy? Forgive quickly. Forgive often.
So that’s my list. I’m working on becoming better at each one. What would you add? Leave a comment below with the ideas you’re working on to become a more joyful and happy person.