They cracked the code to being happy.
Or so say the researchers at Mayo Clinic. Evidently, amongst the myriad of diseases and conditions they’ve examined, they’ve also been studying happiness. Why? According to their findings, happy people tend to be healthier people. Researchers there observe that the pursuit of jobs, money, houses, and love is really about finding happiness. The problem, they conclude, is that we’re looking for it in all the wrong places. Psychiatrist John Tamerin observes, “If you lead your life always waiting for a great thing to happen, you probably will be unhappy.”
What’s the secret code to being happy?
1. Take control of your thoughts.
Focusing on what is right in life instead of what is going wrong increases the sense of happiness. It shifts our tendency to let our thoughts wander into sadness, fear, and dissatisfaction. Learning to control our thoughts shifts our perspective from sad to thankful, from fear to acceptance and confidence. We embrace happiness as a choice.
2. Be flexible.
“Resiliency has everything to do with happiness,” Dr. Sood said. The clinic’s research concludes that people who are flexible and able to adapt to life’s unexpected turns are happier. They learn to limit the affect of sadness so that circumstances in one area of life don’t overwhelm their whole life. (As Marcia and I vowed early on to not let cancer define who we were.) Creating space helps. For example, create space between a negative experience and the treasured people you’re about to meet. Don’t let unhappiness poison your whole day.
3. Help others.
Thinking too highly or too often of ourselves is a barrier to happiness. As one of the researchers said, “Complainers are never going to be happy. Happiness is a decision.” The more we focus on others the less unhappy we are with our own lot in life and the more meaning and satisfaction we find in living.
It’s always encouraging when science catches up to God’s Word.
God reminds us to “take captive every thought and make it obedient,” to renew our minds, to put off hindering ways and put on goodness, faithfulness and self-control. We’re encouraged to remember the good that can come out of suffering. It builds our character and faith. It helps us persevere with renewed perspective. And it helps us minister to others who are suffering. “Consider others’ interests more than your own” is a biblical key to happiness.
So do you want to be happy and healthy? Do you want to find happiness even when you aren’t healthy? Focus on God’s Word. Seek him first. Put others ahead of yourself. Is it really that easy? Perhaps more than you might think. In any case, the choice is yours.
Be as happy as you choose today.
