While it is true that genuine happiness and real joy in life come only from a relationship with God, very much of this happiness depends on us. We cannot put this responsibility in the hands of other people. If we want to be happy, it is all up to us. The key to our success and happiness in life is in our hands.
What can we do to make this happen? The following are a few things we can do if we are to be happy and enjoy life:
1. Have a purpose in life. The best part of this is that you don’t have to create that purpose. God has already a plan for your life and all you have to do is to discover it. He says, “For I know the plans that I have for you, says the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11.
2. Have a strategy for happiness. Obviously, success is no accident. There are goals to be reached and everything you do on a daily basis should contribute to the attainment of these goals in life.
3. Make friends. Establish healthy and wholesome relationships. We have been created to be social beings. We are not meant to live in isolation. Therefore we need to be with other people. But we must be discerning in the choice of our friends or they could be our downfall.
4. Let people you care about know their value. We feed off other people’s positive energy. When we let our friends know how much they mean to us in a variety of ways, they will feel good and they in turn will contribute to a joyful environment for us.
5. Guess positively. No one among us is born a psychologist or may have been trained to be one. But many times, we try to figure things out and assign motives for certain actions of our friends and acquaintances. The best way to go is to err on the side of mercy. Make positive assumptions. Have the best possible construction on the motives of every action. If we are proven wrong, who cares? And if we are proven right, we’ve made a friend forever.
So let’s use these keys we have in our hands. And let’s enjoy the remainder of our days.
—Simeon Rosete, Jr.