Happiness

I am bruised. Beaten. Broken. I wear my heart on my sleeve. But the pain, and the scars, remind me that I am not of this world. I am here to reflect the character of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Hope is what keeps me pushing forward, onward, one day at a time. By choosing to be intentional and relational, I can reach out to those who are in need. Growing up, my father always reminded me that I choose to make my own happiness. No one can take that away. I have the ability to decipher the outlook of my interactions and determine how I will respond. Fortunately, I was introduced to the word happiness at a young age.

Everybody wants happiness, nobody wants pain but you can't have a rainbow without a little rain.

Happiness is commonly defined by pleasure, joy, exhilaration, bliss, or delight and implies an active or passive state of pleasure or pleasurable satisfaction. Therefore, happiness can result from the possession or attainment of what one considers good. Unalloyed happiness or supreme delight can be seen in the bliss of a "perfect" companionship. Other types of happiness include felicity, a formal word for happiness of an especially fortunate or intense kind.

So why not be your own sunshine? Light up the lives of others. Find a reason to smile. Say no to the reasons and the people that stress you out. Physical manifestations should not be the soul purpose that happiness resides in your core. Happiness is from within, resonating from one's inherent ability to make a choice.

I have been reading a book titled, "One Thousand Gifts." The author, Ann Voskamp, dares each individual to live fully right where you are. She internalizes the message of lifestyle gratitude and professes that joy is attainable despite one's circumstances. Ann researched the word eucharisteo, a greek word that encompasses a threefold cord of grace (charis), thanksgiving (eucharisteo) and joy (char).

Ann ponders, "How in the world, for the sake of my joy, do I learn to use eucharisteo to overcome my one ugly and self-destructive habit of ingratitude (that habit that causes both my cosmic and daily fall) with the saving habit of gratitude--that would lead me back to deep God-communion." She further discusses that if we are to hunger and thirst for righteousness as stated in Matthew, then we have to drink. We have to actually DO something. She laid her books aside and began a list--a gift list. Not of gifts that she wanted, but of gifts that she already had. The first few read as follows:

1. Morning shadows across the old floors.
2. Jam piled high on the toast. 
3. Cry of blue jay from high in the spruce. 

Ann continues to challenge the reader to write down one thousand gifts that He bestows. She mentions that writing them does is a sort of unwrapping love, and eventually recognizes that the secret to living joy in every situation is the full life of eucharisteo. 

Philippians 4:11-12

"I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 

I know how to live on almost nothing or 

with everything. I have learned the secret of living

in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty,

with plenty or little."

And so, I have taken up on Ann's challenge. I have made my gift list a part of my worship service to the Lord, because, eventually that is what it turns into: praising God for his creation, for the simple aspects of life that catch my attention. And so it brings me back to happiness. I believe that being happy is being truly thankful. 

1. The smell of banana bread resonating from the oven. 
2. The first cry of a newborn baby.
3. Getting tucked into bed like a mummy from daddy as a little girl.
4. Laughter escaping from deep inside (especially from Nazifa, Jeremia, and Odakis).
5. Dancing shadows - sunlight through a piece of lace on a warm and windy summer day.
6. The click of a camera capturing a moment to remember forever. 
7. The tug of a fish on a line and the excitement that follows. 
8. Watching a child play with a puppy.
9. A voice that says, "thank you" from one of my patients
10. The echo of raindrops on the roof
11. Vibrance of fall as evidenced by the different shades of color of leaves
12. Viewing a city full of lights at night from an airplane. 
13. The mesmerizing flames of a fire
14. A fresh gust of air that catches my hair off my shoulders.
15. A night sky full of God's wonders
16. A child's toothless smile (Phoenix)
17. The smell associated with flipping the pages of a book
18. Waking up peacefully - no alarms and no responsibilities
19. Zebras in the wild.
20. Reminiscing with an old friend
21. My wonderful parents
22. Sitting in my mommy's lap (yes, even at the age of 25)
23. View of Anchorage from flattop
24. Forget-me-nots growing in the backyard
25. Answered prayer.
26. An old childhood tea set
27. Running across the finish line
28. Snuggling into bed covers after a long day
29. Small children singing loud and off tune in church.
30. Old couples walking with fingers interlocked. 
31. A handwritten letter
32. Relief and accomplishment of turning in a research paper
33. Baptism - knowing I am saved. 
34. The beauty of dialect and different languages. 
35. The northern lights
36. Sunset from Oia on Santorini
37. Speed and agility on a horse-back ride.
38. Brustle of a creek in the woods
39. Wiggling my bare toes in the sand
40. Waves crashing on the shore
41. Fresh snow covering the mountain tops
42. Winter warm sun
43. Snuggle fresh laundry. 
44. The power of imagination
45. A future that carries the unknown
46. Air conditioning after a long run
47. Nestle chocolate milk powder
48. The feel of pottery between my hands on a wheel
49. My 3rd grade class at church
50. The scent of Mr. Sketchers markers
51. Superhero Saturdays at the hospital (we wear superhero socks on Saturdays in the ER)
52. Skipping rocks across the waters surface
53. Footprints in the sand
54. Trains rolling on the tracks
55. Picking fresh berries
56. Finding figures and images in the clouds
57. A hot cup of tea warming my hands

The list continues on and on... but I challenge my readers to do as Ann suggests: to write a list of one thousand gifts. To acknowledge the blessings of life and to use thanksgiving in your worship to the Lord.