Every Day a Friday: How to Be Happier 7 Days a Week (10 page)

Why don’t you begin today? Hug your children before you leave each day. Give your spouse a kiss. Call your parents and tell them how much you love them. Go visit those relatives you’ve been meaning to see.

We’re not here forever. It’s good to work hard, but learn how to turn it off. Stay in balance and play hard as well. If you’ll make the decision to slow down and enjoy the journey, you will experience the fullness of what God has in store for you.

When you come to the end of your life, you’ll have no regrets. You’ll be able to say, “I made the most of my time here. I enjoyed my family. I enjoyed my friends. I finished my course with joy.”

I
t’s easy to focus on what’s wrong in your life, what you don’t have, and how big your obstacles are. But if you are not careful, you will lose sight of all the good things God has done for you. Don’t take for granted the family, friends, and opportunities He has blessed you with. If you’re in such a hurry and so stressed that you fail to appreciate the gift of today, you’ll lose your joy and your ability to be happy every day of the week.

It’s all about keeping things in perspective. Business may be slow, but it’s the wrong perspective to think,
I’ll never make it
. The right perspective is to think,
God is supplying all of my needs
.

If you are going through a disappointment, the wrong perspective is,
I should have known this would happen. I never get any good breaks
. The right perspective is to believe that when one door closes, God will open another.

You can put two people in the exact same circumstances and one will be complaining, negative, and just enduring life, while the other will be happy, grateful, and enjoying life. What’s the difference? Their perspectives. It’s how each chooses to see the situation.

We all have burdens that can steal our joy and cause us to be sour. But if we’re to live life happy, we need the foundation of a grateful spirit. I’ve learned that seeds of discouragement cannot take root in a grateful heart. If you are unhappy today and you’ve lost
your enthusiasm, the quickest way to turn that around is to be more grateful. Instead of looking at what you don’t have, thank God for what you do have. Instead of complaining about what’s wrong, thank God for what’s right.

I’ve talked to many people who have gone through disappointments. They’ve lost their jobs, their marriages, or their health. It’s difficult for them to see any reason to be grateful. But really, it’s a matter of perspective.

I heard of a man who complained he didn’t have any good shoes until he met a man who had no feet. His perspective changed then and there.

He thought,
You know what? Maybe I don’t have it so bad.

The truth is, somebody in the world would gladly trade places with you. Somebody would love to be able to breathe like you. Somebody would love to be able to walk like you. Somebody would love to be living where you live. Have you thanked God lately for your family, your friends, your health, and the opportunities He’s given you?

If you’re complaining about where you are, you won’t get where you want to be. If you’re complaining about what you have, I believe God will not increase you with more.

Complaining about your old car, your small house, or your spouse won’t get you anywhere. Remember this phrase:
If you complain you remain, but if you’ll praise you’ll be raised.

To keep your life in perspective, try making a list of all the things you are grateful for. Write down ten things that God has blessed you with and put the list on your bathroom mirror. Every morning read over that list two or three times. Do the same every night before you go to bed.

Meditate on the good things God has done. Write down the times God showed up at the midnight hour and made a way where there was no way. Write down the time He protected you from that accident, the time He had you at the right place and you were promoted, the time the medical report said you wouldn’t make it but your health suddenly turned around. Write down the fact that you have healthy children, a roof over your head, and a loving spouse.

When you meditate on the goodness of God, it will help you have the
right perspective, and release your faith, too. When your faith is released, God’s power is activated. You will see Him show up and give you something else to put on your list.

A middle-aged man named Nicholas was very down and discouraged so he went to his minister.

“Nothing in my life is going right,” he said. “I have no reason to be excited, no reason to be thankful.”

“All right, let’s do a little exercise,” the minister said.

He took out a legal pad and drew a line right down the middle.

“Let’s list all your assets on this side, all the things that are right in your life,” the minister said. “On the other side we’ll list all your challenges, all the things that are bothering you.”

Nicholas laughed.

“I have nothing on my asset side,” he said, hanging his head.

“That’s fine, but let’s just go through the exercise,” said the minister, adding, “I’m so sorry to hear that your wife has passed away.”

Nicholas looked up abruptly.

“What are you talking about? My wife didn’t pass away. She’s alive and healthy.”

The minister calmly said, “Oh,” and then wrote down under assets “Healthy wife.”

Next the minister said, “Nicholas, I’m so sorry to hear your house burned down.”

“My house didn’t burn down,” said Nicholas.

Again, the minister calmly said, “Oh,” and added “Place to live” to the list of assets.

The minister was on a roll.

“Nicholas, I’m so sorry to hear that you were laid off from work.”

“Pastor, where are you getting all this nonsense?” he said. “I have a good job.”

The minister wrote “A good job” on the list of assets.

“Can I see that list?” Nicholas asked, finally catching on. After looking it over, he added a dozen more assets that he’d been taking for granted instead of being grateful for them. Nicholas left the minister’s office with a much different attitude.

What was Nicholas’s problem? He just needed to change his perspective. When he began to focus on the good in his life, he got his happiness and joy back.

If you struggle with staying encouraged and staying grateful, make a list of everything God has blessed you with. If you have your health, write it down as an asset. If your vision is good, write it down, too. The same with your job, your family, your friends, your children, and all your other blessings. Make that list and then go over it throughout the day. That should get you thinking in the right direction.

You have to realize that every day is a gift from God. What a shame to live this day or any other day defeated, depressed, negative, complaining, and with no enthusiasm. We all have obstacles. We all have things to overcome, but our attitude should be:
I know God is still on the throne. He’s in complete control of my life. He’s said His plans for me are for good and not evil. I’m not living this day defeated, depressed, or focused on what I don’t have. I’m changing my perspective. Thank God I’m alive. Thank God I’m breathing. Thank God I’m healthy. Thank God for my family. I’m living every day to the fullest.

Some people feel burdened by their duties and responsibilities, but those, too, are gifts. They complain because they “have to go to work” or they “have to take care of the kids.” You don’t
have
to do anything. You
get
to do all those things. God gives you breath. You couldn’t go to work, take care of the kids, or mow the yard if God didn’t give you the strength. You couldn’t go to work if He didn’t give you the opportunity.

Change your perspective. You don’t
have
to go to work; you
get
to go to work. You don’t
have
to take care of your children; you
get
to take care of your children.

Do you know how many people would give anything to have children? Some couples spend thousands of dollars and go through painful medical procedures in their efforts to have children. They would give anything to be cleaning up after their own kids. Thank God every day for blessing you with children. They are a gift from God.

Don’t take anything for granted, not even the fact that you were able to get out of bed this morning without any help. When you opened your
eyes, you could see. When you told your legs to walk, they obeyed. When your spouse said, “I love you,” you could hear it. When your child gave you a hug, you could feel that embrace. When you ate breakfast, you could taste the food.

If you’re to have the right perspective, appreciate the simple things God has blessed you with.

A congregation member told me that his mentally challenged sister couldn’t talk or walk or feed herself. She needed constant attention. Growing up, he and his other family members helped take care of her. They learned to distinguish among their sister’s cries, which were her only way to communicate. There was a hunger cry and a cry for when she wanted to get up and a cry for when she wanted to go to bed, and another cry for when she was thirsty.

The most difficult cry was the sound she made when she had an itch. You see, she couldn’t tell them where she felt the itch, so they would go all over her body scratching and scratching, trying to alleviate that itch.

Living with his handicapped sister helped this man appreciate the simple things in life that so many of us take for granted. Scratching an itch is no big deal, until you can’t. Then it becomes a very significant matter indeed. It’s a big deal that we tell our arms to work and they work. It’s a big deal that we open our eyes, and without even thinking about it, we see.

When you get up in the morning and you’re tempted to dwell on your problems—how you don’t want to go to work and how life’s not been fair to you—why don’t you turn that around? Instead, thank God that you can scratch your itch. Why don’t you thank God that you have no problem breathing? Why don’t you look out the window and appreciate the simple things like the sun coming up, the birds singing, and the flowers blooming?

Sometimes we think,
My life is so routine, I just get up and go to work and come home. Nothing exciting is happening. I just do the same thing again and again.
But we should be thankful for routine everyday life. There’s nothing ordinary about getting up and going to work. There is nothing ordinary about being able to see, having friends, or having family. Those are gifts from God.

Too often we don’t realize how great we have it until something is taken away. I used to play basketball with a young man named Matt until he started having a problem with his eyes. He had always been very healthy and very active, but his eyes kept bothering him so he went to the doctor. After several tests they told Matt that he had cancer of the eye. The doctor said there was a very good chance he would lose his vision.

Matt was so distraught and upset. He went in for an operation, and, to the doctor’s surprise, they discovered Matt did not have eye cancer. Instead, they found an unusual fungus behind his eye that was affecting his eyesight. They removed it and saved his vision.

When Matt woke up from the operation and heard that his vision was restored, he said, “This is the greatest day of my life.”

Think about it. He didn’t just win the lottery. He didn’t just buy a big new house. He didn’t just get a promotion. He simply got the news that his vision was back to normal.

After his eyesight was restored, Matt told me, “Every day I get up in the morning and on purpose I look around. I stare at my children and my wife. I go outside and look at the trees. I bend down and pick up an acorn on the ground.”