By Dr. James Snyder
One of the most important elements of life is happiness. When I look around the world, I notice how scarce happiness seems, which makes me reflect on its true value.
I have come to the conclusion that happiness is a choice. I can be happy or sad. The choice is mine.
Whenever things aren’t going the way I want, and it seems very chaotic around me, I stop, think a little bit, and actively choose happiness over my worrying, which helps me regain perspective.
Not too long ago, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage looked at me and said, “Why are you so happy?”
I looked at her smiling and said, “As long as you’re in my life, I will be happy.”
She looked at me, smiled, and then walked away. I’m not sure if she understood exactly what I was saying, but I meant it from the bottom of my heart.
I once told her that I had a PhD in happiness.
“What does that mean?” She asked.
“A PhD is a ‘Perpetual Happiness Demeanor’”. And I have earned that degree.
Throughout the years, I have had this degree challenged on many levels. When things seem at their worst, I need to step back, smile, and be happy.
If you watch the news on TV, there are a million reasons not to be happy. If I believed everything on TV, it would be hard to be happy. The purpose of television news is to depress people, and they are very successful at it.
No matter how bad a situation looks, I can be happy. For every bad thing in the world, I can always find something good to be happy about.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those possibility thinkers who think all I have to do is think it and I can achieve it. I don’t believe that at all. But I do believe in happiness in itself.
The other day The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage was looking very sad. I approached her and said, “What’s wrong? Why are you looking so sad?”
Then she explained to me in detail why she was so sad. Based on what she said, she has every good reason to be sad. She had both thumbs injured, and they were not quite movable, which hindered her from doing some work she does.
“I just am tired of my thumbs not working yet.”
It reminded me of a time in my life when I was hit with shingles on my right side. My right arm was limited in what I could do with it. It really may be quite sad.
One day, I went to Wendy’s, and a man came out of the store without a right arm. From the top of his shoulders down, his arm was missing.
As I watched him walk to his truck, I got to thinking. That man will never be able to use his arm because it’s gone. I, on the other hand, will be able to use my arm again one day because it’s just a temporary setback.
So, I told my wife, “Don’t get discouraged. That will soon go away and you will have full access to both of your thumbs.” I smiled at her, hoping she would catch the happiness bug.
I don’t think happiness comes automatically. It’s a matter of choice. In the midst of some very negative situations, I can either suffer through them or choose to be happy. I’m not happy about my situation, but happiness is my choice in life.
When my schedule is full, it is an opportunity for something to go wrong. I’ve lived long enough to realize that something going wrong is always an option. When I think I’ve got everything in line and I’m ready to take the next step, something blows up in my face.
That is enough to make me sad and even angry. I see a lot of angry people in this world. I can choose to be angry or to be happy. The choice is all mine.
It’s taken me almost a lifetime to understand that and to choose happiness under every circumstance.
The other day I had a doctor’s appointment across town. Just a checkup that the doctors like to do. I went out, got in my truck, and it would not start. I did everything I could possibly think of, but nothing got that truck running.
That was a real recipe for some anger in my situation. I finally had to call AAA to have them come and start up my truck. When he came, he discovered that it was the battery.
It took him about an hour to fix my truck and get it running. In the meantime, I had to cancel my doctor’s appointment and reschedule it.
I was a little bit agitated. When I walked into the house, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage greeted me and said, “Are you happy now?”
She caught me with pie in my face. I looked at her, smiled very gently, and said, “I am now!”
I found some scripture that supports my happiness. Proverbs 3:13, “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.”
My happiness is not found in the world, but in my personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dr. James L. Snyder lives in Ocala, FL with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Telephone 1-352-216-3025, e-mail jamessnyder51@gmail.com, website www.jamessnyderministries.com.
