Happiness is a Choice

According to the 2006 American Psychological Association’s paper, “Psychology of Men & Masculinity": Most women, a staggering 70%, are dissatisfied with the size and shape of their breasts. Currently, 80 percent of women in the U.S. are dissatisfied with their appearance. And more than 10 million are suffering from eating disorders. According to the new study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, most men are insecure about the size of their penis even if they are well-endowed. 30 percent of men were completely dissatisfied with their penises and only 35 percent reported contentment with their size. Most people are unhappy with their bodies and with their size.

Happy people know that happiness is a choice. They know it is not a reaction to present circumstances. Instead, happiness is an available decision despite them. They have removed the thinking that waits for everything to be perfect before joy in life is experienced. The truth is God has given you everything you need in order to be happy. You don't need more money to be happy. You don't need a new car, new house or new job to be happy. You just need to focus on what you have not on what you want. 

When you are too busy looking at what your neighbor has, you have no time to be joyful with what you have. The more you compare your lives to others the more dissatisfied you become with your own. No-one's perfect. But so often we compare our insides to other people's outsides. Dwelling on our flaws -- what we're not rather than what we've got -- makes it much harder to be happy. Learning to accept ourselves, warts and all, and being kinder to ourselves when things go wrong, increases our enjoyment of life, our resilience and our well-being. It also helps us accept others as they are.

We don't need the things of this world to be happy, or the pleasures and pursuits of this life in following the things that the world takes pleasure in. The real path of life is in following the Lord, and following the Lord means living separate from the compromised pleasures of the world and its system and being consecrated unto Him. In God's presence is not only joy, but fullness of joy. We don't need to take pleasure in anything but what ultimately glorifies Him and furthers His purposes, because as we walk in His perfect will, seeking His face, abiding in His blessed presence, we will find true pleasures evermore and holy, divine contentment in Him.

You can choose to be happy no matter what the circumstance life is. Prayer and gratitude can be a doorway into to happiness, joy and a more meaningful life. It is possible to taste heavenly joy while still in our body. When you experience His presence and receive more grace through prayer, thanksgiving and praise, it will give you strength and power to overcome anything.