I woke up HAPPY today! And I didn’t have to get up any particular time, so I laid in bed for LONG time, just being happy, thinking happy thoughts, being thankful! That made me even happier!
Yesterday, we made an hour long trek down to South KC to Uncle Larry’s house, Brian’s dad’s brother. There was a big houseful of people, the cousins, grown up now, carting little cousins along with them, two sets of grandmas and grandpas, a spare friend or two. We had a delightful meal, and then visited all day long, way into the evening, until we all realized how tired we were and that we still had the trek home.
I just read an interesting study on happiness, done by Harvard University. They ranked cultures by how happy they think themselves to be, and Americans ranked surprising low. The NIGERIANS came out on top! A nation mired in poverty is full of happy people?
It is a lie from the pit of hell that happiness is based on material acquisition. Happiness results from being in relationship with other people! And Americans, in their frantic quest to get more STUFF, have far less time than ever before to be social.
Happiness is also related to gratitude, to being rightly related to our Creator God and acknowledging the good in our life, and the source of that good. I always make a more concerted effort to be grateful around this time of the year. A few days ago I was thanking God for having wonderful neighbors, and then I decided to do something to let them know how thankful I was! I called several of them and invited them over for Thanksgiving pie later this weekend. They’re all coming! We’ll have fun, I’m sure, and end the evening with more than pie in our bellies, but a warm happy feeling in our hearts too!