[Transcript may not match broadcasted sermon word for word]

Happiness Point #83: Enjoy the Journey

       I think paying particular attention to the traffic when you are out and about is a good indicator. I mean that watching the traffic closely shows you that people are always in a hurry to go from one place to the next, from point A to point B. And, in stopping to consider that, it becomes obvious that it’s such a waste of time. What about all the travel time? Why do people always have to be in a hurry? Why not actually enjoy the journey from one place to next? Why does it have to be done in the fastest manner possible, at the fastest speeds? Truly, the drive time is being wasted worrying about getting to the next destination.

       This is often what people do in life. They are in such a hurry to get to the next event, or the next stage in life. The college person is in a hurry to graduate and get out into the workforce. The person working one job may be in a hurry to get a new, higher paying job. The single person is in a hurry to find someone important and get married. It’s just being dissatisfied with where a person is and only focusing on the future. But what about now? Can’t ‘now’ be enjoyed? Does the present have to be wasted away in hopes for the future? Yet, this is what we have found ourselves doing. Just wasting good experiences we could be having right now for the hope that things will get better.

       Once we realize this error we are making I think it is easier to slow down and actually enjoy life. Life isn’t about getting from point A to point B. Life is about enjoying the journey from one point to the next. That’s because if it’s just about going from point A to B, then once we arrive at B, we are just going to start looking forward to getting to point C. And so on and so on. It’s like the dog who quickly gobbles down the piece of human flood you give to her only to be waiting on the next. And you think, “But wait, you didn’t enjoy the bite I just gave you.” So what’s the point?

       Hurrying for the sake of hurrying really shows a bad habit in full manifestation. It demonstrates to all the world that we really don’t understand how life works, and what the important things actually are. We are deceived. Nah, life is the time between points, the time of the journey. That being the case, we better learn to ‘enjoy’ the journey because that’s what life is. If we don’t enjoy it, we miss most of life. The big events are not the meaning to life. It is as Ben Franklin has taught us, “Happiness consists more in small conveniences or pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life.” Indeed, this is one of my favorite quotes.

Happiness Point #84: Having a Good, Consistent Effort

       We have three choices really when it comes to working on something, whatever that something is. The first choice is that we work half-hearted, and we only accomplish the task just to get it done, to check it off our list. The reverse of that, going to the other end of the spectrum, is that we work really hard. We mull over every detail and get something just right, at least, as perfect as we can get it. This takes a lot of time and mental, rigorous effort. The third option is that we do a good job. We don’t work half-heartedly, but we don’t overwork it either. Our work ends up good, but not underdone or overdone.

       A lot of people probably picked the second choice, the working really hard choice, as the correct way to go about things. However, let us consider why that might not be the best course of action. I believe the third option is best. I believe it’s best when we have a good, consistent effort. You see, our effort can only be consistent when when we have enough energy to do the next project. If we overwork on something, we are going to be too burned out to even more on to the next thing. But by doing a good job instead, we are pleased with our work, and having done that good job, we can accomplish the next task with energy still left in us.

       The truth is, everything in the world could in fact be done better. There is always a way, or a person, who can do something better. Jesus strove for good, consistent effort when he was here on the earth. He didn’t overwork, and he didn’t underwork. He had a good balance. He spent a lot of time praying by himself. He spent time socializing. He didn’t rush from one point to the next to try to get in as many places as he possibility could on his grand tour. He left a lot to do for the Apostles after him, for the Apostle Paul even. One could say that Paul was more zealous than the Lord, and he even left things undone for others to complete. The point is we don’t have to do everything ourselves. It’s okay to do a fair share, and that is good enough.

Happiness Point #85: Move Away from Low Vibe People

       People all have different vibration patterns about them. Some are what we would call high vibe. Some are average vibe. Some are low vibe. It’s great when we are around high vibe people. They encourage us to keep moving forward. They energize us; it’s fun to be around them. And then there’s the normal vibe people, which is the group with probably the most people in it. Sometimes they encourage, and other times they just are. But they definitely don’t a habit of hurting. Hurting comes from the low vibe people. They are ones who are full of negativity, full of criticism and correction; simply put, they are an annoyance. We dread being around these types of people. They don’t know how to correctly relate to other people.

       I am a firm believer that if we are going to live happy, successful lives that one of the things we have to do is eliminate the low vibe people from our lives as much as possible. This is because of what the Bible tells us in that bad company messes up a good person. We might think of bad company as a person who is clearly involved in sin, or clearly involved in things we don’t want to be involved with as a Christian. But, the truth is, bad company can also be people who drag us down energetically. People who are discouragers instead of encouragers. People who have an overly serious way about them, who discourage fun, who value perfectionism and suffering. These are people we want to get away from.

       You see, the low vibe person is one who is filled with internal problems that haven’t been dealt with. Sometimes a person is aware they are low vibe, but usually they are not aware of it. Some in fact think that the whole Christian life is supposed to be low vibe. They’ll say, “We live in a sinful world. Things are bad. We aren’t supposed to be happy. We are supposed to sacrifice and suffer.” All they are seeing is the negative. They can’t see the positive no matter what you do. Again, it’s because this negativity is coming from the inside. It is what is on the inside that becomes our characters.

       How is that we aren’t supposed to live negatively, or supposed to sacrifice and suffer in our lives? Remember, the Apostle Paul told us in the Scriptures to think about good things. He made a very specific point of that. It doesn’t mean that we aren’t going to have problems. It doesn’t mean that everything will always be the way we want it. Yet even Paul, in the ways he put himself out there for the Gospel, being arrested and what not, still believed one should have positive thoughts. I mean, have you ever thought about that? If anyone had the ‘right’ to be negative it was Paul. And yet he deliberately choose to think about good things in the midst of everything he was doing.

       If we don’t move away from negative people, we will end up poisoning our lives. It is just that simple. As another Biblical writer talked about, the same well cannot bring forth good water and bad water at the same time. No matter what needs to be done, what one has to do, moving away from low vibe people is critical. This way, they cannot bring you down energetically, and you are then free to think about things the right ways, the correct ways. You are free to think positively because you don’t always have negative people standing around ready to pop your balloons.

Happiness Point #86: Decide You Don’t Judge the Creator

       Probably one of the biggest temptations I have faced in my own life is to judge the Creator when bad things happen. I mean, it sounds so bad. “Why would you judge God for bad things that happen?” someone might ask. And I think my logic behind it always was that, “Well, God had the ability to prevent whatever it was. Therefore, God is at fault.” However, with that kind of mindset, we will quickly find ourselves at fault because God never is. Just because God has the ability to prevent things doesn’t mean he is at fault when bad things happen.

       Let’s think about this whole concept. God has given everyone the ability to make choices. We can choose to do this or that, for the good and even for the bad. I have come to the conclusion over many years of thinking about it that God is not at fault because he had limited himself (in a way we really cannot understand) to humans choices. What I mean is that God allows humans to make choices and he refuses to interfere with those choices. Understanding things that way makes much more sense. If God controlled everyone’s choices, then no one would really be making choices in the first place. He would just be running everything behind the scenes.

       So, I have come to the conclusion in light of the fact that God allows us to choose things that he then is not at fault when things don’t work out in our favor. If someone else, say the business you work for, decides to make a choice that directly puts you out of work, that’s not God’s fault. He didn’t interfere with their choice. Now, God can work good for us and get us another job somewhere else, and he will do that for us, especially when we don’t judge him for our now negative circumstances. But it’s important to realize that God wasn’t at fault. He was bound by it just as much as you were. Sure, theoretically, he could have intervened and made things go a different direction. But he usually doesn’t do that.

       When we make the conscious choice not to judge God for bad things that happen, then, we increase our happiness level a lot. This means that when unfortunate events do come our way that we don’t feel like we need to get mad at God. We don’t even feel like God was at fault for allowing whatever to have happened happen. Rather, instead, we seek God for his comfort and his help in our newfound situation. This way, with this attitude, he can provide us with help to get us out of, or through, whatever we are facing.

Happiness Point #87: Sit in the Cemetery

       Once or twice a year, I will usually find time to go to the cemetery and take a seat. “Sounds strange,” someone might say. “What is wrong with you.” Well, actually, I find that sitting in the cemetery is a good reminder of things. For one, when I sit in the cemetery I can remember that one day I am going to die. Just like all these tombs bear witness to, one day that’s going to be me. I’m no different than anyone else. One day I am going to be buried in the ground like the rest of these people. And that being the case, it reminds me that my time here on the earth is important, and that what I spend my life doing is important. What other lives am I going to affect for the good?

       And that thought being in view, it then brings up the next point. And that is that really other people matter. We all affect people in different ways. We all have people that are important to us: family members, friends, and even acquaintances. We each make a difference in the lives of people whether we realize this fact or not. Some of us for the good. Some of us in a neutral way. And, unfortunately, some of us in a bad way. It would be nice if I could say that everyone helps everyone else, but we all know experientially that that is not the case. I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I said otherwise. So, in light of that, how do we live our lives? How are we doing? Which person are we?

       And third, sitting in the cemetery reminds me that just as behind every tombstone was a person who lived so it is that behind every tombstone is a person who still is living. No one ever ceases to exist. We know that if we are Christians. We know that every person needs the chance to believe in Jesus, to believe on him for the forgiveness of their sins. And so, the cemetery is the greatest Gospel reminder I have personally found. Nothing reminds me more of the importance of the Gospel, of people’s hearing, and of their believing in it. For those who do believe, the tombstone doesn’t mean much because they will raise again. They, like their Lord Jesus, will raise from the dead to a new life, and one of which death can never occur again.

Happiness Point #88: Understanding Happiness as a Choice

       Most people see their personal happiness as dependent upon their circumstances. I do it at times, though, I am trying more and more to get out of this mindset. Why is this bad—to base our happiness on our external circumstances? Well, it’s an incorrect line of thinking because true happiness comes from our relationships with God. It doesn’t come from whether things are seemingly going good or seeminelying going bad. It doesn’t come from how many people like us today versus how many people are upset with us. When we know we are in right relationship with the Creator, we can truly be happy and spend time with him on a daily basis.

       I think that the more and more I live out my life, I have come to realize that the less the things I want, the less the things I desire, the happier and freer I feel. The very essence of the feeling of wanting, whatever it is that we want, means that things are incomplete right now. Deep down in the realm of how things really are, we know that’s not true. Like I said, what really matters is that we are in right relationship with God. If I want a girlfriend, a house, a new car, a new computer, more friends, closer friends, whatever it is, then I am looking to the future for my happiness. I am saying, “I can’t be happy right now because things are not as ‘I want’ them to be.” That’s a bad place to be in really, and yet that’s where there’s the tendency for us to live.

       When we live too focused on this earth, and what we see with our eyes, we find that we have based our happiness in many temporary things. That’s what the carnal person, to use a Scriptural term, does. That’s what our ‘sin-nature’ wants us to do. We can base our entire happiness on things that may not be in the near future. That can be possessions, our career, other people, how much money’s in the bank, whatever. Those things are all subject to change. What’s interesting about focusing on the external is that we know that no matter how rich we are, whether that is in possessions or friends, that that really doesn’t even guarantee our happiness, does it? Think of all the celebrities who’ve had all the possessions and friends, and yet ended up unhappy.

       The truth is that happiness is inside of us; that is where it belongs. And that happy feeling comes, again, from our knowing everything between us and God is good. This is made possible initially by what Jesus has accomplished for the world on the cross. His raising from the dead to new life means we can have new life. That’s really all we need, and really all that can give us access to the happiness we want. When we practice, when we live out our relationships with God, then we experience happiness. There is nothing like spending time with him, knowing everything is really okay, knowing that we don’t need anything besides him. And understanding that, no matter what happens, because we have him, we are okay.

Happiness Point #89: Watch TV; You Can Only Read So Much

       I love to learn. I love to read. I can spend a long time reading about this or that. I can read about American history for a couple hours. I spend quite a long time reading a Biblical commentary, or multiple commentaries consecutively. Non-fiction is great. There are so many subjects to consider. And, of course, there is self-development. That’s probably the most interesting to read of them for hope of discovering something new. It’s always fun to be on the hunt for that next realization, that next thing that can be implemented into our lives in order to try to make them better.

       All that being said, the truth is that I can only read so much. I get tired of reading because while it is fun, it does take a lot of mental energy. That’s because your eyes are moving across the pages constantly. If it’s something that you have never read before, you’re taking in new information. You’re downloading it to your brain. That requires energy. That requires thinking. And while it’s fun, I can only do it so much. Personally, after about two to three hours of reading something I am usually done. That’s about as far as I can get with whatever it is.

       So, what I’ve found is that watching TV is a good alternative when I have found reading to become too cumbersome. If I want to learn something new, I can watch a documentary or some history-related show. There are biographies. There are movies that are wholesome, and about historic things from which I can learn, or just enjoy. Not sure exactly what it is, by watching TV seems to have a different impact on my head. It doesn’t seem to require as much energy, as much thinking, as reading does. So, to make sure I stay happy, I only read so much, and I try to balance it with some good TV.

- Daniel Litton