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Here’s my New Year’s gift to you. Some advice I think is worth a
million bucks. Make one resolution this year. Forget losing
weight or trying to launch a new business or winning a political
office or inventing a cure for cancer. All those things are well
and good but inevitably will prevent you from reaching the most
important goal for 2004 or for any year for that matter.
Make a resolution to be happy; nothing more and nothing less.
Happiness is more than just a state of mind or money in the
pocket. It is not some fancy 50-cent word tucked away in your
secret wish book. It is not buying as many self-help books as
you can cram into a grocery bag or carrying a checklist to make
sure you are practicing one of the seven habits of highly
effective people. It’s not having to fake it at work and hoping
your new positive attitude can mask the confusion or loneliness
or dissatisfaction you feel in your ho-hum life.
Happiness is an inner kind of peace that causes you to sit back
in traffic and actually enjoy the minute of peace while waiting
for the light to change. It’s the voice at the end of the day
that says, “Hey, you did a bang up job!” when no one even
noticed you entering the building. It’s the excitement and
relief you feel knowing you are going to be home in a few
minutes, in your own domain, with no one to judge you or measure
you against anyone else. It’s not worrying about tomorrow until
the new day dawns. It’s knowing… not just believing… that there
is some purpose for your life, even if you can’t see it.
Several years ago I was unfairly demoted in my job as an anchor
and put back on the streets. It was devastating for me at the
time because I was forced to take a pay cut which nearly cost us
our home. My news director at the time, who was not responsible
for my reassignment, would call me into his office and could see
the hurt in my eyes. “Don’t take this so seriously. Just because
one person makes a judgment about you that’s wrong doesn’t mean
it’s true. And besides, do you think God is all that impressed
with what some boss thinks of you?”
Now, I have always been a man of faith. I truly believe and know
that God has me here on earth for a number of reasons. I’m a
great father, and husband and have always been an encourager. I
can make people laugh and feel good about themselves. These
things don’t change about my internal character because someone
on the outside can’t see them, or is blinded to them for their
own personal gain. It happens a lot in the TV and radio
business. I had seen it a hundred times and should have been
able to lump it and move on. My first reaction was to go out and
buy every book I could find on making career changes or finding
that inner spark. No kidding, I bought over 20 different books
in about three weeks hoping I could find a nugget of truth that
would make this pain go away. None of those motivational
geniuses had the spark or the “Soup” that I needed at the time.
The giant motivational seminar I attend with 25-thousand other
“seekers” was a bust because it made me feel even guiltier for
not being happy.
Actually, my turn around occurred in the privacy of my own car.
I was listening to a tape of a North Carolina mountain stream
with some nondescript strings thrown in. The birds were singing
their symphony as the leaves of the trees rustled in the cool
spring breeze. You could feel the warmth of the sun as the rays
danced across the glistening surface of the tumbling brook. In
the distance I could hear my four kids, all under the age of 10,
laughing and splashing water on each other. I could fell the
approving and adorning gaze of the love of my life from the
nearby bank. Time was suspended, the world’s cares held at a bay
by this perfect moment in the grand tapestry of my universe.
Happiness was there for me anytime I wanted it, any time I
wanted to step out of my pity party and into the glow of the
things in life that really matter.
The key to being happy is not having what you want, but wanting
what you have. I’d give credit to the original author of that
phrase but I don’t know who said it first. All I know is that
happiness comes from being contented with whatever God has given
you at that moment. Sometimes it seems He has given us
immeasurable wealth of things and friends and family. There are
other times when the measurable blessings are few in number but
plenty in their ability to satisfy.
I don’t know where the beginning of 2004 finds you. But of all
the gifts I could hope for you this year, happiness would be
first. It’s not found in any “thing” or any book. It begins and
ends with you making the decision to turn from the negative and
create the inner attitude of wanting what you have. The best
part though, is that happiness is a spiritual walk. If you can
begin to comprehend and absorb that there is a God who loves you
like you are, who has a plan for you, and who is accessible
24-hours a day, and obsesses over you unlike anything or anyone
you have ever met, then happiness is within your reach. As the
Good book says, “The eyes of the Lord search to and fro eagerly
and gladly looking for those He can encourage.” That my friend
is you, and, that my friend is happiness.
Drop me a line if this happiness rings true for you this year.
If not, write me anyway and maybe I can help you along the way.
That is my commitment and for you this year!
