|Happiness

Most of us generally want to be happy. Sure, we listen to depressing music and watch horror films and tear-jerkers. But somewhere deep inside, we do long for some sense of contentment, peace, satisfaction and joy. Happiness.

So what does it take to be happy? Researchers give us a few ideas (Marilyn Elias, Psychologists now know what makes People happy, 8 Dec '08, USA TODAY.com):

"The happiest people surround themselves with family and friends, don't care about keeping up with the Joneses next door, lose themselves in daily activities and, most important, forgive easily."

"The happiest people spend the least time alone. They pursue personal growth and intimacy; they judge themselves by their own yardsticks, never against what others do or have."

"'Materialism is toxic for happiness,' says University of Illinois psychologist Ed Diener."

"Life satisfaction occurs most often when people are engaged in absorbing activities that cause them to forget themselves, lose track of time and stop worrying."

"Gratitude has a lot to do with life satisfaction, psychologists say. Talking and writing about what they're grateful for amplifies adults' happiness, new studies show. Other researchers have found that learning to savor even small pleasures has the same effect. And forgiveness is the trait most strongly linked to happiness, says University of Michigan psychologist Christopher Peterson."

"There's also evidence that altruistic acts boost happiness in the giver."

"People aren't very good at predicting what will make them happy, cutting-edge research shows."

"People expect that events will have a larger and more enduring impact on them — for good or ill — than they really do, Gilbert's studies find."

"In pursuing happiness, [Gilbert] suggests 'we should have more trust in our own resilience and less confidence in our predictions about how we'll feel. We should be a bit more humble and a bit more brave.'"

|Discouragement (Sponsored by Despair.com)

I've grown increasing frustrated, stressed and discouraged over the past few months. I've contemplated quitting my job and becoming a janitor again. Today I received three different forms of encouragement, and I've decided to share them.

(1) This morning I read about Paul en route to Rome (Acts 27:13-44). Against his advisement, the ship had sailed from Crete into the Adriatic. As the "gentle south wind" turned into a "wind of hurricane force," Paul received a message from God of hope and encouragement--the ship would be destroyed but no one would die (27:23-26). That is, no one would be lost unless they abandoned ship (27:31).

"Don't abandon the ship, Jeff. It may fall apart, and you may land in the sea, but stay where you are. Stick it out. This is not the end of you."

(2) Then over a bowl of organic oats fortified and flavored with local pear juice, organic sunflower seeds, organic flax seeds, organic raisins and a scoop of rice protein, I scanned yesterday's reading in My Utmost for His Highest (Chambers).

"If God has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace; if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with Him. If the providential order of God for you is a hard time of difficulty, go through with it.... If you are not living in touch with Him, it is easy to pass a crude verdict on God. You must go through the crucible before you have any right to pronounce a verdict, because in the crucible you learn to know God better" (p 316; Nov 11).

(3) A coworker shared this video with me after lunch. Almost everyone else in the office had seen it, but Nick Vujicic's story was new to me (more).

But then I read Demotivators from www.despair.com: