Choosing Happiness

Friday's column...

A sweet, 89-year-old saint recently told me: “You choose your happiness.”

She is not from Kentucky, but she lives here now. Her old friends and home are far from here, along with what she is familiar with. Doctors she sees and the people she now calls friends are new to her.

Since being here, she has enjoyed every day because she has discovered the secret. Like the apostle Paul and all of God’s loved and revered saints, she has “learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11). Her attitude has made all the difference in the world for her and for those who care for her.

Thankfully, she is not one of a kind.

A young lady in my church is extremely active. She is up before the sun and stays busy long after it goes down. There is a constant demand on her time. If she wanted to, she could complain. Instead of being negative, she chooses happiness.

In this difficult economy, a man I know is working two jobs. He has a precious wife and children he loves and must provide for. The time he spends with them is limited, but he does not complain. Throughout the day, he reminds himself that he is blessed to be healthy enough to work. He chooses happiness.

Last week, a dear friend of mine had to bury his mom. She was in very poor health and lived with pain. Those who cared for her at the facility in which she lived told him with tears how much they respected and loved his mom. He heard story after story about how she would pray for them and listen to them talk about their problems, but she never complained. Somehow, she was always optimistic. She chose happiness.

These people have something in common other than their choice to be happy. Each one of them is easy to love.

A nurse said about my friend’s mother: “Your mom was just so easy to love.”

The same is said of that seasoned saint of 89, that young woman and that hardworking man. They are easy to love.

Complicated is not a word that describes them. What you see is what you get. And what you see in each of them is a person committed to honoring God, working hard and doing right by other people. They are kind and caring. Their joy is to serve a need greater than themselves.

It is people like them who make the world a better place, who make a society work. They are the ones who keep their promises, share their resources and encourage the discouraged. They think nothing of what they do, but others cannot forget what it is they have done.

I want to be like them. To the best of my ability, I am going to choose to be happy. I am going to do what I must do to fulfill my responsibilities. I will do all I can to help others. Come what may, I will attempt to be thankful and content with what God has given me. He’s already given me far more than I deserve.