How often to we hear or see a saying that is telling us that life is to short, do what makes you happy, or what feels right?
I know this author is seeing it more and more in recent years as the desire for everything instant gradification grows.
And lets face it happiness, or what feels good, It is a tempory emotion based on a person or set of circumstances that can change at any moment. Which means it is never sastainable, and then leaves us looking for the next fix like a happiness junkie. That comparison may seem harsh but it's the truth, when we don't feel good, or feel happy, we seek out people, things, and/or circumstances that we think will change it.
And if happiness is only tempory and not truly sastainable, then what in the world are we doing? In no other facet of life do people settle for less because the short term looks good. For example, if you are going to buy a car you want something that is going to last, not the one which looks pretty but blows up on you a month after you spend your hard earned money on it, and in some cases might still owe money on. That is happiness, we invest in the short term and always end up let down in the end, right back where we started or worse.
The reason is because people, things, and circumstances simply don't or can't live up to our expectations. And when we depend on those things to make us feel, they do just that when they either run out or simply just aren't what we thought or wanted.
Now Joy on the other hand is what we choose in spite of everyone and everything around us. And because it is a choice that we make it is not dependent on anything other than what we choose. No matter how bad my day, week, month, or year is, I still have my Joy. For me this is true because my Joy is rooted in my relationship with Jesus, who is of course not affected by people, things, or circumstance.
Have you ever seen someone who looks to have the entire world falling apart around them, but yet still seems to be happy in spite of it all? That's because it's not happiness, and likely they aren't happy at all, but because what they have is Joy which doesn't depend on their circumstanses or situation, they appear happy to the outside world.
Joy that is ancored in the everlasting LOVE of the Father who is unchnged through time or by circumstance will outlast any idea of happiness you could ever imagine.
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