Too Easily Pleased
So I have been bouncing back and forth for a couple months now thinking about starting to “blog”, share stories, or write some thoughts down. Whatever you want to call it, but I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to write about or why I wanted to write.
Finally a question kept coming up and really resonated with me, so that is what I want to write about:
What makes you happy?
What is it that truly can turn a bad day into a good day. That thing that makes you light up. I think that can be a hard question to answer. Your mind starts going all over the place if someone asked it to you. The typical ‘safe’ response would be, “well, a lot of stuff makes me happy”. For some people it is a relationship, a pet, money, sports, or a car. Others it could be a certain song, making someone else happy, or achieving a goal.
For me my mind immediately goes to things like doing well at work, hitting a PR in the gym, seeing my friends when I am home, or just watching tv with my family since I don’t see them often. All these are great and it is SO good that they make us happy. It’s our human nature to want to do things that make us happy.
“All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.”
-Blaise Pascall
This quote is heavy, but after I read it a couple times I could not stop thinking-how true it is. Then I started to think how scary it is that we jump at any moment to make ourselves happy. We are pleased too easily. By that I mean these moments cannot compare to the true eternal joy that we are created for. We barely scratch the surface of true happiness and that becomes good enough. Is just good enough really what we want? It can’t be. If it was then we would not search after so many alternate ways of gaining that glimmer of happiness that is never enough. These quick glimmers cannot be counted on when we struggle with whys, cause ourselves anxiety, or want to celebrate. We need something that won’t change, a strong tower that is the same yesterday as it was today and will be tomorrow.
A relationship with the being that created you to “ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4 is where it is at. We chase after literally everything else in this world but what we were created for. The girls, money, high ranking job, upscale car and a fresh button up. All those things are great, but not at the expense of what you were made for. You ever heard someone say that they were made to do something? I’m sure you have, and we are all created with different talents. We should enjoy those blessings and work hard to grow them. We need accountants, doctors, plumbers, and software developers (self plug). Please excel at the talent God gave you and absolutely feel happiness in doing it well. Do not ever feel poorly about making yourself happy, it is human nature. It is the way He created you-to rejoice! But, do not be content with the glimmers. Be overwhelmed daily by a relationship with your creator.
“It’s obvious, of course, that he didn’t go to all this trouble for angels. It was for people like us, children of Abraham. That’s why he had to enter into every detail of human life. Then, when he came before God as high priest to get rid of the people’s sins, he would have already experienced it all himself — all the pain, all the testing — and would be able to help where help was needed.”
Hebrews 2:16–18