Rick Osborn | Life Coach, Nutrition Consultant & Graphic Designer

The question - “When will I be happy again?” - was posed to me recently by a friend in an apparent state of discomfort and agony. I’m sure many of us, if not in the present, certainly at sometime in our past, have asked ourselves this same question.

And, how does a wise person respond to such an inquiry? I’ve given it some thought, and here’s what I’ve concluded:

The truth is that when I endeavor to give wise counsel to anyone, I reflect upon my study of scripture, as God is the author of all truth and wisdom. Certainly He has a fitting answer for such a difficult question. I’ll get to that in a moment. But first, I’d like to state what my mom (whom I perceive to be a fighter AND a happy person) has told me for years, which I believe to be profoundly true . . .

Life Is What You Make of It

It’s true, we all face difficulties at times, especially now in light of the current political and economic climate around the world. Unfortunately, on this side of eternity, this is the nature of life. But, I believe that when confronted with trials, fear, heartache, difficulties, disputes, sickness, despair, disillusionment (Did I leave anything out?), we have a choice. . . we either CHOOSE to crumble or we CHOOSE to conquer. It’s always easiest to surrender, throw up our hands and scream “I give up, I can’t take it any more . . .” And, maybe the answer is that we shouldn’t “take it any more.” The truth is though, we DO have a choice in the matter! We either choose to live the best life that we can live, or we choose NOT to live and allow our circumstances and apparent misfortune to blow us all over the place, making us miserable, ineffective, sorry, depressed people. The problem with the latter CHOICE (and it is a choice) is that we never quite know where we’ll end up and we surrender any control that we have to our misery and sad circumstances. And let me reiterate, the way we conduct our emotions, actions, energy, lifestyles, etc. IS A CHOICE.

Six Tips for Choosing Happiness

In all practicality, let me just get to the point here and give you some tips on how you can CHOOSE to BE HAPPY NOW on a daily basis:

1. Remember, HALF FULL, NOT HALF EMPTY! Adjust your perspective. Every day will have it’s challenges. We need to look at this as life’s daily exercise routine as God’s way for making us wiser, emotionally stronger and better people.
2. Check your moral compass and LIVE BY IT! Filter every thing, every decision and every action daily! (If you don’t know how to do this, click here to read my blog on “Checking Your Filter”.)
3. Make Psalm 37:4 - “Delight yourself in the LORD: and He will give you the desires of your heart” your mantra! You can’t go wrong with this one.
4. Live in the present! When you focus on past mistakes or constantly worry about what might be in the future, you miss living in the NOW and forget to enjoy the ride.
5. Finally, do something good for someone else. When you take your time and talents and use them to help someone else, you WILL be happier. Being egocentric is misery. Don’t forget the Golden Rule.
6. Get some daily exercise! It’s a simple fact that being physically active makes us feel better.

If you practice the above six tips, I can promise you that your life WILL BE A LOT HAPPIER - right away. You won’t even have to wait for joy to overwhelm you.

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I woke up this morning with the following on my mind and in my heart. I felt it important to share with you. It may seem simple in light of my usual longer blogs, but the profound nature of this scripture can and will change a life . . .

“Praise the LORD
Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
His love endures forever.

Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD
or fully declare his praise?

Blessed are they who maintain justice,
who constantly do what is right.”

Psalm 106:1-3

Quite simply, what you can take from this passage are three very practical steps that will revolutionize your life:

1. Praise God.
2. Be thankful - no matter what your circumstance, for this is God’s will (see I Thess. 5:18).
3. Do what’s right.

I won’t get long-winded here and elaborate on these things for they are quite simple.  But, let me just say, if you’re in the midst of difficulty, adversity, trial or tribulation - take heart, because God has a plan for your life - if you’re in relationship with Him.  If you have a right relationship with the Father through Jesus His Son, the above three steps will keep your path straight and your focus on target.

My prayer for us all is that we might live accordingly.

God bless you today!

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Many times, small decisions can have big consequences. Living without understanding, moving beyond boundaries, operating without knowing the truth, making choices without conviction - all can get you into trouble. Up front and out loud, let me get straight to the point -

Look before you leap!

Watch your step!

Guard your heart!

There, enough said. If I thought that just mentioning these clichés would keep someone from making stupid decisions, I’d stop right here. Unfortunately, most of us are hard headed and willful, myself included. The cruel truth of the matter is that many times it’s the bad choices that we make, along with their unpleasant consequences that teach us the best and most valuable lessons in life.

We’ve got to be vigilant, watchful, careful, guarded, etc. with the decisions that we make every day. One misplaced step - one wrong decision - one unfiltered calculation can land us in the mud and even destroy our lives. So, how do we know? How do we keep from falling into a pit in the midst of life?

The answer lies in our filter. My question for you is - what kind of filter do you have?

Picture for a moment the best cup of coffee that you’ve ever had. Pouring hot water through savory, fresh, roasted coffee grinds produces a rich aromatic brew of coffee that engages the brain and body. If you’re like me, there’s nothing like enjoying a great cup of coffee in the morning. But, imagine for a moment what that cup would taste like without using the right filter. It would either be too weak, too strong - full of grounds and taste like gritty mud - not too appetizing.

This is much of what our lives are like when we don’t use the right filter. A filter is used to keep out the bad stuff. It’s that simple. If we simply allow anything in, then our lives become polluted, sludgy, messy, stinky, filthy with severe consequences that we’ll have to struggle to overcome. Even worse is the fact that our bad decisions and involvements can negatively affect others, especially those whom we love.

Now, I’ll ask you again. What kind of filter are you using for your life? Do you even have one? Have you ever even thought about what you’ve allowed into your life? Furthermore, how is it affecting you? How’s it affecting the ones that you love?

Even if you have a filter, it’s a worthy question to be asked. Examine it, try it and test it. Make sure it’s the right one for you - the best one that will help you move positively forward from this point onward. It may be that you’re dealing with circumstances as a result of not having a filter or of using a faulty one.

Use God as your Filter

The first step towards putting the right filter in place is to understand the truth about yourself and your situation in relation to God’s wisdom.

Christ stated in John 8:31-32, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

My Suggestions for Adjusting Your Filter:

1. Ask God to reveal His truth to you on a daily basis.
2. Seek to know God in a personal way through prayer and studying His word.
3. Pray that God will transform you with His truth and wisdom.
4. As you learn more about God, allow Him to transform your life, creating the right FILTER for you.
5. Rest in the fact that you’re protected daily, because your choices and decisions are in line with God’s truth - a filter that He created because He knows what’s best for us.

Before your life leads you somewhere you don’t want to be, check your filter. Learn God’s truth, apply it to your life and live in freedom.

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