²² A cheerful heart is good medicine,
    but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

In our colleges and universities you will find a course that is consistent to be the most popular, ‘What Does It Mean to be Happy’. College students are flocking to take the course. The students feel overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, and depressed. In my mind, it is not just college students in today’s culture that face these kind of issues in their life.

According to a survey of why college students are not happy, it says that 52% feel hopeless and 39% suffer from sever depression. Then, according to a statistic in happiness across the world, the United States is rated number 18, as to Finland is rated number, Canada is number 7, and Australia is number 10.

To me being happy is a moving target. There are moments of happiness, moments of sadness, moments of triumph, moments of discouragement, and moments of pleasure to name just a few. My thoughts are that we have become a self indulged society were it becomes the ‘all about me’ thinking. It can also be the thoughts that the people around me are to make me happy. Good luck with that.

As my Pappy used to say, “Seize the moments of happiness because they are like sand in your hands. They soon dissolve and blow away.”

To be happy is a choice of attitude, and sometimes we need help with that. I like what the Bible says in Philippians 4:4, ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice!’ Rejoicing in the Lord comes from the depths of the soul. That is where true happiness is found.

Strength and Courage

Michael