Happiness

Hello friends!

First note before we get into the actual blog... I don't know if you guys know this or not, but for about two-ish years now I have been contributing and now co-managing this wonderful blog called Fire of the Spirit! Fire of the Spirit is a community of Catholic teens that produce media for the benefit and inspiration of other Catholic teens. What started out as a small newsletter, has now blossomed into a full blown online magazine, YouTube channel, and frequently posting blog! I have been so honored to collaborate with these very faith-filled Catholic teenagers from all around the world. I recently uploaded this post onto their blog, so I highly recommend you read this post, and then check out the blog! The link is here. Their main website is here. Let me know what you guys think! 

-

It’s the one question that we all ask.

It’s the one thing that we all long for. It is the goal of humanity.

Happiness.

Happiness is something we all strive for, although our definitions may very from person to person. But how do we reach happiness? What can we do to be happy?

The first step to reaching this is to realize what you want. If you want to be happy for an hour, watch an episode of your favorite television show. If you want to be happy for a day, hang out with your friends. If you want to be happy for a week, go on vacation. If you want to be happy for a year, get rich.*

But if you want to be happy forever, you need God.

Sometimes I don’t like when devotionals or reflections really sugar-coat things, so I am going to give you the cold hard truth

TRUTH #1: You will never, ever be happy without God.

Period. No exceptions. Sure, we can hide from God our entire lives and indulge ourselves, but we will never quench the feeling of thirst that we have in our souls.

Do you know why? The answer is simple. Because God has written His love for you on your heart. From the first moment of your existence, He knew that He was the best path for you, so he inscribed it onto your heart so you would never forget. It is true, we do not forget, but sometimes our lives, our desires, and the world can cover our hearts and shroud the message of God.

The materials and pleasures of this life are fleeting, and in a sense, meaningless. God gives us purpose in our life. Why are we here? God. Who made us? God. Who loves us more than any dang thing in the world? God. So who/what is going to make us happy?

I think you should answer that one for yourself.

I like to think of it like this. We all have altars to God. (If you are Christian anyways. If not, the bricks are there). From our Baptism, we were made children of God. When we were baptized the foundation of the altar was laid. So imagine your relationship with God as that.

Society and the components of life are like salesmen. They dress in bright clothes, have loud voices, and are very, very good at distracting you. Not to mention, their middle names are Liar. They like to jump in front of God’s altar like it is just another vending table. They yell at you, they tug at you, and they won’t stop. There is more and more that sell their wares until you can’t see or hear God anymore. Yet the altar is still there, although it may be covered in cobwebs and dust.

Can you see your altar? Can you see God welcoming you with open arms? Can you hear His voice calling your name? I know for me, it is a constant struggle to keep my eyes fixed on God, because I get so distracted. It is so hard, and it is something that we will be dealing with until we reach Heaven.

TRUTH #2: You can destroy your conscience.

And that should scare you. Because I know it scared me. To imagine a life where you don’t know the difference between right and wrong is down-right frightening. Because you can destroy your conscience. It’s like a habit, when you go against your conscience again and again, you stop listening to it’s voice. It starts fading, and what you want overpowers what God wants. Soon enough, you don’t hear it at all.

Now don’t be scared that this is happening to you, because unless you are always thinking about how to make the world worse, this isn’t happening to you. But really think about it. There might be places where it is duller than others. Your conscience is like a muscle, the more it is used, the stronger it gets, and soon it becomes second nature.

TRUTH #3: It’s not always going to be a Disney movie.

I feel like when most people think of happiness, they think of a Disney movie.

And pixie dust, Peter. 

The princess falls in love with the prince, and they get married and live happily ever after.

We live in a dark world full of super weird and depressing and terrible things. Because of our sin, we will never always be 100 % happy and ready to roll. Free will gives us a temptation that will almost all-ways beat us out because we want our happiness like we want our french fries, fast and bottomless but almost always regretful after you eat the entire restaurants worth.

We need the bad days to make the happy ones that much better. It’s never going to be perfect, but in Heaven it will. So we can be princesses/princes in Heaven. I call Ariel, thank you. :)

What are the little things that make you happy?

All through Christ,

Maddie

*= Format taken from Matthew Kelly’s Confirmation Devotional Decision Point