Keys to Happiness #1

This morning I was having a conversation with a family member who is having a rough time. I came up with several suggestions that I feel are worth writing, even though I have written them other places.

Sometimes life gets out of balance. We work very hard and take a lot of responsibility to the point where life is just a burden. A lot of bad things may be happening all around, including to us. It's a rare person who has never had that happen. We start to get very tired and negative and the whole world looks bad or hopeless. The negatives take over.

It's time to have some fun and schedule in things you enjoy. Jesus took time for himself and to rest regularly and we can too.

Sometimes the balance has to do with the people around us. Needy, hurting people can be a drain on our lives, especially if they are the only people we ever spend time with. They do not mean to be. (And most of us get a turn at being a needy, helpless person in some way.) They really do need the help. Their concerns can be unending, depending on the individual. The people I am talking about are the ones who take but have nothing to give for the time being. Some day many will turn around and be givers.

There are other people who are simply takers that we might have in our lives. They add little or nothing but we keep them around for our own reasons and put up with them. Some of these may be relatives or friends, or they could be coworkers or neighbors, but they are around.

When we find that everybody in our life needs us or is a taker that drains us, it is time to seek balance for the sake of sanity. We need to seek out people who can, and do, add something positive to our lives. They might be givers or they might simply be people who ask nothing of us but enjoy our company. We all know people like, that but sometimes we forget to spend time with them. These are the people we laugh with and we feel refreshed and relaxed when we leave their presence. Without them, life can stink.

For many of us, a pet can be one of the friends who give more than they take. That's why pets are so popular. They are happy to see us and we are their world. They love us even when it seems like nobody else does.

Our lives need balance, whether it be activities, people or anything else. As Ecclesiasiastes 3:1-8 says in it's list of opposites, to everything there is a season.