I have always enjoyed writing. I tend to get inside of my own head a little bit too often and I love how writing allows me to flush all of that out. I truly believe that people who read books and put their thoughts down on paper (or on computer) are more likely to achieve great things. Why do I believe this? Well, it just makes sense to me. Think about it, how many REALLY successful people never read? I'm not defining "success" as "makes a ton of money" but as impacting the world. Every person I know who impacts the world for the Kingdom of Christ not only reads, but also puts their thoughts down. If that's the case, why doesn't everybody do it?
Well, that is a question I have asked myself recently. I think we can all agree that it is a great idea to do these things everyday: exercise, eat healthy, read Scripture, pray, read a "spiritual" book, and serve others. I would venture to say, if there is a person who does those 6 things EVERY day, they would not only be impacting the world, but also be filled with a crazy amount of joy. So, why don't I do those things? Why is it SO hard to "find" the time to read Scripture and pray to my Savior? I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I don't really believe they are that valuable. If I REALLY believed they were the keys to joy I would do them. Right?
I'm also going to guess you don't do those things either. In fact, there are many other things we should do on a daily basis that we never, ever do. There are things we know we should do, but don't ever get around to doing. In my humble opinion, we get so unbelievably distracted with quick pleasures that we fill our whole day with those things. Don't believe me? Well, CS Lewis was a pretty smart guy and he had this to say:
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
So, what do we do about that? How do we turn the corner from doing what we "feel" like doing to doing what we KNOW we should do? I think the first step is to actually admit that we live our lives based on our feelings and emotions. Take budgeting and paying off debt for example. Stephanie and I both have acknowledged that making and sticking to a budget is a great thing, but yet we still find it difficult. The reason for that we sometimes let our emotions and feelings dictate our actions even though they directly contradict what we know is the right thing. It usually sounds like, "We have worked so hard, we deserve a break from the budget!" Well, that usually turns into spending money we didn't plan on which causes unneeded stress.
Also, I think a lot of comes down to recognizing that we desire things other than Christ. Think about if the ONLY thing you desired was a relationship with Him. Don't you think that would make doing things you don't "feel" like easier? I think so. I think that would cause you to not follow your emotions as much because your joy comes from knowing Christ and not from some temporal thing, like buying something you don't need or eating something that is bad for you.
All that to say, I think the first step on the road to joy is realizing that Christ is truly the only source of actual joy. Happiness is the emotion behind joy, so if you have tons of joy, you will probably have tons of happiness.
- Brian
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