Chasing Happiness

I am a race-runner. Not really a runner, like I cringe when I see people running because it just looks so miserable. But, a racer nonetheless. Maybe a chaser, actually. I chase happiness. I have done it my whole life. All 34.5 years. Chasing happiness. Wanting what I don't have. Wanting to be married... ONE TIME. Wanting to own a home. Wanting children, whose father I remained with. Wanting to be a mother-of-the-year. Wanting my family to be proud of me, not embarassed by me. Wanting, wanting, wanting. Fail enough times and you don't feel like trying anymore. That's where I am. Why try? It'll fail just like every other time.

Well, I decided this week that it is time for me to be satisfied... to be content. I am running away from what I have today... and what I have today is pretty great. I have everything I NEED. I don't have everything I WANT. But, I do have everything I need, and it is enough.

Priscilla Shirer, author of "The Resolution for Women," says, "The more you believe that God's grace to you is overflowing, the more you'll be convinced that you will always have everything you need. And the more certain you are that you'll never lack, the more willing and able you'll be to give of yourself and your resources when called for because you'll be certain God will always replenish your supply. You can just bank on that. Your God can be trusted to grant you the supply you need to excel at His purposes. So, if you don't have it - whatever it is - it's because you don't need it."

"Contentment is the equilibrium between the enjoyment of life now and the anticipation of what is to come. It is the faith-filled belief that what God has bestowed now is worthy of gratitude and appreciation, not merely because it is enough, but because it is GOOD."

So, I need to focus right now on being satisfied and content with what I DO have and stop chasing what is out there!