When the Ice Cream's Gone...

I'm back and hopefully it's for good this time! I have been sitting on my hands that were made for expression and [God] decided to let them breathe. I was starting to feel like a kid on a scooter, pumping it up for speed. Pushing off takes energy and after a while, I lost it.

The beginning of 2010 started out with a hopeful bang. I was determined to have a year where the spoken word for that year actually came to pass. But I knew that kind of manifestation started with me...(and it starts with you too). Unfortunately I came in on a road-to-recovery status, so I had added work ahead of me, of which I was bitterly angry about. I finally hit a point in the midst of all my extreme emotions that nothing could sooth and said "Lord, I just want to be happy". You ever feel that way? I think sometimes we think it's un-holy to admit what God already knows (my life script~Psalm 139:2-4). It was an emergency. I couldn't move forward with the vision. Superman can't save the world beat down! I knew that if I did not possess happiness, I would fall victim to everything in my life. Life would own my soul.

God, in all his depth, really does have a sense of humor. He heard my broken record of a plea. One day, not too long after my plea, I took a trip to the Family Christian Bookstore and as I skimmed the Women's section I ran across a book called [insert title here]. You guessed it! Lord, I Just Want To Be Happy by Leslie Vernick. Ere...What are the odds?!

Back cover highlights:
*Recognize and change habits that , day by day, keep you from experiencing happiness.
*Make good choices and learn from mistakes without beating yourself up.
*Develop the skills that will enable you to let go of negative and painful emotions more quickly.
*Transform difficult circumstances so you can live with gratitude, joy and purpose.

This was on time. In my simplest conclusion, happiness is a choice. It does not force itself on you, write you love notes or sit by your bed waiting for you to wake up. It's not an amusement ride we wait in line for or a mystic thing we travel across the world for. You want it, choose it! Choose it when you wake up, when someone pushes your buttons, when you're stuck in a traffic jam, when the dog eats up your expensive underwear. Don't find it like most are wasting their money doing. Choose it. Happiness is a book in everybody's library, but it's competing with other tempting reads such as "Woe is Me Willow Tree" or "The Cussing Book for the Soul"...or my favorite "Regretful in Seattle". The reality is, I don't think choosing it is always the issue but maintaining it can be the ultimate challenge. These are my ways to maintain:

*CONFESS THE WORD. It is a must! If you can't leave the house without make up, you definitely can't leave without positive self talk. Check what's coming out your mouth because you have what you say.
*Put life into perspective. What's your bottom line of importance or what could be worse?
*Immerse yourself in things you enjoy and activities that make you 'selfless' (running, volunteering etc.).
*Guard your heart. Don't listen to that song or watch media that validates negative emotions.
*The most obvious, pray. Clearly God hears us if I find a book that took the words right out of my mouth. He is a breath's length away from you.

You can customize your own mechanism of protecting and maintaining your happiness. All in all, when the ice cream is finally gone and you played out that sad song, choose happiness. You'll be waiting forever if you don't. Make no mistake. Things will challenge it and you might have a bad day, but the important thing is recovering quickly because someone is waiting on you to change their life.