Psychology Help Today

"Happy people are happy 'now.'  Because they practice all the ingredients we are looking at, they are never dependent on a someday or tomorrow to be the key to their well-being.  They are fulfilled before that upcoming even ever takes place.  They are happy 'now.' "What gives them this ability?  Several ingredients, but first and foremost it is a spiritual discipline of living in the now.  Listen to how Jesus puts it:  ' Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.' "While the Bible certainly tells us to plan for the future, it also tells us to live in the present, each and every day.  Today, or better yet, this moment, is all there is or all there ever will be.  You can never experience tomorrow, ever.  When it gets here, it will be just another moment like today, and if you do not have the spiritual discipline of experiencing the 'now moment,' when it gets h...

"Some people feel that happiness is on some sort of timeline and depends on a later event.  It cannot happen now, because there is a missing piece that has not occurred yet.  But in reality people who think this way do not magically become happy 'when' the 'whatever' it is happens.  They just transfer that mind-set to the next 'when.' - Henry Cloud in The Law of Happiness It is sad when people live in the future.  There is so much to live in the moment.  The reality that the "when" or "whatever" cannot make them truly happy, they will just be happy maybe for a time before going back into the unhappy state. Renee Madison, MA, LPC, CSAT is a counselor in Colorado.  She can be reached for appointments at 303-257-7623 or 970-324-6928.

"'We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.' (Heb 6:12) "I love this verse.  It gives one more example of the created order, the way God set up the universe.  He makes promises about life, and then he expects us to do our part and not be lazy.  He promised the children of Israel a 'promised land,' but they had to go and possess it.  They had to fight a lot of battles to get there.  And, little by little, they did.  'Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.'  God has promised you abundant life, but he has not promised you an abundant life with no effort.  Work on your happiness, take responsibility for it, get moving.  Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is working within you.  He is doing his part; now you have to do yours.  Don't be lazy! "Since I write books, people often ...

"My experience has been that when people get a wake-up call about their level of happiness in life, their first realization is that they are responsible for their own happiness, and their second realization is that they will need to pursue certain activities.  I have seen many people who, having been stuck for years, finally "get it," wake up, and say, "I do not have to live like this.  I am going to do something about my life."  Then they get busy, and a year later.  I hardly recognize them. "But for that to happen, you have to find the "push."  You have to overcome the entropy and lack of movement that has dominated you for so long.  You have to "do something."  So how you do that? "Other than those who might be clinically depressed or suffering from a real illness of some sort, there are two broad types of people reading this book.  The first is the type who, upon reading what I have written so far, gets up and ...

"Contrast... attitude and behavior with that of happy people.  Those who wake up in the morning and say, "Good morning, Lord!"  instead of "Good Lord, morning," usually do not find themselves in that place by happenstance. They find themselves there by exercising God-given energy, investing their time, moment by moment and day after day, in the activities of building a life that is fulfilling and meaningful.  In effect, they are living out the created order itself.  God designed us to be, in his image, persons who use their hearts, minds, souls, and strength to create and invest themselves in producing life.  They build relationships and use their talents and abilities to achieve things, and God wants to do the same.  He wants us to be active toward life, not passive.  "Happy people are active, not passive, in their pursuit of life. If you look at some to of the activities that research has proven produces happiness, you'll see that it ...

“Psychological research has shown something else about “getting” or “achieving” some external, circumstantial state as the path to happiness.  It does not last.   It has a short shelf life.  So, not only do our circumstances and achievements account for only a small percentage of our happiness, but even what they are able to contribute evaporates pretty quickly.  Why? “It seems that there is some sort of “set point” to our level of happiness that we carry around, almost like a thermostat.  Let’s ay your set point from factors other than circumstances is at 70.  Then you get that new house, and you jump to 80 or, for a day, to what feels like 100!  This happens, for instance, when people first fall in love with the persons of their dreams.  They may even exceed 100 in that initial state.  (That explains a lot of crazy behavior.)  But whether it in the house, the raise, or the relationship, what research has shown us is that...

"The fact that our circumstances have limited power to make us happy has been documented in the research; but if you think about it for a minute, you already know this from your observations while standing at the check-out counter at any grocery store.  Look at the magazine headlines and you will see rich, beautiful, accomplished, famous, slim, and successful people, but with all sorts of unhappiness, from relational turmoil to drug abuse and overdose, and even suicide.  If circumstantial things could bring us lasting happiness, we would not be seeing those sad headlines.  And the flip side is this: if circumstantial things and events are the sources of happiness, why are there so many happy people who don't have many of those things going for them?  In fact, studies have shown that the happiness levels between rich people and average-income people is not that different.  The findings say that once a certain safety and sustenance level has been rea...