Are You Happy?

There are two phrases that lately I have caught myself about to say on several occasions; sometimes even more than once a day. The first is “If I had a nickel for every time....” and the second is “I’ll be happy when….”. It is in my top ten life goals to rid these two phrases from my very thoughts and inner brain cells.
I have a husband and four children and during my forty-five years of life have been acquainted with other good people with occasional annoying habits. In my household alone, the phrase, “If I had a nickel for every time…” springs to my lips all too frequently. Now, I’m not implying that those close to me should refrain from having these annoying habits, (though if they had fewer, it might be a blessing). I’m suggesting that I shouldn’t consider having that many nickels! Who put me in such a high and mighty position to receive financial wealth for the weakness of others? When I lash out with that quick-witted phrase, does it suggest that I should be compensated for some suffering I’ve incurred because I’ve had to repeatedly remind one kid not to smack their lips when they eat?
The real fact of the matter is, nobody is going to give me any nickels. I need to find another way to better utilize this frustration.
The same thing could be said for the phrase, “I’ll be happy when…”. I believe there are few who haven’t fallen victim to this idea. When we were younger, we usually associated this thought with a toy or a holiday. Then we grew up, but we didn’t grow smarter. Three years ago, we moved into a home that is thirty-six years old and beyond paint and wallpaper has had no updating. I can walk in any single room of this house, stand in the front yard, the driveway or the backyard and have the phrase “I’ll be happy when….” precede a list that takes a full twenty minutes to recite including changing body positions for different views, making sweeping hand motions that somehow add to my visualization and finally enduring swirling dollar signs circling above my head. Then I realize that I have once again fallen to the spell that phrase casts me under and I know full well that even if every little detail of what I have imagined comes to be reality, I won’t be happy. There will always be a desire for more or different. Daydreaming is harmless as long as we maintain the reality-check.
Fulfilling dreams that involve any and all things of this world, do not bring true spiritual happiness or wealth. Forgetting these two phrases altogether is going to be tough, so what if we reapply them instead. How about, “If I had a nickel for every time”… I quoted a Bible verse during the day. I don’t know about you, but I would be memorizing more verses and probably even put real nickels in a special jar just to see how many I could collect. Consider this one, “I’ll be happy when….” I get the kids off to school, because then I’m going to pray. Praying without distractions, or interruptions makes me really happy from way inside my heart. Life gets immediately better just because I’ve been in touch with the Father.
Now, these are only two suggestions, but you get the idea. The kids are probably going to keep doing whatever it is they are doing that we wish they didn’t, until they are adults and just realize better. And, no amount of plumbing repairs, new windows or mulch is really going to make anybody truly spiritually happy, which is the only kind of happy that really matters. So, get the kids off to school, say a prayer and tell Him absolutely everything on your heart and then open your Bible up and start memorizing this verse…
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” Philippians 4:8