Did you miss it? Did you know that March 20 was International Day of Happiness? If you were like me, the day passed by without our even realizing it existed!

Happiness is something most everyone strives to achieve. Some play the lottery hoping to hit the jackpot and find happiness in being able to retire or purchase their dream home. Others drink, party, or go on exotic vacations in search of happiness.

Some have devoted their careers to researching what makes people happy and how happiness affects people’s lives. Others have written books on this topic. Gretchen Rubin was riding a bus one rainy afternoon when she reflected that time is too short to not be focusing on things that really matter. She decided to change her approach and spent a year focusing on things that made her happy. As a result she wrote a book entitled The Happiness Project.

Another attempt to help people become happier is a social media project called “The 100 Happy Days challenge.” The website encourages people to take the challenge to find something that makes them happy for 100 consecutive days. They recognize that 71 percent of those taking the challenge do not complete the 100 days. Most give the excuse of having a lack of time.

If you do a web search on happiness, you will find that various sites recommend various actions (sports, exercise, volunteering, etc.) to bring about happiness. While these are all things that will add to happiness, it is rare to find anything pointing to the true source of lasting happiness.

When we know and understand our purpose on earth and strive to live a truly Christian life, we will become happier. That doesn’t mean we will lead a charmed life with no problems or difficulties. It does mean that we will know and understand that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans:8:28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.).

Perhaps now would be a good time to read the booklet, Making Life Work.  It can be found at http://www.ucg.ca/booklets/making-life-work/.

Anthony Wasilkoff