The Window

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.The men talked for long hours. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, and where they had been on vacation.

His companion looked forward to those one-hour periods where his world would be enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.As the man by the window described all this in detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the wonderful scene.

Days and weeks passed. One morning, the man by the window died peacefully in his sleep. The other man asked if he could be moved next to the other bed by the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up to take his first look at the real world outside. He slowly turned to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his roommate who just died to describe such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you" There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled. You may be facing a wall now – something that’s keeping you from being happy. But God invites you to find a window there. And that window is faith in God’s wonderful purpose in any and in every situation we may be in.

It's for you

Many people spend a lot of money to find happiness. You may have heard someone say, "Oh, if I could only have this or that, I would be the happiest person in the world!"

In the Bible King David writes - "...In Your presence is fullness of joy;..." (Psalm 16:11). Jesus is the One who gives us joy. So then how come not too many people enjoy it?

Here’s a story to learn from today…

At the end of World War I conditions in Europe were deplorable. Many people were hungry, homeless, and without jobs. Such was the case of this family. Father did not return from the war and the family struggled to stay alive.

The brave widow one day heard about America, and she determined that she and her three children would someday go there. The family worked together to earn enough money for one ticket. It took a while, but finally the oldest son was on his way. Two years later the younger brother and his sister left for America.

Mother was left alone. One day a large envelope arrived from America, and almost overwhelmed the mother tore it open. There was the longed for ticket!

The day of departure came--what a happy and expectant mother! She looked forward to the reunion with her children. She realized, of course, that the trip to America would take a few more days, and she wondered how she would be able to pay for her meals. She had brought along some crackers and ate some each day. The day came when she had only a few crumbs left. She could smell all the wonderful food that was being prepared. Finally, being very hungry, she begged the steward to allow her to help with his cleaning in exchange for food from the kitchen. He checked her ticket and exclaimed, "Madam, you don't have to scrub floors. All your meals are included with your ticket!"

Jesus wants to give you the gift of joy – all you have to do is receive Him and receive his promised joy. No matter what is happening in your life presently, He is offering you joy to the fullest. Maybe you don’t have much materially, maybe you lost your possessions in a disaster or failed business, or perhaps you are having problems with your loved ones or your family is breaking up. Or maybe you have lost your job or couldn’t find one. Whatever the circumstance, you can still have the joy of His presence at all times. When you have Jesus, you have everything.

20 ways to a happier you

Here are 20 simple and straightforward practices that will put you on the road to happiness:

1. Smile Frequently: Studies also show that when we smile, we feel better and can actually make us feel better and help us to see the lighter side of things. A cheerful heart does good like a medicine. 2. Be Content: Happiness has little to do with what we possess materially. Contentment comes from enjoying life as we live it – even the little inconveniences we meet every day. Godliness with contentment is great gain. See what you have, not what you lack. 3. Live In The Present: Do not dwell on past problems – or let your mind linger on how the other person was nasty to you. Stop worrying about future concerns in your life. Such thoughts leave us anxious and frustrated, and depressed. They take our minds off whatever we are doing and do not let us enjoy the present. Forget the past and reach forward to what is ahead. 4. Plan Things You Can Look Forward To: Don’t get stuck in the routine. Do some new and interesting things so you won’t get bored. Maybe you can surprise your spouse with a tasty candlelight dinner one evening. Or go out with your friends for a picnic. 5. Don't Try To Compete With Your Neighbors: Sometimes we have this habit of comparing ourselves with other people and their status or compare our accomplishments with others. Jealousy hurts, angers, depresses, builds up stress, and leaves us feeling inadequate and inferior. 6. We Are What We Are: Learn to accept yourself. God made you everyone with unique strengths and challenges. Identify yours, set your goals for fulfilling your dreams, and get going. 7. It Is As It Is: There are things you can’t do anything about. A mistake has been made, the plan has been delayed, something has been broken and you cannot change it. All you can do is: accept it and go on with life. Optimism means turning something that seems all bad into something good – it’s knowing all things will work out for good somehow. 8. Don't Procrastinate: When we keep jobs pending, we live under stress. 9. Keep Things In Perspective: Whether it is being late for a meeting, a messy room, garbage thrown by the neighbors, a traffic jam, we usually tend to overreact. We yell and may damage our relationship with our helper, our colleague, our neighbor, or anyone else involved. So, accept life's quirks as they come, put things in perspective and become happier. 10. Take Out Time For Yourself: Being alone gives us a chance to think quietly. Take time out to talk with God everyday. It enables us to be at peace with ourselves and makes us happier. 11. Create a peaceful environment: When we live and work in a properly arranged environment, it is much easier to develop and maintain a positive attitude. 12. Be Less Reactive. Anger makes it impossible for you to think rationally. 13. Bring Humor Into Your Life. Share jokes with your family, watch a humorous film, and tell your colleagues funny incidents. 14. Accept People As They Are. Do accept people as they are. Once others see your unconditional love for them, they will try their best to do things that will please you. 15. Be Grateful: Let people know that you genuinely appreciate all that they do for you. Gratitude will enable you to appreciate, rather than struggle. 16. Stop Blaming Others: 17. Make Someone Else's Day Happier. Everyday, resolve to so at least one thing that will make someone else happy. These little unnoticed acts of kindness, will make you feel good inside. 18. Tell Your Family And Friends That You Love Them. Say what you feel to your loved ones and you will be filled with an inner peace and confidence on hearing them say the same words to you. 19. Keep A Diary: Keep a diary and pen with you. Make a habit of writing down all the good things that happen to you during the day. The positive feeling comes back whenever we revisit happy moments through our diary. 20. Get In Touch With Old Friends:Meeting dear old ones de-stresses us and makes up for all irritants and setbacks in our life.

A few wise words on happiness

A few wise words on happiness…

No one can go back and make a new start Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain But he did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, light for the way. Disappointments are like road bumps They slow you down a bit but you enjoy the smooth roads afterward. Don't stay on the humps too long. Move on

When you feel down because you didn't get what you want, just sit tight and be happy because God is thinking of something better to give you. when something happens to you, good or bad, consider what it means there's a purpose to life's events you can't make someone love you, all you can do is be someone who can be loved the rest is up to the person to realize your worth the measure of love is when you love without measure in life there are very rare chances that you'll meet you love and loves you in return so once you have it, take care of it - the chance might never come your way again. it's better to lose your pride to the one you love than to lose the one you love because of pride. we spend too much time looking for the right person to love or finding fault with those who love us, instead, we should be perfecting the love we give when you truly care for someone, you don't look for faults, you don't look for answers, you don't look for mistakes. Instead, you correct the mistakes, you accept the faults and you overlook the excuses. Never abandon an old friend. You will never find one who can take his place.

Happiness

Happiness... We think that life will be better after we get married. Then when we get married, we convince ourselves that we'll be happy after we have a baby. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we are sure things will be better when they are. After that, we are frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of THAT stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. The truth is, there is no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, then when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It is best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.

There is a famous quote from Alfred D Souza: "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business or a debt to be paid. Then life would surely begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles WERE my life".

So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get separated, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off… to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy. ---- There is no key to happiness--the door is always open!

Larry & Joan

Larry and Joan struggled to make ends meet and they fought a lot. They talked often about what was wrong with their marriage and kept blaming each other. Then one day, an extraordinary event took place.


One day, Larry said, 'You know, Jo ann, I have a magic chest of drawers. Every time I open them, they're full of socks and underwear. I want to thank you for filling in my drawers with socks and underwear all these years.


Jo ann stared at her husband over the top of her classes, 'What do you want, Larry''


'I just want you to know I appreciate those magic drawers.'


Jo ann pushed the incident out of her mind until a few days later. 'Jo ann, thank you for recording so many correct check numbers in the ledger this month. You put down the right numbers 15 out of 16 times. That's a record.'


Disbelieving what she had heard, Jo Ann looked up from her mending. 'Larry, you're always complaining about my recording the wrong check numbers. Why stop now''


'No reason. I just wanted you to know I appreciate the effort.''


Jo ann shook her head and went back to her mending. What's wrong with him' She thought.


She tried to ignore it, but Larry's strange behavior intensified.


'Jo ann, that was a great dinner.' He said one evening. 'I appreciate all your effort. Why, in the past 15 years I'll bet you've fixed over 14 thousand meals for me and the kids.'
Then, he'd say, 'Wow Joan the house looks great!' and 'Thanks, Jo ann, for just being you. I really enjoy your company.'


Jo ann was growing worried. Where's the sarcasm, the criticism'


But Jo ann's step was now a little lighter.
That would be the end of the story except one day another extraordinary event took place. This time it was Jo Ann who spoke.

'Larry,' she said, I want to thank you for going to work and providing for us all these years. I don't think I've ever told you how much I appreciate it.'

Larry never revealed the reason for his dramatic change of behavior, but it's one I'm thankful to live with. You see' I'm Jo ann.

That was taken from the book 365 moments to cherish, an excerpt from an article written by Jo ann Larsen in the Desert News.

Ten Commandments for a Successful Marriage

Ten Commandments for a Successful Marriage

Source: 365 moments to cherish:

1. Put your mate before your mother, your father, your son and daughter, for your mate is your lifelong companion.
2. Do not abuse your body with excessive food, tobacco, drugs or drink, so that your life may be long and healthy, in the presence of those you love.
3. Do not permit your business or your hobby or your recreation to make you a stranger to your children, for the most precious gift a parent can give his or her family is the gift of time.
4. Do not forget that cleanliness is a virtue.
5. Do not make your mate into a beggar, but willingly share with him or her your worldly goods and possessions.
6. Remember to say, 'I love you.' For even though your love may be a constant, your mate yearns to hear those words from you more than any others. Say it often.
7. Remember always that the approval of your mate is worth more than the admiring glances of a hundred strangers, so remain faithful and loyal to your mate, and forsake all the others.
8. keep your home in good repair, keep your marriage alive, for out of it come the joys of old age, together.
9. forgive with grace. For who among us does not need to be forgiven and often?
10. honor the Lord your God all the days of your life, and your children and grandchildren will grow up and also bless you.


We might need to add commandment no. 11: You shall not hit your mate over the head with these commandments, but the keeping of these will be a willing act of love.