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9 Moments of Daily Happiness

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In our previous Wisdom Note, we explored how wise it is to cherish the times of silence, either while being alone or with others. These bits of wisdom help us to live rich and satisfying lives while creating a living legacy. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes please visit the blog to read past notes.

I have found that many people in life are not happy. Some of this is due to looking for happiness in wrong or inappropriate places. Happiness is based on how we choose to view or accept situations in life that come our way. Success and happiness aren’t easy to achieve. It takes a lot of time, hard work, and choosing the right attitude to get there. That’s why, along the way, you’ve got to take advantage of moments—those brief periods of time each day when all can be right in your world. As I have said several times, “Happiness is a journey, not a destination.” Throughout our daily trek of life, here are nine moments worth experiencing every day.

1. A Moment of Laughter

William James said, “We don’t laugh because we’re happy—we’re happy because we laugh.” There’s physiological evidence that shows that laughing puts you in a better mood. Take time every day to laugh and you’ll find it’s both contagious and uplifting. Surround yourself with funny people, find opportunities to laugh at yourself, and laugh your way to success in any area of life.

2. A Moment of Celebration

This is how Tony Robbins puts it, “Say to yourself, here is an opportunity for you to celebrate like never before, my own power, my own ability to get myself to do whatever is necessary.” We don’t take the time to celebrate small successes—or even big successes—enough. At the end of every day take at least one moment per day to celebrate the good in your life. Even if they are in small situations.

3. A Moment of Reflection

Marcus Tullius Cicero said, “It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, the force of character, and judgment.” We all lead such busy lives. It’s important to be able to take at least one moment each day where we do nothing but think. Put your phone away, get somewhere by yourself, and simply reflect on the day. Take the good from those reflections and determine how they can be applied to decisions in the future.

4. A Moment of Stillness

Yesterday we invested our time on how it is wise to be silent at times. Morgan Freeman put it this way, “Learning how to be still, to really be still and let life happen —that stillness becomes a radiance.” There’s reflection, and then there’s true stillness —the ability to shut off everything, including your mind, and get into a meditative state. The busier your life is, the more valuable it is to practice moments of stillness. Prayer, yoga, and meditation are the most popular ways to get into a state of stillness if only for a moment. Stillness brings us in touch with God as it says in Psalms 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”

5. A Moment of Pride

A lot of people associate the word “pride” with something negative. But you have so much to be proud of. God made you special; you are completely unique. King David wrote in Psalms 139:14, “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” You can afford to take a least one moment each day where you sit back and appreciate all that you have done and the good person that you were able to bring into the world. Take pride in the little things you’ve accomplished in the last day. Michael Crichton says, “All your life, other people will try to take your accomplishments away from you. Don’t you take it away from yourself.”

6. A Moment of Humility

Pride in your accomplishments is great, but so is a moment of humility in which you appreciate your tiny role in the profoundly large universe around you. When we take a moment to appreciate the amazing world around us, it’s hard not to be happy for all that we have. The popular quote by C.S. Lewis sums it up, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.”

7. A Moment of Connection

Humans are made in God’s image, and we desire fellowship with each other just as God does with us. Take at least one moment a day to connect with the people around you—your spouse, friends, and family. Hold someone’s hand, give someone a hug, or cuddle with someone. Your happiness isn’t just about you; it’s about others. Dean Ornish said, “The need for connection and community is necessary, as fundamental as the need for air, water, and food.”

8. A Moment of Joy

Laughter is great but joy is even more powerful. Take a moment to experience the joy of your kids or family, the joy of your spiritual connections, or the joy you can find in play, music, dance, or work. Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians 4:4, “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” Ralph Marston writes it this way, “If you so choose, each day can be filled with even more joy than the one before. If you so choose, even the most seemingly random events can work in your favor.”

9. A Moment of Gratitude

Finally, take a moment each day to express gratitude for what you have—for the people in your life, the experiences you’ve had and will have, and the world around you. You can’t physically feel angry or upset and grateful at the same time, so just taking a moment of gratitude will make you happier. Make a habit of writing down all that you are thankful for. Ephesians 5:20 says, “And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Along our trek, we stopped to ponder 9 moments that will bring us happiness each day if we take the time to consider them. Next we will hike on the trail and look for the 9 ways to stay young. In addition to our Wisdom Notes, encourage your friends and family to also join us on our daily podcast for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

The Wisdom of Silence

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In our previous Wisdom Note, we explored the difference between inheritance and legacy. Thank you so much for coming along with me each week as we explore and consume small “nuggets of wisdom.” These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes, please go to the blog to read past newsletters.

In this week’s note, we desire to ponder the wisdom of silence. With so much noise in today’s world, it is hard to deliberately invest part of each day in silence, and yet it is so needed. One of my favorite times of the day is when I walk into my office each morning, open the blinds, look out on our property with its large, mature trees that reach to the heavens, and thank God for another day. These few moments of silence help me to reset my mind for a new day.

Each of us needs to discover the art of learning to talk less and say more. Do you know who I really appreciate? Those people who aren’t uncomfortable with silence. Those people with whom you can sit at a table and have a delicious meal and not feel uncomfortable when none of you has anything to say. I love people who can communicate with one another not just with words but also with silence.

As we hike onward today, I will mix some quotes, proverbs, and some good practical “horse sense” about the treasure of silence. I am sure that you have experienced being with someone who just could not stand a moment of silence, so he or she filled every gap of silence with speaking even if it was not relevant. Some people are convinced that to be a good conversationalist there has to be a verbal conversation going on.

Life is a series of balances. Extremes on either end of the spectrum are usually not prudent. As a Swedish Proverb says, “Fear less, hope more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Hate less, love more; And all good things are yours.”

I am sure all of us have done the same where we have been in a situation when we have talked too much or have said something that was either inappropriate or irrelevant. There are times we just talk and talk without actually saying anything. Maybe it’s because we want to feel that we’re heard and that people acknowledge our presence and existence.

But, is that really the way to go about it? Wouldn’t it be wiser to talk less and say more while at the same time immersing ourselves in those moments of silence and allowing them to just be? Those individuals that habitually talk too much are usually a victim of a low self-image or a puffed-up ego, which are two sides of the same coin.

Plato described it this way, “Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.”

It seems to me that a lot of times we talk just so we won’t keep quiet, thinking that silence is something to be ashamed about, something to be avoided. But, it’s not. There’s nothing wrong with silence. I don’t know how we got this idea that silence is awkward and that it should be avoided at all costs. In fact, two verses that I enjoy from the book of Proverbs address this issue bluntly. Consider these verses the next time you are ready to open your mouth:

The first one is, Proverbs 17:28, “Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent.”

The next one Proverbs 10:19, “Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.”

These two verses should give us pause when we feel compelled to open our mouths and share our “wisdom.”

Silence is a precious gift. In that space between our words is where we find ourselves. When the mind is quiet, when there are no thoughts and no words to be said, we can hear our own heart talking to us. We can hear our own soul and our own intuition. These are the times that God can really communicate with us as Herman Melville explains exactly what I mean, “God’s one and only voice is silence.”

When we allow ourselves to be quiet, to breathe in and breathe out, without the need to force ourselves into saying another word or thinking another thought, that’s when we can hear God’s voice, our inner voice, our heart, and intuition. That’s when we can experience our spirit being united with God’s Spirit. This is where we are able to discover our own beauty and perfection that we are within God’s economy.

I have learned more from being quiet and from embracing silence than I have learned from thinking and from talking. Silence is my greatest teacher, whispering things in my ear and helping me know things that I won’t be able to discover from anywhere else. Francis Bacon said it this way, “Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom.”

The reason why so many of us are under so much stress is that we haven’t yet learned how to quiet our minds and embrace silence. We haven’t yet learned to appreciate and see the value and the wisdom that come from being quiet.

Who says that you have to be thinking and you have to be talking all the time? Who says that it’s not okay to have moments when you just don’t have anything to say? Who says that you should be talking nonstop even when you don’t have anything valuable to say?

The Roman poet Ausonius said, “He who does not know how to be silent will not know how to speak.”

Learn to talk less, but say more. When you use your words, use them because they will brighten someone’s day and because they will teach and impact people with something valuable. Don’t just use words for the sake of using them. Use them because you have something to say.

Do you believe that we can only communicate by using words? Do you think silence is something to be avoided? When you are alone with someone, if there are moments when none of you has anything to say, does that silence make you feel uncomfortable?

Some of the most precious times that Paula and I have is the comfort that we can have being together and not saying anything. Knowing that our love for each other is always there, even when nothing is being said. Become comfortable with yourself.

As we continue on our Wisdom-Trek each day, take time to be silent and reflect on life. Remember that God spoke to Elijah in a gentle whisper. In our next Wisdom Note, we will look for the 9 moments of happiness. Encourage your friends and family to also join us on our daily podcast for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

Legacy vs. Inheritance

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In our previous Wisdom Note, we explored purposely incorporating time into our lives to relax and recharge. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes please the blog to read past newsletters.

On today’s trek, we will compare the trails of inheritance versus legacy. While there may be some cross-over, they are distinctly different. Thank you so much for coming along with me each week as we explore and consume small “nuggets of wisdom.” These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy.

So often we tend to equate legacy to inheritance, but in fact, they are very different things. Inheritance is about money and possessions but a legacy is about the person. Let’s think about it in these two descriptions.

Inheritance is something you leave to a person(s). Legacy is something you leave in a person(s). An inheritance is something given to a person. A legacy is an impact made on a person. When you leave something behind as an inheritance, the recipients are temporarily happy and satisfied. But when you leave them a legacy, they are permanently transformed. If you have been on our Wisdom-Trek these many weeks, you know that one of our primary focuses is not just to leave a legacy when you die, but to impact everyone each day through a living legacy that will change eternity.

The truth of the matter is that we need to be much more concerned about our legacy each day than the inheritance we will leave someday. Sure, we need to make sure our wills and other financial areas are in place and protected for the next generation. The Bible mentions inheritance nearly 60 times, so it does have an importance in our lives, such as is mentioned in Proverbs 13:22, “Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren, but the sinner’s wealth passes to the godly.”

Even with its importance, legacy goes far beyond the time, the money, or the stuff that soon vanishes. Legacy is eternal. Inheritance is gifts received. Legacy is values imparted. Inheritance is a temporary reward. Legacy is an eternal reward. One day we will all die, and we can’t take anything with us. That is why it is important that we live with our eternal impact in mind. That impact is the one thing that will last forever.

We need to first be sure our eternity is secure and that we have dealt with the reality of sin in our lives. We will stand before God and give account. We need to be sure we are ready for that meeting and that we have dealt with the things that will keep us from eternity with Him. Then we need to be focused on living our positive legacy that will impact others for eternity. We all will leave a legacy. It isn’t optional. It happens because of the way we live. We need to make sure we are living in such a manner that it is creating the kind of legacy we want to leave. Examine your priorities. God wants to live and leave a legacy through you each day of your life. He wants to put value into your life. He wants to put something that is forever in your life.

As stated, the fact of the matter is that we create a legacy while we live. It isn’t something that magically appears as we pass from this earth through death. It is something we create intentionally while we live. This is why it is important to have a life plan based on your purpose for your life. So our life plan becomes the foundation for our legacy plan. As we live each day, we are putting our legacy in place. The people we touch, the things we teach, the moments we create, the love we share…they all go into creating our legacy.

Inheritance leaves behind a monument, but a legacy is a movement that continually perpetuates. An inheritance can help us to expand our legacy, but it is not our legacy. Our living legacy is a success that is continually going on. With a monument, it will be destroyed over time, but with a legacy, it is a movement that will never die. The impact of our lives can last if we make sure to do the things that matter most while we are living.

What does your living legacy look like? That is how it will impact eternity. How intentional are you today in creating your legacy for tomorrow? If you died today, what would your legacy look like? I have more work to do, so I’m not ready for that. I doubt you are either. We need to get ready today because we don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we can know who holds tomorrow! Let us use Ephesians 5:1-2 as a basis for creating and living our legacy each day, “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.”

Our vision is that together we will create a legacy of wisdom and seek out discernment and insights to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before and live long and prosper as a result. Take time today to ponder the difference between inheritance and legacy in your life. In our next Wisdom Note, we will discover the wisdom of silence. Encourage your friends and family to also join us on our daily podcast for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

9 Tips to Relax and Recharge

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Within our previous Wisdom Note, we explored part three of our three-part series Wandering in the Wilderness by Faith. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes please visit the blog to read past newsletters.

In today’s trek, we will explore 9 tips to relax and recharge. Most of us realize that regular relaxation is essential for a long life and personal effectiveness. The question is, if we know that, why don’t we make it a priority in our lives. I certainly am pointing my finger at myself on this one, so let us digest these nuggets of insight together. Here are some techniques for relaxing that are used by the most successful people in our fast-paced society of the western world.

1. Take Time Off Every Week

First of all, work only five or six days per week, and rest completely on the seventh day. Every single study in this area shows that you will be far more productive in the five or six days that you work if you take one or two days off completely than you ever would be if you worked straight through for seven days. Of course, God was the original designer of this concept as it declares in Genesis 2:1-3, “So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.”

2. Get Your Mind Busy Elsewhere

During this time off, do not catch up on reports, organize your desk, prepare proposals, or do anything else that requires mental effort. Simply let your mind relax completely, and get busy doing things with your family and friends. Maybe work around the house, go for a walk, engage in physical exercise, watch television, go to a movie, or play with your children. Whatever you do, discipline yourself to shut your mental gears off completely for at least one 24-hour period every seven days.

3. Get Away on Mini-Vacations

Take one three-day vacation every three months, and during that time, refrain from doing any work. Do not attempt to catch up on even a few small things. If you do, you keep your mental gears in motion, and you end up neither resting nor properly doing work of any quality.

4. Take Big Chunks of Down Time

Take at least two full weeks off each year during which you do nothing that is work-related. You can either work or relax; you cannot do both. If you attempt to do a little work while you are on vacation, you never give your mental and emotional batteries a chance to recharge. You’ll come back from your vacation just as tired as you were when you left.

5. Give Yourself a Break Today

If you are involved in a difficult client relationship or situation at work that is emotionally draining, discipline yourself to take a complete break from it at least one day per week. Put the concern out of your mind. Refuse to think about it. Don’t continually discuss it, make telephone calls about it, or mull it over in your mind. You cannot perform at your best mentally if you are emotionally preoccupied with a person or situation. You have to give yourself a break.

6. Go For a Walk in Nature

Since a change is as good as a rest, going for a nice long walk is a wonderful way to relax emotionally and mentally. As you put your physical body into motion, your thoughts and feelings seem to relax all by themselves.

7. Eat Lighter Foods

Also, remember that the process of digestion consumes an enormous amount of physical energy. Therefore, if you eat lighter foods, you will feel better and more refreshed afterward. If you eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products, your digestive system will require far less energy to process them.

8. Be Good to Yourself

Since your diet has such an impact on your level of physical energy and through it your levels of mental and emotional energy, the more particular you are about what you put into your mouth, the better you will feel and the more productive you will be. We know now that highly processed foods, carbs, and sugar are not good for your body. The lighter the foods you eat; the more energy you have.

9. Perform Three Action Exercises

Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, plan your weeks in advance and build in at least one day when you will relax from work completely. Discipline yourself to keep this date.

Second, reserve, book, and pay for your three-day vacation several months in advance. Once you’ve paid the money, you are much more likely to go rather than put it off.

Third, decide that you will not work at all during your vacations. When you work, work. And when you rest, rest 100% of the time. This is very important. It is nearly impossible to do both at the same time.

I trust that you see the value and have enjoyed exploring these powerful and yet simple to implement tips that will help you and me to relax and recharge completely. I plan on putting them into practice, what about you?

In our next Wisdom Note, we will hike up an interesting trail to discover the difference between a legacy and inheritance. Encourage your friends and family to also join us on our daily podcast for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

Wandering in the Wilderness – Part 3

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Within our Wisdom Notes, last week we discussed explored part two of our three-part series wandering in the wilderness by faith. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes please go to the blog to read past newsletters.

On this week’s trek, we will continue our focus on living by faith so that we do invest our time with purpose. This is part three.

The Faith That Saves

To have faith in our lives is of utmost importance. Faith’s importance to salvation is emphasized in Ephesians 2:8, where Paul writes, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” Faith plays a role in the entire process until we enter the Kingdom of God. It is the sum of what God is doing in our lives and is written in John 6:29, “Jesus told them, ‘This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.’”

The faith that saves has its beginning when God, on His own initiative, calls us and leads us to repentance. He does this by His Spirit guiding us into all truth. Stirring up our minds to knowledge, His Spirit enables us to perceive from a perspective we never before seriously considered. This, combined with the confrontation that occurs with the carnal mind when we are forced to choose what to do with this precious truth, gives birth to a living faith, a faith that works, a faith that walks in godliness.

As miraculous and powerful as God’s liberation of Israel from bondage in Egypt was, even more so and of greater importance is the breaking of our bondage to Satan, this world, and human nature. This is why Ephesians 2:8 says the faith that saves is “the gift of God.” Israel’s release from Egypt was God’s gift too. Regardless of how much they cried out to Him, the Israelites would never have left Egypt without Him. If God had not been merciful and faithful, if He had not been trustworthy, they would never have been freed.

What did God lead us to that sparked this saving faith in us? He led us to His Word. We can glean a measure of faith from observing God’s creation, but this faith cannot save because it does not reveal His purpose. The seeds of faith in us are planted through the proclamation of his Word as Romans 10:17 states, “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” As Christ-followers, our lives should reflect the Good News in both deed and word.

Of course, this does not mean that all who hear the message will understand and accept it. Without the message, however, there would be nothing to believe in, nothing that one could trust to lead him to salvation. The evidence that our lives are properly reflecting the Good News is found in the fruit that our lives produce which is located in Galatians 5:20-22, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

Is your faith reflected by the Fruit of the Spirit?

We Must Choose to Live by Faith

We must learn the valuable lessons regarding faith shown in the wandering of the Israelites in the wilderness because they have direct application to us. Romans 15:4 states, “Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.” Also in 1 Corinthians 10:11, we read, “These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.”

The nation of Israel knew the history of their ancestors with whom God had worked, yet they chose to forget His graciousness to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. God demonstrated His presence to them, but the Israelites chose to disregard Him. They had the Good News proclaimed to them, and they chose not to believe it. They had among them the godly witness of men of faith, men in whom the Spirit of God dwelled, and the rebellious children of Israel chose not to follow them.

God has given us even more than Nation of Israel had. We have the entirety of God-written revelation to us. We would not even be in a position to read His Word had God not personally acted to stir our minds to understand things of His Spirit. He has given us His Spirit that we might know the things of God. Faith comes from hearing the Good News.

When we have faith, we trust God that what He has said and promised is true. Though we may at times feel all alone in the midst of a trial, we can take comfort that so did all those others who went before us. We have the full revelation of God through His Son (The Word). The faithful of the Old Testament chose to believe, even though they were waiting for the promises to be fulfilled in the future as is told to us in Hebrews 11:13, “All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.”

Now the weight of responsibility for making choices grounded on trust in God’s Word has fallen upon us. It is awesome to think of ourselves as baptized into the history of the same spiritual company of those greats of the past, men and women of faith whose names are emblazoned in our memories. We must not forget either their standing with God because of their faith or Israel’s failure in the wilderness because they did not trust Him.

Remember the warning and advice God gave to Israel in the days before they entered the Promised Land, which is written in Deuteronomy 30:19-20, “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

As we finish our third and final segment of the Wandering in the Wilderness by Faith trail, we learn that we must choose to accept and live by faith. On next week’s Wisdom Note, we will begin a several week trek that will cover several trails that are the Principles of Spiritual Growth. This information was instrumental in my spiritual growth as a young man seeking to create and live my legacy. Encourage your friends and family to also join us on our daily podcast for another day of Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.