Happiness isn’t about having more, doing more or being more. It is about how we view what is already ours. When you begin to see and appreciate the richness around your, you will almost certainly find that you have a great deal more to be happy than you once imagined.
“Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace of the world.” – Mother Teresa
Without humility there can be no humanity. – John Buchan
It takes a lot of willing
to live an honest life;
It takes a lot of courage
to meet the stress and strife;
It takes a lot of effort
to make the wrong come right;
It takes a lot of patience and faith
to build a happy life!
“No matter what you’ve done for humanity, if you can’t look back on having given the love and attention to your own family, what have you accomplished?” – Lee Iacocca
Wired magazine ran an article on the five best toys ever. Wired is one of the most innovative, bleeding-edge publications you’ll read about all things technological. Which is why at first the list surprised me, but then I realized their angle and couldn’t help but appreciate their wisdom.
5 Best Toys Ever – Dr James Emery White
Here’s the list:
1. Stick
2. Box
3. String
4. Cardboard Tube
5. Dirt
Anybody want to argue with them? I doubt it.
It’s an important reminder that the best things in life – and often in ministry, leadership, business and family – are the simple things.
The dilemma is how our culture seems to refuse to give simplicity a place.
But think about when it insists on intruding and the wake it leaves behind.
For example, a snowstorm brings your town to a standstill. You went out and stocked up on bread and milk and a few other things you didn’t really need, and settled in. The power goes out, so you light the candles and gather by the fireplace for warmth. Board games that had been gathering dust for years are pulled out. You play them and have more fun than you can remember. You then go outside and actually play, throw a snowball, make a snow-angel, build a snowman.
It’s golden.
You talk, years later, about that magic night. You’d give almost anything to go back and relive it, and wish there was a way to recreate it in the here and now.
In a complex, “always on” world, perhaps what we need to remember is that we need to intentionally unplug every now and then.
Even if just to remember that the best toys in the world – like the best times – are the most simple.
And in truth, the most available.
That is my holiday wish for you. May you enjoy the simplicity and holiness that resides in the stillness between Christmas and the new year.
And maybe some fun with a leftover box or two.
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