I sometimes lose my way and get down. I feel it particularly in the winter time and especially here in the Northwest where the sun refuses to shine almost 9 months out of the year. Why do I get down? What things make me feel up? This is what I came up with and I think it will help you too.
1. Work. Completing a Valuable Project. I love to see things accomplished. And often times the things we focus on are neither completable nor valuable. The never ending drudgery of doing the same thing day in and day out with little reward for what we do. That’s why psychologist, police officers and other professionals have a high suicide rate while carpenters, plumbers and the like do not. The carpenter can look at his complete work and feel pride in what he’s accomplished. The psychologist or police officer never quite feels like there job is done. I bought a video game this weekend. And I do enjoy playing a good game. But when I beat the game, I feel no satisfaction because ultimately it didn’t produce anything of lasting value. I had fun. But if I spent to much time on me, I begin to feel the waste.
2. Giving. Helping someone with struggles. I get a real boost when I feel like I’ve been of value or help to someone else. This may come from a smile or complement or it could come through helping them materially, with a gift of some sort. Helping people makes me feel like I’ve been of use and I feel like I matter when I’ve mattered to people.
3. Belonging. I feel most content when I’m relaxing at home with my family or spending time with a good friend. I feel content in the darkness of winter when I take the time to read and play with my kids before a warm fire. I feel like I’m connected. I fell like a belong. And its this feeling that gives me a sense of peace and satisfaction that everything is as it should be.
4. Worship. Feeling the presence of the Lord. In Worship I get connected with the God of the Universe. Though I know he’s always there, when I worship I awaken myself to his presence and power. In worship I express my love for God and remember all that he’s done for me and in the process I feel his love extended to me. My faith begins to grow.
5. Gratitude. Remembering to be thankful. Gratitude is deeply connect with worship and I think springs from an attitude of worship. Gratitude comes from recognizing that what we have we did not deserve. When I remember that other people are praying for the things I have, I remember to take delight in the things I have. And be a peace with the world.
6. Faith. A sense of Hope. When I feel happy when I have hope. And by hope I don’t mean a pie in the sky dream but a real confidence in a bright future. Not I wish the check was in the mail but I know the check in the mail. That kind of feeling changes everything. I think real faith is a result of these other five things. It comes from work, giving, belonging, worship and gratitude. When you practice these things it helps you to set your sights on a future that is more grand than anything I deserve.
But I’ve found the reverse to also be true. It’s precisely these things which can torpedo my happiness and joy. I get depressed when I
1. Have uncompleted or broken dreams. Or work without a real sense of payoff.
2. Care for someone but don’t know how to help them. To see people suffer and I simply don’t know what to do.
3. am disconnected from family and friends. This could be the result of my own attitude and actions or it could be the result of theres. I don’t like feeling the brokeness in relationships
4. have sin in my life that keeps me separated from God. When I can’t feel his pleasure in worship.
5. see all the things I don’t have rather than the the things I do have. When the green eyed of envoy overwhelms me. When I feel that what I have is not enough.
6. When doubts overwhelm me and rob me of my sense of peace.
It’s important that I stay encouraged. As a leader it is my #1 goal. I can’t be an encouragement without myself being encouraged. I can give what I don’t have. This is what I need to do.
