Happy People Think Well

Sometimes people will take one bad occurrence and overgeneralize. For instance, if they have had a bad relationship, they can believe things like, "All men (or women) are like that," or "Every company is out to use you and doesn't care." When you do that, it closes you off from all the goodness God has for you. The Bible says that God has a "good and perfect gift" for you, but if you generalize from a few bad experiences or people, then you will not be open to all that He has for you and your life.

The same holds true about you and your own performance. Just because you had a few failures, do not generalize from there to all future performances. Tony Blair once shared, that when he ran for office, only six people showed up at one of his speeches, and it was a terrible performance. But he said that getting over failure was one of the most important lessons a leader could learn.If he had generalized from there, he never would have become prime minister.

The reality is that every person experiences good and bad. God promises us that. Jesus said that in this world we would have problems (John 16:33), so we shouldn't be surprised by them. But unhappy people tend to block out the positive of many situations and see only the negative- about themselves, about others, and about experiences. Happy people do not allow the negative to ruin things for them. They see the cons of situations, but they are able to still love and value the positive aspects. They do not allow the imperfections to ruin things for them. Happy people are not perfectionists who cannot enjoy anything that is less than perfect. Happy people are the ones who are happy even when there are flaws, missteps, and mistakes. The party can still be wonderful for their children even if they don't like the teacher or the soccer coach. Do not let little things that will always be there ruin the experience for you.

Remember, God has told us that we live in a world that will always have imperfections. But He is bigger than the negative and wants you to still enjoy all the good that is here. Grasp His hand and do what He does. He stays involved and is able to bring good out of everything, even the negative:


We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

Watch your thinking, and don't allow the negative to get you down. If you do that, you will be a much happier person. Arm yourself with this promise: "I will not allow my thinking to conform me to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of my mind (Romans 12:2-3). Take all your thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) and "think well."



The Law of Happiness: Henry Cloud



God's love and blessings be with you all! Happy New Year! Serendipity