Acheiving Happiness

"It is not what happens in our life that matters most but how we decide to react to it."

Happiness and contentment doesn't come from the lack of hard things happening in our lives, it comes from how we decide to think about those things that have happened to us.  If we decide to dwell on the 'hard luck' stories that we all have, then our happiness and contentment in life will suffer because we are dwelling on negative things.  If we instead focus our thoughts on "whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, whatever has virtue and excellence, whatever is worthy of praise and weigh them and take account of them" then we will be able to overcome the negative 'hard luck' situations as they come into our lives. 

What is the things that fit into all the categories above?  God and His word and the things that He has done. 

There are times when we don't always like what God is in the process of teaching us.  Then is when we must instead focus on what He has already taught us that has produced fruit, and lean on faith that this current lesson and trial will also produce fruit.

I didn't enjoy the times in which God was teaching me about loss.  Loss though is a part of life and it helps us look forward to and anticipate a time in which what has been taken from us will be set right.  However, in the hard times God shows up, takes our hand and helps lead us through.  In every instance, God has also used each lesson to bring forth new branches that have borne new fruit.