The Keys to Happiness

The Keys to Happiness, A Reader’s Digest Guide to Successful Living. The range of advice in this book was varied . . . slow down, reduce your stress, carve out some quiet time, stay physically fit, free yourself from worry, give of yourself, don’t gossip, praise others—especially children, stop smoking, life has a higher purpose for a higher power. This list of good advice went on and on. I read with great interest.

The articles on slowing down the pace of this hectic modern life were the ones that made me smile and nod in agreement. I smiled because the copyright of the book was 1950! How hectic could modern life be? There were no cell phones or ipods, no Internet or call waiting, no hybrid cars or concord jets. I didn’t imagine a fast lane when I think 1950. Apparently I was wrong!

50 years ago, 250 years ago even 2,000 years ago people were concerned about staying healthy (alive), avoiding gossip, wanting praise, and trying to make sense of life and living with a higher purpose in mind. I guess I thought we’d “get it” by now. We’d have figured out the answers and moved on. But our nature does not seem to allow us to fast forward through the learning parts of the human experience.

It takes us a lot of time to learn how to calm your worry, or disengage from gossip, or carve out quiet time. Each of us has to learn these things on our own, there is not a magic formula to follow. While I was reading this book from the 1950’s I was struck by how incredibly patient God is with each of us. Fifty years and we’re still working on it. There are keys to happiness we all know. Note I said keys, plural; there are many things that will make a happy and successful life. We know which doors to go through. For me some of the doors are easy to open like carving out quiet time. But some doors I can’t even find; I am still bumping around in the dark banging my head with worry and stubbing my toes on gossip. Slowly I am learning to unlock some of these lessons.

I rejoice in God’s patience. I am so glad he is with me in the dark, after all He’s the one illuminating the way so I cling to Him.

Posted 6/9/2006 @ 5:34 PM | Weekly Thoughts