A Lesson Learned

“Anyone who seeks his own happiness will not find it. But those who seek the happiness of others will find happiness in all they do.”

–a transliteration of the words of Jesus from Mathew 16

2008 is coming to a close and a brand new year will be unveiled tomorrow night at midnight. As I was thinking about 2008 something stuck out to me. Every day this year, the news was filled to the brim with stories of ecomomic uncertainty, concerns about the election, war, and violence around the world. And I admit that at times I was nervous and even anxious about some of it. But amidst all of that, my life went on and even thrived. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I finally understood what Jesus was saying in the quote above from Matthew 16.

I was able to recover from divorce and my dad's death. And even better than just recovering, I learned great lessons from both events. I was blessed to meet Matt and our relationship has grown into something so much better than I could have ever imagined. It has benefited greatly from the lessons I learned over the past year. The number one lesson being that our relationship is not filling a hole in my life. I finally understand that it's no one's job to make me happy. (That sounds horrible, doesn't it??) I think our relationship is a gift of every day love and friendship.

In 2008, for the first time (that I can remember) I truly listened when God called on me. My trip to South Africa was the most amazing experience I've ever had and it showed me the truth in Jesus' quote above... "Anyone who seeks his OWN happiness will not find it. But those who seek the happiness of OTHERS will find happiness in ALL they do." The feelings I got from serving others on that trip have inspired me to keep finding ways to make other people happy. The greatest lesson I've learned this year is that when I start to feel overwhelmed, exhausted, nervous, or fearful it's because I'm spending too much time thinking about myself and my circumstances. It's only when I look outward and start thinking of others and what I can do for them that all of those negative emotions melt away.

I'm so looking forward to 2009 and what it will bring. I wish everyone a wonderful and prosperous New Year!