And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8 (NLT)
I read a great quote on a Lululemon bag: “The greatest cause of unhappiness in the world is the pursuit of happiness.” The more we look for happiness, the farther it seems from our reach.
Let’s pretend you begin your day in a bad mood. Your mind instantly looks for something to blame—it may be your spouse or your job. If you keep listening to your logical mind, you will set off to change the thing you blame. You will think that the answer to your unhappiness is a new job or a new spouse. Change isn’t bad but making changes based on feelings rarely gives us the results we desire.
Some feelings come out of nowhere, but usually feelings are a result of what you say when you talk to yourself. Instead of encouraging us to change our thinking to combat those feelings, the self-help industry tells us to focus on them.
We are told to get in touch with our negative feelings, figure out what’s causing them and rid ourselves of the cause. Unfortunately, the more you listen to a voice—in this case, your feelings—the stronger it gets. Pretty soon feelings are running your life, making your decisions and determining your future.
If your mood is off today, change your thinking. Focus on what you are grateful for and how you can be a blessing to others and watch how your feelings change.