Have you finally stumbled upon the true secret to happiness?
In your random surfing today, have you just stumbled on to the true secret to happiness? Is it possible the author of this article knows what he's talking about?
You're convinced happiness is out there somewhere, if you can only find it. You've probably tried a bunch of different theories already.
Let me guess. None of them worked.
The secret to happiness is not a blissful state in which we have no problems at all. You won't find that in this life. You know by now that if you've ever achieved that kind of situation, it didn't last long.
No, you're searching for a deep, peaceful, reassuring kind of happiness, closer to contentment than anything else. Trying to work your way into that state rarely happens, though. It must be something else.
Maybe we single people expect too much. We may be after something that's too perfect to even exist.
So is the secret to happiness in stuff?
Gone the stuff route yet? I have. Let me give you a quick rundown of how it works.
You're dissatisfied. You feel something's missing. Then you see a commercial or ad. The product promises to make your life better. It's so convincing you think, "Yeah, that sounds logical. If I just had that, I'd be happy."
So you buy it, the gift lift lasts for a while, then inevitably fizzles out. It happens every time, with every thing. Then you're bummed until the next ad comes along.
Many singles get on this materialism treadmill and can't get off. In fact, most of the world is hooked on these false promises. They waste their entire life looking for The Next Big Thing.
But the coolest car, the latest i-Phone, the sharpest clothes, and even the biggest house doesn't do it. Look at the super-rich celebrities. They indulge every whim, yet they crash on drugs and alcohol, going through the revolving door of rehab clinics.
Happiness--the authentic stuff--isn't for sale at any price.
Are relationships the secret?
Relationships are another path, and sometimes they funnel down to a single relationship and you get married. Then you're happy.
Until you get disappointed by your spouse.
Reality sets in that this person is not, in fact, perfect. You either face the truth that nobody (including you) is perfect, or you start picking at them.
Marriage alone doesn't guarantee happiness, as we can see from the divorce rate. Certainly relationships are a component of happiness, and you can't be genuinely happy without them (cloistered nuns and hermit monks aside).
But again, people change, you change, people die, move away, or you discover that no matter how successful your relationships are, they can't satisfy your deepest longing.
My late brother used to say sometimes it's like you have a piece of popcorn stuck in a tooth. No matter how hard you try to wiggle it out with your tongue, you can't. It turns from an irritant into an obsession.
And that's what it's like when you've tried everything, expecting all these paths to make you happy, and none of them does it.
The secret explained
By the process of elimination, we come down to what brings soul-deep satisfaction, contentment, joy, peace, and a sense of value: an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
"Yipes!" you might say, "Anything but that! Not him again."
When I launched www.inspiration-for-singles.com in 2005, I had two choices. I could either make it a secular, New Age site, or I could make it a Christian site. The first choice would have stone guaranteed me tons of visitors and lots of cash. But I would have had to lie to do that.
I chose to tell you the truth, as I have experienced it in my 50+ years as a single person.
If you don't believe in Jesus already, maybe you're in that same trial-and-error process I went through looking for happiness.
Here's why nothing else brings deep happiness and total satisfaction. When God creates the soul of every human being, he leaves a hole in it that can only be filled by Jesus.
The 4th century bishop of Hippo, Augustine, said, "Lord, our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee." The 18th century French mathematician Blaise Pascal said, "There is in each one of us a God-shaped vacuum."
If you're not yet a Christian, explore this web site and see if Jesus makes sense to you. You and I are both sinners, but forgiveness and eternal life can be found in Jesus. Here's what he did for you.
There is a way to ultimate happiness and Jesus is that way. Seek him out. Invest your life in the only way that works.
