Life.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

Two wrongs don't make a right. Laugh often and love much. Clothes don't make the man. What goes up must come down. When one door shuts, another opens. Life is what you make of it.

All of these proverbs are fairly easy for people to learn, considering the vast amount of life lessons there are. But unfortunately, I'm an exception.

I have a nasty tendency to make myself too busy, so busy in fact that I am no longer enjoying my summer. I have been neglecting some very important things in my life, so I am going to reprioritize.

I found another blog on happiness, and I think this is some great advice that I should take to heart. Here's a summary:

Simplicity
Happiness is not dependent on amassing a certain amount of fame or wealth; happiness is not dependent on reaching a certain social pecking order. If we are always striving after something bigger and better, happiness will remain elusive.

Live in the Heart
If we only live in the mind we look at every situation with our critical judgmental mind, as a consequence, we will inevitably find innumerable faults with the world and with other people. When we are constantly criticising others we can find neither peace nor happiness. However, if we live more in the heart we have a more tolerant, accepting attitude towards others.

Control Over Your Thoughts
To cultivate happiness we need to cultivate positive thoughts. This means stopping negative thoughts and replacing them with good, inspiring thoughts.

Gratitude
If we show no appreciation for others and for life, we create a narcissistic outlook. We focus excessively on our sense of self and ego. When we offer gratitude for small things in life, it helps us feel a broader identity and awareness; our consciousness expands and we bring to the fore our own positive qualities.

Active
Happiness is easily found in usefully serving others. Activity doesn’t mean filling up our lives with as many activities as possible — this only leads to a sense of self-importance and stress as we struggle to do several things at once. But, if we are calmly active we find a sense of purpose in life; this sense of purpose and satisfaction helps cultivate an inner sense of satisfaction.

Physical Exercise
When you take regular physical exercise you will feel many benefits. Firstly, when we look after our body we are less prone to lethargy and illness. Through developing our fitness we gain an increased sense of self esteem; this is because we are taking active steps for our self improvement.
Increasing our fitness also enables an increased sense of mental well being; exercise helps rid the mind of many useless thoughts. It is important to have the right attitude to exercise, don’t think of school P.E. lessons in the cold rain; getting fit doesn’t have to be torture — you can easily find a sport or some exercise that is enjoyable and sociable.

(To view entire article, click here http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/the-6-components-of-a-happy-life/. )

If these are some of the keys to happiness, then I need to slow down.

This isn't to say I'm not happy. Having faith and a love for Jesus Christ alone makes me happy and joyful. I think the key to true happiness is remaining close to God--taking time to be with Him and listen to what He tells me. It is refreshing to know, after reading the verse above, that if I remain in God's word, I will have whatever I need.

Will see if I can to slow down…..let's hope so, or pray so I suppose….