Manufacture Some Happiness!

Norman Vincent Peale was the first person to introduce this concept to me through an anecdote in “The Power of Positive Thinking”.

A man at a dinner party snarks that his wife is “in manufacturing”. He goes on to say her business is “her own unhappiness”.

If that was so, it may be just as possible to manufacture happiness. Joy is passive and spiritual, not ours but God’s. Happiness requires deliberate action in a fallible human. Joy is allowing yourself to be lit from within by God, to align with Divine Love. Happiness is human.

Happiness taking part in choices. I participate in the practice of choosing to be happy, above all else. What I’m finding lately is how much harder it is. These days, manufacturing pure misery and phony freedom void of virtue, is rewarded in this twisted, upside down, virtue-signaling culture.

Let ‘er rip.

While I refuse to manufacture unhappiness, I am human and I have to allow myself a little time when I feel justified in manufacturing it. Sometimes I even set a timer. Then I make a list. Here’s my list today.

1. I live with unhelpful, rude teenagers, with whom I am not provided a God given birth bond.

2. I live in a city I see as under a dark spell, where people walk outdoors in triple masks, a city slowly being destroyed by a sick Council, a city I no longer celebrate.

3. I am creating a whole new living out of the work I have done for decades, to a demographic I haven’t reached before, who may not accept me. Like lots of renovations, I am living in it while building it, and learning on the job.

4. Most of my friends are in other states.

5. I sometimes sense a need for index cards of approved topics with guidelines in order to hang out with others in California.

Reframe Your List

I read my list and feel justified in manufacturing unhappiness. I can if I want. But then it gets icky in my spirit. I remember choices. I don’t want to, so I won’t. I’m going to show you how I do this. After I let myself make that list, then I breathe, close my eyes, and focus on God. Then I answer the list with my God courage, with faith, and imagination.

Here goes:

1. I get to eat dinner alone with my husband tonight, because those rude teenagers have an event!

2. God has put me on assignment in an extreme situation. He has before, and I thanked Him for it. I can see through it. I’m learning how strong I am, I get to be changed by it. The weather is gorgeous today. Beautiful trees are everywhere.

3. I get to start something new. I have a spiritual and professional mentor whose legitimate guidance and inspiration has been a miracle in my life. I have a supportive husband.

4. I have friends and I can openly share with them.

5. My family is giving me an opportunity to show up in a whole new way, and I will grow from it.

Now I’m ready to manufacture some happiness. I am going to open my heart to hope through spiritual text, and I am going to exercise. I am going to imagine the future I want to see.

Thanks for reading my reframe. If you try it, and it helps, please let me know!