Everybody would change something in life, if we could. Some need huge changes, others only small changes. But everyone could be better in some way.
One survey found that 64% of Americans would change their wealth—I’m guessing more. Half (51%) would change their weight—most would have less. Forty–five percent of people surveyed would change a bad habit if they could. Fully a third (32%) would change their
intelligence—opting for more, no doubt (James Patterson and Peter Kim in The Day America Told the Truth).
 Much of our change would center on what we perceive as the causes of our unhappiness; some are very, very unhappy, others just a little—and maybe can’t even put their finger on why they’re unhappy.
In a Forbes magazine article in 1992, “You’d Cry Too if it Happened to You,” secular author Peggy Noonan (who isn’t known as a ‘Christian’ writer) reported 11 men and women were asked the question “Why are we so unhappy?” They all agreed we’re unhappy because we’ve lost our moral and spiritual center. Noonan wrote: “Poet W. H. Auden called his era ‘the age of anxiety’ (he lived 1907–1973). I think what was at the heart of the dread in those days was that we could tell we were beginning to lose God—banishing Him from the scene and from our own consciousness, losing the assumption that he was part of the daily drama or [even] its maker. It is a terrible thing when people lose God. Life is difficult, and people are afraid, and to be without God is to lose man’s greatest source of consolation and coherence . . .”
Much of life’s trauma is traceable to a disconnect between the individual and God. The abused child could point the finger at the parent’s disconnect from God. The anorexic girl could identify her dislike of herself with the truth that when God isn’t our focal point, we
find it crushingly hard to like ourselves as we are. Ditto for the one who eats to block out the pain of rejection.
The phrase “personal demons” reflects those inner troubles so many have, those things we would give almost anything to change—or maybe, those things we hold onto because having them seems better than having nothing to ease our pain, even temporarily.
God loves us just the way we are. Thankfully, he
loves us too much to leave us just as we are. He can change our pain, despair
and anger. Can we make the shift?
*The views expressed in this blog are in no way intended to represent the views of Child Evangelism Fellowship©.They are exclusively the expressed views of Curtis Alexander.
There was once a colony of mice who lived all their lives in a large, magnificent grand piano. To them in their piano–world came the marvelous sounds of the beautiful instrument, filling all the dark spaces with rich music and sweet harmony.  At first the mice were overwhelmed with
awe. They drew comfort and strength from the thought that there was Someone—though invisible to them—who made the music, someone close by, yet above and beyond them, someone who transcended their little piano–lives. They loved to think of the Great Unseen Player to whom they attributed the lovely melodies. They honored Him and praised His greatness and magnificent creativity.
Then one day a daring mouse climbed up to another part of the piano. Soon she returned, very thoughtful and a little disturbed. She had discovered how music was really made.
Wires were the secret: tightly stretched wires of graduated lengths and thicknesses which throbbed and trembled and pulsated. They must revise all their old, outdated beliefs: none but the most ignorant simpleton could any longer believe in the Great Unseen Player. Never
mind how the wires got there in the first place. It was obviously just a random occurrence.
 Later, another adventuresome explorer–mouse carried the explanation even farther. Hammers were the true secret—dozens of felt–covered hammers dancing and leaping on the wires. This was a more complicated theory, but it all went to show that they lived in a purely mechanical, mathematical world—let’s hear no more about this mythical Great Unseen Player. Any thinking mouse could see that there was nothing to the Player myth. He did not exist!
Eventually someone else put forward a theory about vibration, the true key to the lovely music. It wasn’t wires or hammers, and it certainly was not the “Player.” It was all about
vibration.
Untroubled by their unbelief, the Great Unseen Player kept on playing anyway! And the mice
still heard the rich music and pleasant songs! Some insisted there was an intelligence, a design to the music that couldn’t come simply by randomness, without a Player creating the wonderful music they so loved. The arguments churned on, and the piano–mice lived in conflict and disagreement.
Still the Great Unseen Player, untroubled by the heated debate, kept right on creating the rich, melodious sounds that touched their souls, believer and unbeliever alike.
*The views expressed in this blog are in no way intended to represent the views of Child Evangelism Fellowship©.They are exclusively the expressed views of Curtis Alexander.
The late Gilda Radner, famous Saturday Night Live comedienne, once told about a memory from her childhood. A friend of hers had a pet dog, just a mutt. It was due to have puppies before too long. The pooch was playing in the yard one day and got in the way of the mower; she lost her two hind legs in the tragic accident.
 The family rushed her to the vet, who patched her up and sent her home. And in a surprisingly short time, said Radner, the dog learned to walk without any back legs. She would take two steps in the front and scoot her
backside forward, then two more steps in the front and scoot her backside
forward. She quickly became adept at getting around, despite her horrifying handicap.
Then the family mutt gave birth to six healthy puppies, all of which had two front legs and two hind legs, like normal dogs. She nursed them and weaned them, and they grew quickly, as puppies do. But when they began to walk around, they walked just like the crippled mother, even though she had no hind legs and they did. They would take two steps in front and then scoot their backside forward, legs and all. They were just doing what came naturally, they were copying their mother. Not copy–cats—they were copy–dogs!
Little people are a lot like little puppies . . . they watch their parents and other significant people in their lives, then they copy them. And to me, that’s both heartwarming and terrifying! My kids learned a lot of things from me, and not always what I wanted them to learn! Now their kids are paying attention to them—and to me! Your kids or grandkids (or neighbor kids) are watching too, and in many ways they will act just like you.
Those darling little copy–dogs!
*The views expressed in this blog are in no way intended to represent the views of Child Evangelism Fellowship©.They are exclusively the expressed views of Curtis Alexander.
 If Christianity is the one true religion, shouldn’t its believers live more stress–free and with greater contentment? Hmmmm!
Health.com reports that a Gallup Poll asked 350,000 people last year whether they were afflicted by stress, then compiled the information into a report on how stressed out residents of the 50 states are. Apparently the people in one particular state are the least–stressed, and most likely to say that they “experienced enjoyment” the day before they were polled. In fact, this is the fifth year in a row that residents of this state have been ranked least–stressed. If indeed, happiness is a state of mind, it appears it's actually also a state of the Union: Hawaii.
I spent three years living in happy Hawaii (“Happyaii”?) and don’t remember being all that happy. I spent a lot of time with my uncle—“Sam” that is. About all he did to promote happiness was give bossy orders ending with, “And everyone will have a good time. That’s
an order!”
 Louisiana, Mississippi, Iowa, and Wyoming also landed on the Gallup–Healthways Well–Being Index® of least–stressed states. And Wyoming joined Hawaii as a double winner by also being on the “experienced the most enjoyment” list.
I notice that the least–stressed and “most likely to experience enjoyment” states are a mix-and-match combination of blue and red states. So it can’t simply be the political climate.
The five most–stressed states are West Virginia, Rhode Island, Kentucky, Utah, and Massachusetts, also a blended purple, with West Virginia, Kentucky and Utah being quite red, while Rhode Island and Massachusetts are among the bluest in the nation (there is a double meaning there, with two politically left–leaning states having some of the bluest, most–stressed citizens).
 Researchers admit that the
relationship between stress and enjoyment isn’t entirely clear. But a lot of
people are very stressed out. According to the Gallup Poll, 40% of American
adults consistently report experiencing a lot of stress. And we know that stress
can take its toll on your health.
Anne Krueger, reporting for www.foxnews.com/health on the survey had a few suggestions if you’re not experiencing as much enjoyment as you want, or need to loosen up a little. Her ideas:
1. Have more sex. Maybe if you were lounging around the beach in your bikini in Hawaii instead of housebound in New Hampshire this wouldn't seem like such a challenge for you.
2. Meditate, Ohio. Yes, you heard me. Forget that there’s a freeze warning for tonight while Hawaii is basking in the sun, and focus on your breathing.
 3. Yuk it up, Indiana. A good laugh can give you a bit of an energy and mood boost.
4. Eat this, Massachusetts: A turkey, swiss, and avocado sandwich on whole–wheat bread with a dash of oregano just might cheer you up (the oregano is an anti–inflammatory that might help reduce stress). It’s no fancy drink in a pineapple, but a tea chaser may help reduce the stress hormone cortisol.
5. Get out of your curled–up fetal position and do the child’s pose, Connecticut. Yoga is thought to help fight anxiety.
 6. Take a peaceful stroll by the ocean, Utah. Oh, scratch the ocean part. But walking will help you shake off stress.
7. Clean your kitchen, Rhode Island. All that clutter could be giving you sensory overload and stressing you out. Conquering the chaos can be very relaxing.
8. Stop looking at pictures of Hawaii on your computer while you’re folding the clothes, Kentucky. Multitasking is not relaxing. Forget the folding and just look at Hawaii.
9. Visit the sauna at the gym, Oregon. It will relax you and improve your mood as you consider that there’s only 2,600 miles between you and Hawaii.
10. Turn off the computer, West Virginia. And keep all those digital devices out of your bedroom where they can make you even more tired and depressed about the fact that you don’t live in Hawaii!ª These ideas are Anne Krueger’s, and are not necessarily endorsed by me!
It might help to remember that there is a big difference between“happiness” (WordWeb defines it as: Emotions experienced when in a state of well–being) and “joy,” which the Bible
reveals as something much deeper and more substantive than mere emotions. Otherwise, how could the inspired Word of God instruct us to “consider it all joy, brothers (and sisters) when you encounter all kinds of trials . . .”?
So maybe a “state of Grace” would be the best state to be in if you want to reduce stress and pile on the “happiness.”
Are Christians susceptible to stress? Of course. Do we experience enjoyment at a greater level than the average Joe? Maybe not. But if low stress and “happiness” are what drive us,
then we may have lost sight of one major goal of life—Heaven! And I suspect heaven would rank even above Hawaii on the low–stress, high–enjoyment scale.
(The pictures of children show our three daughters when we lived in Hawaii in the late–1970s)
ª Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/04/30/are-living-in-stressed-out-state-here-how-to-loosen-up/?intcmp=features#ixzz2RzNdHxeD*The views expressed in this blog are in no way intended to represent the views of Child Evangelism Fellowship©.They are exclusively the expressed views of Curtis Alexander.
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