Center of Happiness

My dog is so happy.  

She's content to lay at my feet while I work on the computer or wash dishes.  

She can hear me when I get up in the morning and waits for me excitedly at the kitchen door.

She comes wagging that wild tale when we get home from church or a retreat.  

She only hangs her head when she can't come in the house for some reason.

I guess she has no real worries.  Her food bowl is rarely empty and her water bowl is almost always full.  She has companions, toys, and a blanket.  She's well cared for and loved.

So why can't people just be happy like dogs?

I'd really like to know? Ah, but I do. The center of my dog's happiness is in pleasing her master. She's happy when I'm around but when the master of the house comes home, she falls all over herself to get out the door and greet him properly. Could it be that the center of a person's happiness is not in all the things around them, not in all the problems and the worries, but in God Himself and in pleasing Him? Just perhaps?

I'm working hard these days to keep my focus on God and not all the stuff happening around me. To keep my thoughts on what doesn't change and not the up and down emotional turmoils of this life. Take care!