Bluebird of Happiness [1 Attachment]

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BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS A sign in a pet store read, "If anybody has seen the Bluebird ofHappiness, would you please notify this pet store?" Happiness seems to be in short supply for many people. If theResults of recent surveys can be trusted, there is a general declineOf happiness in today's world. And people were not all thatCheerful a few years back! It was Oliver Wendell Holmes who stated,"I might have been a minister for aught I know, if a certainClergyman had not looked and talked like an undertaker." (I have toSay, though, that some clergy and undertakers I've known could teachThe rest of us something about joy.) Joy and happiness are not always the same things. Happiness can beThought of as more of a temporary, emotional condition, often basedOn outside circumstances. Joy, on the other hand, is deeper. It isOften contentment in spite of the unsettling present. We can beBasically joyful, regardless of a particular unhappy situation thatWe may be enduring. It is sometimes just a matter of keepingPerspective on our troubles, and especially when those troublesSeem to be in long supply. You may know the story of the man who had a marvelous way of keepingJoy in his life. He was a carpenter. He followed the same ritualEvery day when he came home from the job. He stopped by a small treeIn his front yard and placed his hand on a couple of branches. Then,When he walked into his home, it was as if a magical transformationHad occurred. All of a sudden, the stress was lifted from him. HeBecame energetic and joyful, able to fully interact with hisChildren and his wife. He explained it this way: "That tree is my trouble tree. When I comeHome I stop by the tree and, just like I leave my tools in theTruck, I leave my troubles outside of my home. I hang them on thatTree before greeting my family. Anything that does not have to comeIn my house stays outside. Anything that I do not have to deal withAt home, I leave on that tree. And in the morning, I stop by theTree and pick up the troubles I left there in the evening." Then he adds, "It's a funny thing, though. Every morning I alwaysFind fewer troubles remaining than I hung the night before." Here is a man who has no doubt seen the Bluebird of Happiness.Chances are, it is nesting in a tree just outside his home. There is wisdom in knowing that some problems can wait untilTomorrow. And more wisdom in knowing what to hang on the tree andWhat to bring in. Managing daily problems well is vital toMaintaining joy. -- Steve Goodier--