How do you shift from misery to happiness? Is it possible to be in your current circumstances with your reality, and not be miserable? Is misery a choice, or is it a natural byproduct of your situation? And how about happiness? Is happiness a guaranteed state dependent upon the right conditions, and without those conditions it is no longer available?

Misery and happiness are both available to you today. Your conditions are primed for either. Yip, it’s both a perfect day to be miserable, or a perfect day to be happy, it all depends on how you look at it.

You woke up to countless opportunities for misery today. There’s so much undone and uncertain. So much wrong. So much further to go without a guarantee of ever getting there. Misery is here for you. Presented on a silver platter with your name embroidered on it. Yes, misery especially for you, just in your size, custom made to fit you perfectly.

You also woke up to countless opportunities for happiness today. A whole world of beauty and blessings. A life full of previously answered prayers now as your every day reality. So much that is good. So much that is working. Happiness is here for you today. Oh, and would you look at that, it has your name on it. Customized especially for you, happiness in your size with your favorite toppings.

Yes, both are available today. Both are perfect for today. Misery just right for today, or happiness just right for today. The question becomes which one will you choose. Unknowingly you will reach for one and choose it over the other. You will hand select either misery or happiness. In fact, you’re doing it right now!

Now. And now. You just did it again. Misery or happiness. You’re constantly choosing. Which one did you select?

In these moments of decision, your circumstances have not changed. Everything is exactly as it was before, you simply chose how you viewed it. Here’s the key …

MISERABLE PEOPLE FOCUS ON THE THINGS THEY HATE ABOUT THEIR LIFE. HAPPY PEOPLE FOCUS ON THE THINGS THEY LOVE ABOUT THEIR LIFE.

Misery is a choice to think about all that is wrong, and there’s always something wrong. Every single one of us have something wrong in our lives right now. No one woke up to perfection today. I have something wrong, and so do you. The deciding factor is if you’re focusing on it or not. Misery is a natural byproduct of negative thoughts. It’s the feeling generated by a thought pattern of what is wrong. And girl, you can try to make yourself feel all sorts of ways, but if your thoughts are focused on the things you hate about your life, your feelings become the victim of those thoughts, and misery is their only choice.

Happiness is not perfect circumstances. Happiness is the feeling created by thoughts focused on all the things you love about your life. Happiness is the byproduct of positive thinking. Every single one of us have something right in our lives right now. I have something right, and so do you. If you’re thinking about what is right, you feel happiness. It’s plain and simple. These feelings are directed by our thoughts. Always.

So my friend, why would you ever choose misery? Misery doesn’t look good on anyone. It’s not a flattering look for you girlfriend. Misery is the puke green jumpsuit that makes everyone look bad. It’s not working for you. Don’t put on the misery jumpsuit! Your thoughts are dressing you today, make sure whatever you’re putting on looks good on you.

Psalm 40: 2-3
“He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
and steadied me as I walked along.
3 He has given me a new song to sing,
a hymn of praise to our God.”

Many times we look at a scripture like this and we think it means God changes our circumstances, then we have this new song to sing. But when scripture says ‘he lifted me out of the pit of despair’, this doesn’t mean things are magically fixed. This means we rise above our circumstances. We are lifted above what is happening and able to see beyond it.

Lord, lift me up from my pit of despair. Help me to focus my thoughts on all you have done and are doing in my life.

This is how you get yourself a new song to sing sis. This is how you walk on solid ground and move forward in your life. You get out of that pit of despair. That pit of despair is misery. It is a mindset. It is a destination of thoughts, not of circumstances. And honey, it’s no place for a girl like you to be.

You are not designed for a pit of despair. Your mind and body were not created to dwell here in misery. This misery will only deteriorate the fine details of your design. It will eat away at the workings of God within you. It will rot your purpose, it will stall your progress, it will ruin your potential. This misery, it will steal, kill and destroy all the good in your life.

And never forget who the author of that destruction is. In John 10:10 Jesus warns us of the thief who comes only to steal, kill and destroy. That is his only game plan. His only motive. His only objective. Steal, kill and destroy. And look, this is what misery does to us. If the results are the same, then honey you better check the maker! The peddling of negative thoughts that create the feelings of misery in your life have fingerprints on them. Check the prints. That doesn’t come from God!

The second half of that same scripture, John 10:10, Jesus tells us he has come to give us life, life to the full! Yes, a BIG Life, that’s what Jesus is offering us. This is happiness. This is not perfection. This is not insulation and protection from all bad things ever touching your life. This is simply an offering to always see how God is working and the good he is doing. An invitation to focus on what is right, and when we do, we feel happiness.

This happiness is from God. It is the feeling that verifies we are walking in his plan for us. It is his intended pathway for our thoughts. This is the solid ground scripture talks about. The solid ground of our focused thoughts. The solid ground of all that is right, all that is good, all that is working together in ways we haven’t even imagined yet. And here on this solid ground, we are steady. We are not swayed by the happenings of the day.

Life happens, and it happens to all of us. Not all things are good. We are not to be grateful FOR all things, but IN all things. In the middle of whatever you’re going through, you can still be grateful. God is working here. Solid ground is still here for you to walk on. And when you do, when you chose happiness over misery, you sing a totally different song.

What will you think about today my sister? Your thoughts will either create misery or they will create happiness. One looks dang good on you, and one makes you look pitiful. Dang girl, misery looks absolutely awful on you. But whooooo child, when you put on that happiness you are one stunning sister! Misery or happiness hang in your closet today. One comes from God, and the other does not. You choose what you put on by choosing your thoughts.

Now tell me what you love about your life. Tell me all that is right. Tell me all that is so darn good, and has been so darn good for so long that you almost forgot about it. Tell me all that is working. Tell me all the simply miraculous unfoldings happening everywhere around you. Feel that … yip, that’s happiness. Your thoughts created that. Those thoughts were designed by God!

And girl, they look dang good on you!