Our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, offers a wise quote concerning happiness. The Illinois lawmaker said:
“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
Lincoln was right. Happiness begins on the inside. It’s comes from me. I have no control over others. The happiness or sorrow of others must be controlled by them. I can be happy when I decide to be happy and not one minute before.
German theologian-physician Albert Schweitzer also had something to say about happiness. He said:
“Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.”
The ability to forget the wrongs done by and to us is vital. When we sin and seek forgiveness God remembers our sin no more. Often our biggest problem is that we will not forget our own shortcomings. We continue to persecute ourselves over events done long ago. Like Lincoln’s comments above, this idea goes to the inside. The externals in life are only window dressings.
