“Beware of destination addiction: The idea that happiness is in the next place, the next job, or even with the next partner. Until you give up the idea that happiness is somewhere else, it will never be where you are.”
~ Denzel Washington
There is a major difference between being happy and experiencing joy. Happiness is predicated on circumstances. When things are going our way, we are delighted. Monday night was the NCAA College Football National Championship game. There were many happy Alabama Crimson Tide fans and only a few happy Ohio State Buckeye fans.
Pure joy, on the other hand, can be experienced despite our present circumstances. When we turn our will and lives over to the care of God, get right with God and the people in our lives, we will start to experience joy. The presence of joy is only possible from being freed from the bondage of ourselves. As we begin to remove the many barriers that have been blocking us off from the illumination of God’s Spirit and Power, we start to get freed up, and joy enters our soul.
Denzel Washington is right. Destination addiction is real because it’s powered by delusional thinking. The delusion that we can be happy in this life if everything goes our way isn’t reality; it’s an illusion. It’s an illusion that causes delusion. Unreasonable expectations only lead to disappointment and resentment.
There is good news; you are not a tree. You are not stuck forever, only by choice. If you don’t like the absence of joy in your life, then change it. Quit talking about it and do it. Get the help you need to remove the barriers in your life that are blocking your entire being from experiencing the gift of joy that only God can provide by being in a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe.
My Creator, I wish nothing more than to experience pure joy in my soul. Please remove from me the barriers blocking me from your Spirit and Power. Clear my mind of the illusion creating the delusion that happiness can be bought or created on my terms. I want to be free at last, Lord, please hear my prayer. May Your will not mine be done always. In Your Spirit and Name, I pray these things. Amen.
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