Bobby McFerrin, an American jazz vocalist and conductor, climbed to the top of the charts in 1988 with his No. 1 pop hit, Don’t Worry, Be Happy. McFerrin’s inspiration for the song came from that exact saying often used by the Indian mystic and sage, Meher Baba. In an interview that year, McFerrin said the saying was a “pretty neat philosophy in four words.”
What the Apostle Paul Wrote
The apostle Paul also expressed a pretty neat philosophy in Romans 12:2 when he wrote, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Scientific Research Agrees
It has been shown through scientific research and personal observation that there is a link between the mind and the body. If you hold on to negative thoughts like worry, anger, unforgiveness, and ill will towards others, these could be a potential cause, or at least contributing factors of illness. Hence the saying, being “worried sick.”
Think positive and make your own sunshine!
Obviously, there is no such thing as a happy bone, but positive affirmations and prayer can bring about a desired state of being in oneself in which the mental, emotional, and physical state of the person changes for the better. With this in mind, I often tell people to make their own sunshine.
What You Can Do
Take time in the morning to relax your body and breathe in the new day. Take some time to think about what makes you happy and things you like to do. Dwell on positive memories. Praise the Lord and thank him for another day full of opportunities to serve him and experience his love.
If negative thoughts arise, let them go and don’t dwell on them. Just like positive thoughts, one negative thought leads to another. Avoid the noise created by television, radio, and social media, unless you make selections that relax and raise you up.
Think Positive
Finally, if you have a rain cloud over your head like Charlie Brown has sometimes, think positive and make your own sunshine through prayer and the Lord’s presence. You’ll be a bright ray of sunshine to those around you and feel a whole lot better mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually as you do the Lord's will.
Additional reading:
Listen to God's Words
You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Psalm 16:11)
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:31)
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Also read: Psalm 37:4, John 16:22, Philippians 4:7-8
In the Words of Others
“While other world views lead us to sit in the midst of life’s joys, foreseeing the coming sorrows, Christianity empowers its people to sit in the midst of the world’s sorrow, tasting the coming joy.” Timothy Keller
“For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” Abraham Lincoln
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Mahatma Gandhi
Think About It
Think of a day when you started the day with negative thoughts. How did it affect the rest of your day?
Can you think of a time when you were “worried sick?” If so, describe how you felt and how it affected your day.
Recall a time when you transformed a negative mood into a positive mood, or faced unexpected and challenging circumstances using positive affirmations or prayer.
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