Keep a Cheerful Heart.
Our lives are greatly influenced by what flows from within us and not only what happens around us. This is the reason why we must do our best to maintain positivity and cheerfulness as much as we possibly can. The Bible in Proverbs 17:22 MSG says "A cheerful disposition is good for your health. Gloom and doom leave you bone tired." What a mystery it is. Many people think that it is the other way round, they think that the circumstances on the outside are the key to a good life. Friends, let us take it from the scriptures. The Voice version of the Bible puts the same scripture this way "A joy-filled heart is a curative balm, but a broken spirit hurts all the way to the bone."
The scripture shows us that when our hearts are joyful and cheerful it has a great effect on our physical bodies. Now it's important for us to always remember that life flows from our heart to the outside. If our heart is not cheerful, if our heart is not merry, if our heart is not joyful then we are flowing negative energy all around our lives. It’s very important to understand this because it helps us attend to the things that matter in our lives. When we maintain and keep a merry and joyful heart, we will realize that all we are dispensing from our heart into every other aspect of our lives is positive energy characterized by, cheerfulness and joy. Therefore, the writer has said is, a cheerful heart is curative, it is medicine.
Maintaining a cheerful heart has got the power to work on the physical body, it cures, and does good to a person. On the other hand, when the heart is filled with gloom and doom it saps out strength from you. It makes you weary; it makes you tire. The voice version says it hurts all the way to the bone, which is serious pain and a sad condition to live in. The exhortation, therefore, is that we do our best to maintain a cheerful heart. This may seem impossible considering the everyday life challenges that always encroach our paths uninvited, but there is a way to get it. To begin with, you need to be at peace. Peace is essential if we are to generate cheerfulness. This peace is in three aspects of our lives. First is being at peace with God. It is impossible to have genuine joy and a merry heart without peace with God who created you. One's relationship with their maker should be good for all other things to be in place.
Secondly, we should Endeavour to be at peace with ourselves. It is possible to be conflicting and confusing oneself and usually, such kind of behavior generates restlessness. We ought to cultivate peace and single-mindedness. The third area we need peace is with other people. We need to be intentional in pursuing peace in our relationships. We should at all costs avoid strife and bitterness. When we cultivate and pursue peace in these areas of our lives then we are on track to a cheerful heart.
The next stage to a cheerful heart after peace will be constantly reminding yourself of the good things that you have. This may mean reflecting on your blessings often and having a gratitude journal. Many a time our joy is consumed by contemplating our shortcomings and the things we don't have yet. On the contrary, what promotes a merry and joyful heart is being grateful for what we already have. So, you might as well take time to appreciate the achievements that you already have, the family, the health, and many other good things that you already have.
By pursuing peace and being grateful we keep a merry heart. And remember a merry heart is a curative balm, it does you good in your body.
