BE JAMES!

As I have almost completed the book, The Happiness Project, I will have to say that great changes have come about from reading this unique and special piece of literature. My hope is to reread this book at least two more times before my thirtieth birthday. I got an email from a close friend about the last blog entry I wrote – something about it being the best blog entry I have ever wrote.

It was not the writing that caught his attention. It was the measure of personal growth within the entry.

As I have been focusing on enhancing my skills in ministry, photography, writing, and reading, these things almost inevitably require inner reflection and lots of alone time. I find myself preferring to lock myself away in my study and in my bedroom to accomplish a list of tasks to do that I think will better myself and these desired traits. For awhile, I felt remorse about not wanting to spend every second with a friend or family member doing something outside of my usual volunteer projects. I almost prefer to keep to myself in order to self-improve on some levels whether finishing one of my books I am writing or reading my Bible. So in some ways, I must be James, the new introvert or the old extravert.

Routinely I am around an individual who I believe gets a buzz over the authority that his position gives him. I question the sincerity of the mask that I often see. I guess it aggravates me because I am not that type of person…what you see is pretty much what you get. While I may wear emotions on my sleeve, you will typically know when something is bothering me. I cannot decipher whether this individual is genuinely miserable or happy. I am beginning to think that it is the former of the two. And being authoritative in micromanagement to the point of annoyance, others become affected by the individual’s sense of mood.

I have learned a valuable lesson that others should not be able to steal one’s happiness, even if a line must be drawn between right and wrong. I do not easily back down when I think someone is being treated unfairly. That especially includes myself. In order to be happy, I must be James, and I should not let anyone else dictate otherwise. You must be comfortable to be yourself in order to be happy.