It's kind of weird that this has gotten stuck in my head today the way that it has; I'm not usually the "thought for the day" kind of person. At least, not the conventional thought for the day. "Keep your pants filled with Jell-O and you'll always have a cushion to sit on" is more par for the course.

Anyway, as I sit here listening to "radiolo70s - Album-oriented, no holds barred, 70s alternative" on iTunes (because I'm burnt out on my "Alias"/"The World Is Not Enough"/"The Bourne Identity" superspy soundtrack mix)... uh, where was I? Oh, yes. Motto for the day.

"Future happiness." As I drove Marilyn to work this morning, she commented on an article in "Ladies' Home Journal" that said we often are unhappy because our actions are most often motivated by a pursuit of immediate gratification and achieving present happiness. Yet, it's only when we focus on doing what will give us happiness later that we end up happier. It's such a basic concept, but for some reason it's really stuck with me today. Perhaps because my actions for the past few weeks have been so entirely and exclusively motivated by that desire for immediate entertainment, it suddenly feels like a breath of fresh air. Because I'm incapable of going through more than ten minutes of conversation or two blog posts without mentioning C. S. Lewis, I'll mention that he was the first to draw my attention to the fact that emotions come as a result of actions, and that attempting to stimulate happiness without performing deeds that should result in happiness is putting the cart before the horse, and rarely, if ever, successful. Of course, he said something much like this, but far more eloquently than I'm able to parse at the moment.

So, being entirely burnt out on just about everything right now, I've finally started the day with this concept firmly in mind. "If I do things that I know will make me feel better later, even if I don't feel like doing them, I'm going to just do them with the thought that I'll be happier for it later." I mean, really - it's the root of just about every single problem I have right now. My relationship with Jesus will improve only if I spend time now reading the Bible and praying; this should make temptation easier to resist when it comes up, and should ideally give me a better outlook on life anyway. It'll also prepare me for speaking to others about Jesus when those opportunities arise. If I sit down and work on my homework now instead of putting it aside to, say, write a blog post, then I'll feel better later for having done the work instead of having a greater load hanging over my head.

Entirely basic concept, and yet, how often does it elude me? I'm ashamed that it took "Ladies' Home Journal" to remind me. No, really - the shame is deep and abiding. Maybe next time I'll post about how puppies are fluffy.

Oh, cool side note - the Digital Coloring for Comics project I'm working on right now is coloring a sweet illustration of Elric. I'll try and post something of it here when I'm done.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that this thought had occurred to me a month or two ago when it was pointed out to me that Jonathan Edwards had said something similar in regards to rewards in Heaven: "Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power; might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of." Come to think of it, his entire list of daily resolutions is a good list to muse over:

http://www.apuritansmind.com/ChristianWalk
/ResolutionsOfJonathanEdwards.htm