If only...

Sometimes I get caught up in the "If Only" game. If you have never played the "If Only" game, it pretty much is played out by assuming that one's life would be better if only...and then you fill in the blank.

Sometimes, I do this when I think about how much better my life would be if only I had:
-a better salary.
-a bigger house
-a car that didn't scare small children when I start it up.
-more sleep.
-students who acted maturely.
-people who recognized my contributions

I was made aware of this game last night as I read C.S. Lewis' God in the Dock. In his chapter entitled, "The Trouble with 'X'..." Lewis reminded me that it is my outlook on life that must be shaped by the hand of God. He writes, "Not even God with all His power, can make an individual happy as long as that individual remains envious, self-centered and spiteful. Be sure there is something inside you wich unless it is altered, will put it out of God's power to prevent your being eternally miserable. While that something remains there can be no Heaven for you, just as there can be no sweet smells for a man with a cold in his nose."

Lewis goes on to show the reader that God has already given us the wonderful gift of life with incredibly beautiful sights, delicious foods and all of our basic needs met. The thing that needs to be changed isn't something outside of ourselves...it is us.