Are you happy?

Give yourself a happiness score between one and ten over the past three months. Don't base it on how you feel today or over the past week; you might just be having a bad week. Three months gives us a better look. What's your happiness score? Scribble it somewhere.

Saint John of Sahagún found himself with a very low happiness score, so he decided to do something about it. 

John was a renowned professor and famous preacher with too many degrees to count and too much money to spend. He was also breaking Church law by holding so many offices at once, and he knew it, because he was an expert in Church law. But his bishop also knew it and was allowing it, so everything should’ve been fine, right?

The only problem was, John was miserable. His lifestyle gnawed at his conscience. He knew he’d be happier with a simpler life, but he resisted happiness. Until one day he could no longer ignore the dissatisfaction in his soul. So he did something bold about it.

John resigned from all of his offices. He renounced his titles. He gave all his possessions away. He became an Augustinian monk, spending the rest of his life serving others. And he was happy.

You are on a quest for happiness. It's time to stop resisting happiness. It's time to stop destroying our own happiness. 

We do it in so many ways. Do you worry about things you have no control over? Worry destroys happiness. Do you compare yourself with others in an unhealthy way? Comparison is a destroyer of happiness. Do you cling to bad relationships? Bad relationships destroy our happiness. Do you have a lot of self-doubt, or even self-loathing? They are destroyers of happiness. Do you buy things you can't afford and don't need? Debt is a destroyer of happiness and a creator of stress. Gossip, laziness, fear, excuses, negative thinking, ingratitude, and jealousy are all destroyers of happiness.

Most people think they are reasonably happy, and most people yearn to be happier. It's time to do something about that. It’s time to increase your happiness score.



Patron Saint of: Salamanca (Spain), the Diocese of Salamanca, Candon City, Philippines, and Toledo (Spain)

Symbols: Chalice and host

Feast Day: June 12

Feast Day Shared By: Saint Onuphrius and Saint Leo III

Canonized: October 16, 1690

Canonized By: Pope Alexander VIII