Congrats! Five Things A Degree Can’t Give You

As children, we’re told to go to school so we can be somebody. So in a quest to be somebody through kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school, then college, we believe a piece of hard stock paper now makes us, “somebody.” Who that somebody is and is suppose to be, well, we really have no clue. But we think with it we’re entitled to a six figure salary, a Benz, a home and a hot spouse. A degree may provide access to opportunities, but it doesn’t make you whole and it guarantees you nothing. The following are five things a degree will never give you:

A Degree Doesn’t Give you Happiness

You may feel good about yourself now that you’re matter than your 80 year-old Aunt Berta who dropped out in the third grade, but a degree doesn’t give you happiness. It can provide you access to things that may make you smile, but if you want happiness, you’re on your own! At 80, Aunt Berta maybe more happy than you are because many years ago with her third grade education, she discovered that you want joy over happiness. Happiness is external, based on outside conditions. Joy is internal. Not given nor taken away by external conditions.

A Degree Doesn’t Make You Wise

Smart is knowing what something is. Wisdom is knowing what it’s not to be used for. Because you have a degree doesn’t make you wise. Wisdom is character based and God given. Wisdom is not just knowing the right thing to do. Wisdom is knowing the wrong thing is not an option. No class teaches you that. That’s a decision grown and learned in the heart. After all George Dubya graduated from Yale. ‘nuff said.

A Degree Doesn’t Give You Peace

I know the more you learned in school, the less you feel you need God. Schools have a way of trying feverishly to discredit faith in God, as if a degree is the god that makes all things possible. Schools teach you to live life from the outside and God reminds us to focus on the inside, our relationship with him. Getting degrees without a connection with God is like venturing to a new place with a working GPS but no location or direction in mind. Only faith in God gives us peace because when all hell starts to break loose (oh, a degree doesn’t stop hell from breaking loose), and positive thinking turns negative, you need faith in a loving, faithful and all knowing God to let you know it’s going to be okay.

A Degree Doesn’t Give You a Spouse

A degree doesn’t make you more physically attractive unless you consider a six figure student loan debt hot. If you want to be physically fit, you still have to eat right and burn some calories! Many people say they met their spouses in high school or college. That’s great but acquiring a degree doesn’t mean you’ll be married within three years. Stop thinking you’re going to meet Mr. Right at your first job which pays a whopping six figures. It’s delusional. There are a lot of lonely educated folks.

A Degree Doesn’t Make You Somebody

A degree says you have mastered a certain information, skill, or intellectual level. Never does a degree provide an identity. You were somebody from the day you were born. These years, their ups and downs are helping you to discover who you really are. Your identity should be rooted in the one who created you. No, not your parents. They’re nice but they’re limited. Your identity should be rooted in the one who created, shaped and wired you internally. You are who He says you are, and you can do what He says you can. The value of a degree may fluctuate, but God’s wisdom and plan never changes and his grace is always available. When we know we are who He says we are, we know we can achieve far greater things than what’s on a college degree.

SURVIVAL NOTE: The key to post graduate success is knowing real learning and growth never stops.

Five Reasons You’re Unhappy

We all have bad days, days where nothing goes right and days when those we love just do us wrong. But if you or someone you know suffers from chronic unhappiness, don’t be so quick to reach for that anti-depressant. Many of life’s problems aren’t a medical condition. So before you try to find happiness in a prescription, check out the following reasons you may be unhappy.

You’re Being Someone You’re Not

Nothing kills your soul faster than being an imitation. While you’re pretending to be someone else, your real self is dying. Your sadness, unhappiness is an outward symptom of your inner struggle. Stop trying to be someone you’re not. Find and work on the real you. You’ll be amazed how happy the real you will be to see you.

You’re Comparing Yourself to Others

Face it. When you compare yourself to others, you will always come up short because the comparison never ends. There will always be someone more rich, more tall, more smart even more beautiful. As long as you spend your time chasing comparisons, you will never stop to see the real gem in you. Plus comparing yourself to others breeds a rat race that you will never win. 

You’re trying to Find Happiness in Stuff

If money bought happiness, we’d all be robbing banks. Stop looking to feel good about yourself based on your material possessions. Despite popular beliefs, more money will not make you happy. More money will just shine a brighter light on what’s making you unhappy. Money is a tool not a god. Use money as a tool to get the things you need to function in life. Don’t make money your life. 

You’re Surrounding Yourself With the Wrong People

Your so-call friends may be bringing you down. You’re unhappy because you’ve surrounded yourself with takers not givers. They add no value to your life. Their energy is draining you. Time with them leaves you emotionally exhausted and undervalued. Because you can’t change people, it’s time to change the people you’re around. Friend up. Meaning find friends who will help you do better.

You Haven’t Found Your Purpose

There’s nothing more debilitating to the mind, body and soul than an empty life. Just going through the motions in life leaves you unfulfilled. Your life lacks passion and purpose. You have yet to discover what you were placed on this planet to do. Regardless of your spiritual and religious believes, in order to find your purpose, you must go to the source; you know your creator. Only the creator can determine and instruct the purpose of the creation. Once you discover your purpose, nothing will bring you more joy. 

Natasha Bedingfield - Happy (by johnjjst)

When you’ve spent four days under the weather and sick, like I have, it’s often easier to dwell on the aches and discomforts of seasonal cold and flu. You become anxious about all the things that are not getting done while you’re flu frozen. Just when you get a little energy, if you’re like me, you overdo things. Yesterday, feeling a little better, I knocked out some work-related assignments, scrubbed the kitchen and foyer floors, did laundry and my Tina Turner dance, only to feel crappy by the end of the evening.

That’s why I love this song. Let our focus always be on the people and things that bring us joy and happiness. Though my body aches and feels temporarily crappy, there are still many beautiful reasons I have to be happy.  After all feeling better starts with feeling great, from the inside out.

Source: youtube.com