Faith Is the Chocolate on My Vanilla Ice Cream

By Sally Benedict, FaithCounts.com Contributor

When I eat ice cream, I like vanilla—with a little chocolate on top. For me, that chocolate changes everything. The taste goes from great to sublime. I eat slower. I savor the flavors. I cannot eat mindlessly.

So What Has Chocolate Got to Do with Faith?

When my life is running smoothly, it’s a lot like eating vanilla ice cream. It’s good; I’m content. But it’s easy to focus on my to-do list and rush through the day without noticing how beautiful the world is, or how good the day has been, or how grateful I am to have people to love. I don’t savor the good times. They are underappreciated.

It takes something else for me to realize how amazing the good days really are.

Faith and Noticing the Good

Faith—choosing to believe that the good in my life is not an accident—gives me not only something to be grateful for, but someone to be grateful to. But I have to pay attention.

I once read that “blessings only come to those who notice.” Looking for the good makes me aware that blessings are pouring down.

Benefits of Seeing the Good

Slows down time. Various sciences are finding that paying attention makes time seem to pass more slowly. Carolyn Gregoire writes, “So the solution to the time-flying problem? Do more, or rather, notice more.”

Increases happiness now. Faith and gratitude can increase happiness. Eric Barker states, “I can’t emphasize this one enough. Showing gratitude for the good things you have is the most powerful happiness boosting activity there is.”

Creates happy memories for the future. Replaying happy memories helps when things aren’t so good. James M. Barrie in a speech at St. Andrew’s University said, “God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.”

How Can You Improve the Good Times?

Some people keep a gratitude journal. A friend focuses on the beauty and people around him. He seeks out new things to see and learn. He loves unusual food and savors each wonderful bite. He believes that after he dies, he will review his life, and he plans to enjoy the good moments again.

Other friends shared:

“When I’m happy and things are good, I sing. And when I’m driving, I count my blessings out loud, in a loud voice, because there are so many more of them.”

“My go-to is service.”

“There are times when I’m out hiking or whatever, and I will stop and just enjoy a view long enough to save it in my memory. It can be a family party, and I just stop and look at all the people there.”

Good ideas. Here’s hoping your faith helps you savor the good moments in your life. Think of them as a little chocolate from heaven.

Sally has been a writer and instructional designer for many years and enjoys new insights and delightful quotes.