HAPPINESS
This is something we can all appreciate or want more of in our lives. Learned that there is a HUGE difference between Happiness and Fun.
Fun is just a fleeting moment, but happiness is a lasting thing.
Both fun and happiness are fine, but certainly happiness is the most worth seeking.
Dictionary:
Fun is play, pleasure, gaiety, merriment, source of enjoyment, amusement, to behave playfully, playful, often a noisy activity, and teasing.
Happiness is contentedness, joy, delight, and satisfaction.
Happiness can encompass fun as well, but fun alone will not assure us true happiness.
Children are the best examples of demonstrating true happiness.
Benton- “Best day ever, Mom.”
Do you take time to discover each day how beautiful your life can be? How long has it been since you watched the sun set? Or listened to your children converse with each other? Or took a walk with your spouse for enjoyment? Appreciated the smell of rain? Listened to classical music?
We can find happiness is the simple joys of life.
Sadness, disappointment, and severe challenge are events in life, not life itself.
“And … the burdens … were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord” (
Mosiah 24:13–15).
Select something like :
music, dance, sculpture, or poetry.
Being creative will help you enjoy life.
It engenders a spirit of gratitude.
It develops talent, sharpens your capacity to reason, to act, and to find purpose in life.
It dispels loneliness and heartache.
It gives a renewal, a spark of enthusiasm, and zest for life.
Make a list of things you can do for happiness, such as:•
Ponder the scriptures to understand the plan of happiness.•
Pray with faith in Jesus Christ.•
Love and serve others.•
Receive the temple ordinances. Return to bless others.•
Listen to the prophet and obey his counsel.•
Be grateful for what you have.•
- Take a bubble bath
- read a good book
- indulge in some chocolate
- make cookies with your kids
Smile more. *
In High school I made it a point to smile and say hello to everyone that I passed on my way to class. Even if I didn't know them. It made my high school experience so much more enjoyable because 99% of the time my smile was returned with another. :)
No matter how difficult something you or a loved one faces, it should not take over your life and be the center of all your interest.
Challenges are growth experiences, temporary scenes to be played out on the background of a pleasant life.
Don’t become so absorbed in a single event that you can’t think of anything else or care for yourself or for those who depend upon you.
Remember, much like the mending of the body, the healing of some spiritual and emotional challenges takes time.
You will learn that sadness and disappointment are temporary. Happiness is everlastingly eternal because of Jesus Christ.
Elder Talmage:
“Happiness is true food, wholesome, nutritious and sweet; it builds up the body and generates energy for action, physical, mental and spiritual; pleasure is but a deceiving stimulant which, like spirituous drink, makes one think he is strong when in reality enfeebled; makes him fancy he is well when in fact stricken with deadly malady.
“Happiness leaves no bad aftertaste, it is followed by no depressing reaction; it calls for no repentance, brings no regret, entails no remorse; pleasure too often makes necessary repentance, contrition, and suffering; and, if indulged to the extreme, it brings degradation and destruction.
“True happiness is lived over and over again in memory, always with a renewal of the original good; a moment of unholy pleasure may leave a barbed sting, which, like a thorn in the flesh, is an ever-present source of anguish.”
*Money can't buy happiness.
*Studies show that the novelty of buying something new only lasts 8 months.
Let us search for true happiness in each day. Look to our small children as examples of finding joy in simple things.
The Lord is intent that each of us finds joy. enjoy the beauties of this earth and enrich your relationships with others.
A pebble held close to the eye appears to be a gigantic obstacle. Cast on the ground, it is seen in perspective. - Elder Scott
Likewise, problems or trials in our lives need to be viewed in the perspective of scriptural doctrine. Otherwise they can easily overtake our vision, absorb our energy, and deprive us of the joy and beauty the Lord intends us to receive here on earth.
You are here on earth for a divine purpose.
Let us prove to the Lord:
* patience
Learn from inspiring individuals who have made peace with their challenges and live with joy amid adversity.
Not anyone of us are free from challenges, trials or temptations. We can't let them defeat us and we need to be able to find the happiness among the thorns.
