Happier Days - 08/20/12

I haven't been sleeping very well lately. It seems that God has a lot to tell me, and he waits until I'm asleep. I got the message very clearly last night and the night before, but not so much the two nights before then. At that point I couldn't tell if I was being inspired or just dreaming about video games. But whoever told me that the Holy Ghost went to bed at midnight was lying. Last night and the night before, I had thoughts enter my head unbidden on what I should do. I then wrote those things down as completely as I could, prayed in thanks for what I had received, and asked if there was any more. I can't remember where I learned that, but it's a powerful practice for receiving revelation.

On Sunday, I got to perform the ordinance of confirmation for "O". We also achieved our goal of 140 contacts for this week during the last two hours of the proselyting day on Sunday. It was pretty miraculous. I failed to mention last week that we had a car inspection at multizones, and Elder "A" and I won the cleanest car award. I also failed to mention the story of tracting into the Good Samaritan. We had terrible luck tracting in a certain neighborhood. We talked to eleven people, and all of them were short with us or outright rude. The twelfth was at a house with beer cans and cigarettes all over the front yard. The man who answered the door was heavily inked and pierced, and admitted to us that he had a hangover and little faith in God. But he treated us with more kindness and humanity than any of the other people on the street, especially those that professed to be religious. We told him that for all his roughness, he was the kindest person we had talked to that day. We were profoundly grateful that God had seen fit to show us that kindness and opportunity to learn. Some would say that you can't judge a book by its cover, but I prefer the following in Spanish: caras vemos, corazones no sabemos.

My heart was changed this week. I couldn't tell you when it happened, but some precious truths seem to have distilled upon my soul as the dews from heaven. The greatest of those truths is this: happiness is a choice.

Many of us place conditions on our happiness. I've often said to myself that I will be happier once I get married. Some people think they will be happy once they have a better job, or once they finish school, or once the kids move out of the house. We shouldn't place such limitations on our ability to find joy. Lasting happiness is not to be found in material things. It can be found no matter what our circumstances in life are. It all comes down to your attitude about things, and that is your choice.

 

Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours. You can be among those who allow their circumstances to change their attitude and bring them down or you can overcome your circumstances. You can blame everything and everyone else or you can take control of the only thing that is truly yours: yourself and your ability to choose. Choose your attitude. Choose your path. Choose happiness.

 

It's important to note that there is a significant difference between temporary pleasure and lasting happiness. I drink root beer because it's fun. If I were to drink too much at one time, it would make me sick. If I drank root beer all the time, I would become malnourished. It's fun, but it doesn't bring lasting happiness. The same principle works for that new car that you will be paying for long after the new car smell wears off and any other thing that is described in the scriptures as treasure of the earth where moths corrupt and robbers steal. It goes away. The satisfaction of a job well done, the joy of growth and development, and the happiness of serving others, does not fade away, but gives us blessings in heaven.

I'm running out of time. Perhaps next week I will finish up my thoughts on the eternal plan of happiness. :D