It's Your Choice
I find it quite ironic that I am posting this right after a kind of depressing post about not knowing where to go or what to do in life. And this is in no way an answer to that one, but rather something that has been on my mind a lot recently and could aid in finding relief for those who may be going through their very own quarter life crisis.
Tonight I am going to share some personal stories. I am sharing these in hopes that someone, somewhere might benefit, or learn, or relate to them. And let me just say that this is not something that only happened to me a couple of times and consequently changed me forever. I am human. And because I am human I will falter and I will fall down and I will have to get up and keep pushing and persevering through.
When I was younger I was mean. And when I say mean I am not just talking about being a grumpy person. I am talking about the kind that seriously thought they hated their family. The kind that made her mom cry more often then not. The kind that felt like no one understood her and lashed out because of it. I was mean. The worst part was it took me into my Freshman year of high school to realize that I needed to change. I didn't have lightening strike me, or have some kind of chemical reaction in my brain that rewired it to be a pleasant human being, but rather I recognized and made a conscious decision to try to be better. To try to be happier.
That brings me to the next story. My freshman year of college I was miserable. I felt like my roommate, the one friend I had going into college, was ditching me and leaving me for other people. I would call my mom crying all the time and seriously debated not returning to school the next month. I didn't notice it at the time, in fact it wasn't until months later that I realized that I was the one making myself miserable. I was choosing to "see" things that weren't actually there. I was choosing to believe that I was being kicked out of the group and that no one wanted me. Looking back on this, I realize now that I was choosing to focus on and pick at the smallest little things. I was choosing to be miserable.
Those are the two biggest moments in my life thus far that I recognize now that whether I was aware of it or not, I was choosing to be unhappy.
So by now you've probably figured out what this post is about. It is about choosing to be happy.
Now I know that this is not necessarily the easiest thing in the world. I know that their are other things in life, other people, other circumstances that can, and will, effect us and our happiness. But I believe that we really do have control over our own happiness.
I had the amazing opportunity to hear Elder Jeffrey R. Holland speak at a BYU-I Devotional back in September 2014. In his devotional he said,
But how do you choose to be happy?
Well, it may not be easy. In fact it might be quite uncomfortable at first. It will probably take a lot of work and you may not be good at it right away. It doesn't always seem easy or possible to choose to be happy.
Choose good then.
Whether it is your own efforts to spread happiness to others, or to find one good thing in each day, choose good. Choose to thank the Lord each day for the things that you have. Choose to smile more even though you may not have a reason to be smiling. Choose to put your faith in the Lord that He will help you through.
I promise you that it if you choose to put your faith in the Lord and choose happiness/good, you will see a difference in your life. Your life or situation may not change overnight, and that is okay! The point is that you are showing the Lord that you are choosing happiness. That you are choosing Him. It is your choice. It may be a choice you have to make every single day. But please, please choose happiness.
Tonight I am going to share some personal stories. I am sharing these in hopes that someone, somewhere might benefit, or learn, or relate to them. And let me just say that this is not something that only happened to me a couple of times and consequently changed me forever. I am human. And because I am human I will falter and I will fall down and I will have to get up and keep pushing and persevering through.
When I was younger I was mean. And when I say mean I am not just talking about being a grumpy person. I am talking about the kind that seriously thought they hated their family. The kind that made her mom cry more often then not. The kind that felt like no one understood her and lashed out because of it. I was mean. The worst part was it took me into my Freshman year of high school to realize that I needed to change. I didn't have lightening strike me, or have some kind of chemical reaction in my brain that rewired it to be a pleasant human being, but rather I recognized and made a conscious decision to try to be better. To try to be happier.
That brings me to the next story. My freshman year of college I was miserable. I felt like my roommate, the one friend I had going into college, was ditching me and leaving me for other people. I would call my mom crying all the time and seriously debated not returning to school the next month. I didn't notice it at the time, in fact it wasn't until months later that I realized that I was the one making myself miserable. I was choosing to "see" things that weren't actually there. I was choosing to believe that I was being kicked out of the group and that no one wanted me. Looking back on this, I realize now that I was choosing to focus on and pick at the smallest little things. I was choosing to be miserable.
Those are the two biggest moments in my life thus far that I recognize now that whether I was aware of it or not, I was choosing to be unhappy.
So by now you've probably figured out what this post is about. It is about choosing to be happy.
Now I know that this is not necessarily the easiest thing in the world. I know that their are other things in life, other people, other circumstances that can, and will, effect us and our happiness. But I believe that we really do have control over our own happiness.
I had the amazing opportunity to hear Elder Jeffrey R. Holland speak at a BYU-I Devotional back in September 2014. In his devotional he said,
"Learn as quickly as you can that so much of your happiness is in your hands, not in events or circumstances or fortune or misfortune. That is part of what the battle for agency was over in the pre-mortal councils of heaven. We have choice, we have volition, we have agency, and we can choose if not happiness per se then we can choose to live after the manner of it . . . Happiness comes first by what comes into your head a long time before it comes into your hand."If you search LDS Quotes about happiness on Pinterest or LDS.org or even google, a large majority of the things that will come up will be about turning to Christ. They will talk about how true joy and happiness come through Him. Well as someone who has felt like happiness was not really an option for me, let me just tell you that turning to Him will make all the difference. Even when you feel like it won't make a difference, I promise you that it will. One of my favorite authors/bloggers/speakers, Al Fox Carraway said this
Well, it may not be easy. In fact it might be quite uncomfortable at first. It will probably take a lot of work and you may not be good at it right away. It doesn't always seem easy or possible to choose to be happy.
Choose good then.
Whether it is your own efforts to spread happiness to others, or to find one good thing in each day, choose good. Choose to thank the Lord each day for the things that you have. Choose to smile more even though you may not have a reason to be smiling. Choose to put your faith in the Lord that He will help you through.
I promise you that it if you choose to put your faith in the Lord and choose happiness/good, you will see a difference in your life. Your life or situation may not change overnight, and that is okay! The point is that you are showing the Lord that you are choosing happiness. That you are choosing Him. It is your choice. It may be a choice you have to make every single day. But please, please choose happiness.
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