FIVE KEYS TO HAPPINESS
VisionBishop C. Paul Smith—November 21, 1999 Discipline Cheerfulness Humility Virtue It is God’s plan for us to be happy. He gives us commandments to guide us in the happy direction. But for an individual to succeed at this quest—to become happy, he or she must possess the essential ingredients of happiness. Five keys or ingredients of happiness are vision, discipline, cheerfulness, humility and virtue. Possess, cultivate and develop these, and you will be happy. VISION Learn your foreordained mission in life. God has a specific, glorious mission for you to accomplish that is different from that of everyone else. God will reveal this to you through His Spirit--in answer to your prayers, in response to your discussing with Him your desires and your feelings about your talents and gifts. God will reveal this to you line upon line, block upon block--as you build your life upon the foundation of gospel principles. The bedrock of this foundation is the commitment to put God first in your life and to serve God with all your heart. When this foundation is in place, the Lord will reveal to you different parts of your special mission in life. Each time you magnify the specific challenges that you have, you become prepared to receive additional light and knowledge from the Lord. Those whose vision is the clearest are those who build their lives upon the bedrock of commitment to serve God with all their heart. When you see the Lord’s vision for you, this helps you to see the way to go; it helps you to figure out what to do and how to do it; and it gives you the strength to overcome the obstacles and challenges that will be blocking your way. It is your vision that will give you strength to overcome. DISCIPLINE He who cannot rule himself is neither fit nor able to rule others. He may give the appearance of a strong leader for a time; but with the passage of time, circumstances will reveal him for what he really is—weak. He who can discipline himself has the most coveted power of all—the power to change; the power to acquire strength of character; the power to be an instrument in God’s hand, the power to become powerful. The world is full of people who entertained lofty and glorious dreams and visions, who because they did not possess self-discipline ended up joining the great throng of want-to-bes, would-bes, pretenders and day-dreamers--many of whom now reside in our prisons and poor houses. Many people develop habits in their youth that they feel they can easily change at any time—only later to find that changing is not so easy, for they have become enslaven to a debilitating habit; they are in bondage, bound down with the chains of hell; lacking those precious desires to do good, they become feeble and weak—pathetic figures of helplessness. Arnold Schwartzenager did not become strong by merely dreaming about becoming strong. Neither did Joseph Smith become strong of faith by merely entertaining spiritual thoughts. Men and women of great faith develop stronger faith by acting upon their faith, and by disciplining themselves to do what is right in the face of opposition and peer pressure. CHEERFULNESS In some respects happiness is a decision. Although happiness is certainly more complicated than merely wanting to be happy. But the decision to be happy, or to be cheerful, is certainly one of the essential components. We all know some people who seem to take some pleasure in being miserable, critical, sullen or ugly. If upon reflection, we see elements of these unpleasant attributes in ourselves, we need to make the decision to root them out and replace them with attributes of cheer and positiveness. Don’t let yourself become miserable. There is a powerful relationship between the words and tones we use to communicate our thoughts and the person we become. She who is constantly critical of others, tends to become ugly and angry and unhappy. Happy is she who learns that by seeking to find good things to say about others, she becomes better and happier herself. No one can afford to indulge himself in a bad mood. Don’t do it. How would a mother dare to let a grouchy mood justify her in sending her child off to school with a scolding and with cutting words of criticism! We can’t allow ourselves to do this. We need to suck it up and tough it out at times, so that we don’t tear down our loved ones. Sometimes this is easier said than done. But one thing is clear—if we will fight the urge to indulge in bad moods, then we can avoid becoming enslaven to a bad mood that takes hold and grows into a bad habit. Remember, those who do not control their tongue, are often taken captive by the powerful ugly mood that their tongue expressed. Satan loves ugliness and sarcasm—those who employ these base literary techniques, will find that the ugliness and sarcasm that one first directs towards others, eventually becomes a part of the person who gives expression to it. The decision and the determination to be cheerful and positive is an essential ingredient of true happiness. Remember this, and determine to be happy. HUMILITY VIRTUE |
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