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Sunday, January 3, 2010
Happiness
7:49 PM
It was my turn to give a lesson in church. Whatever topic I wanted (with some inspiration of course.) But I was having trouble picking a topic.
One of my goals for 2010 was to "Strive to maintain a positive and upbeat attitude."
By the 2nd, my eyes were flooded over with tears, and my heart weighed down with sorrow.
How could I have failed in my goal already? It hadn't even been a full two days in the new year!
The thought occurred to me that there might be many other people who were feeling discouraged and I based my lesson on a talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf called "Happiness, Your Heritage."*
I feel very blessed by the things that I learned from preparing this lesson.
President Uchtdorf mentions that two ways to help yourself become happy are "creativity and compassion."
Creativity:
"...take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty." He says. You don't need to be artistic to be creative. Creation doesn't have to be a work of art, it doesn't need to be perfect. Creation can span from a garden, a song, or even something as simple as making someone smile. If you put forth the effort to create something you are proud of, you will find joy.
Compassion:
“Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.” J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan. It is impossible to feel sorry for yourself when you are helping someone less fortunate than yourself. Immerse yourself in the service of your fellowmen, and I guarantee that "your gloom [will be] gone, you'll feel light, the Spirit of the Lord [will be] upon you, and everything [will] seem illuminated.” Again, just the simple act of making someone smile can make your own heart so much lighter.
This lesson was just such a wonderful example in my life, and I wanted to share it with you. I believe these principles will help me in my quest to "maintain a positive and upbeat attitude." Maybe they will even help you!
*I realize that some of the people who might read this blog are not LDS (Mormon), but I thought the principles I've listed here could benefit anyone, no matter their faith.
One of my goals for 2010 was to "Strive to maintain a positive and upbeat attitude."
By the 2nd, my eyes were flooded over with tears, and my heart weighed down with sorrow.
How could I have failed in my goal already? It hadn't even been a full two days in the new year!
The thought occurred to me that there might be many other people who were feeling discouraged and I based my lesson on a talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf called "Happiness, Your Heritage."*
I feel very blessed by the things that I learned from preparing this lesson.
President Uchtdorf mentions that two ways to help yourself become happy are "creativity and compassion."
Creativity:
"...take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty." He says. You don't need to be artistic to be creative. Creation doesn't have to be a work of art, it doesn't need to be perfect. Creation can span from a garden, a song, or even something as simple as making someone smile. If you put forth the effort to create something you are proud of, you will find joy.
Compassion:
“Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.” J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan. It is impossible to feel sorry for yourself when you are helping someone less fortunate than yourself. Immerse yourself in the service of your fellowmen, and I guarantee that "your gloom [will be] gone, you'll feel light, the Spirit of the Lord [will be] upon you, and everything [will] seem illuminated.” Again, just the simple act of making someone smile can make your own heart so much lighter.
This lesson was just such a wonderful example in my life, and I wanted to share it with you. I believe these principles will help me in my quest to "maintain a positive and upbeat attitude." Maybe they will even help you!
*I realize that some of the people who might read this blog are not LDS (Mormon), but I thought the principles I've listed here could benefit anyone, no matter their faith.
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3 Thoughts:
Thanks for sharing. It's always good to be reminded to be happy and how.
Ice cream makes people happy too!
Goals are hard at times to stick to, but when you fall short, you just gotta keep trying.
(And yes, I try to keep trying too.)