The Happiness Choice

I was perusing facebook the other day and came across a post with a link to this article about happiness.

(Just a side note about facebook...I am more of a facebook stalker than a facebook participant.  I think I have posted 2 things on my wall in the last 3 years.  One was a notice to those in our Relief Society that our activity was cancelled a few Januarys ago due to really bad weather.  The other was just about 2 weeks ago to announce Amber's mission call.  I am trying to at least wish people happy birthday when it comes up on my news feed, and I may make a comment occasionally or like something, but for the most part, I'm just there to see what others have posted.  I really never used to go on it until we got the iPad, mostly because I never wanted to bother with looking up my password, but now that I have the app, it is cake to get on.  Hence, my habit of checking it daily to see what my "friends" are posting. Just felt the need to state my Facebook philosophy.  Oh, and the Downton character I most am like is Anna. :) and I am an Idaho Mormon, which seems appropriate although I would have guessed Pacific Northwest Mormon.  Probably because I didn't choose a cabin to live in.  I rarely check out stuff like that, but for some reason this week, both of those sucked me in.  :)  Moving on...)

Anyway, I took a look at this article and a few things struck me.

Fifth from the bottom of the list is this..."You have a sister"  I have 3 sisters.  Yay for me.  My kids all have at least 4 sisters, Trev has 5.  Yay for them.  My husband has 2, and my sons-in-law all have at least one sister.  Yay for them.  We are all on the road to happiness!  :)  I actually found that one a bit amusing because as anyone with a sibling, not just a sister, knows, we often let them be a vehicle for unhappiness.  Which brings me to another thing that struck me...

as scientific research has discovered, happiness, to some extent, is a choice --

This stuck out to me as I was doing my Book of Mormon reading one day this week. (By the way, I am loving the bofm365 instagram posts I get everyday.  I have been a daily scripture reader for years, but I appreciate the questions that come with each day's scriptures.  It has enhanced my studying experience.  I also started reading in the Book of Mormon commentary book as I read the assignment.  I love pondering on the question and also the added insights from the commentary book.)  But again, I digress...

We are in the section of the Book of Mormon where Lehi's family has been in the wilderness for 8 years, and Nephi broke his bow, and of course, Laman and Lemuel murmured.  Several of the comments brought out that happiness is a choice and that L & L chose not to be happy.  By contrast, Nephi did.

I have never equated their murmuring with unhappiness.  Disobedience? Yes.  Rebellion? Yes.  Jealousy?  Yes.  Never unhappiness.  But it does make sense.  It was a real light bulb moment for me.

I don't consider myself an unhappy person, but I know there have been times when I have chosen to be unhappy by the mere act of not choosing to be happy.

There were a few things in this article that I find I am pretty good at - I try to appreciate the little things in life and I think I am getting better at the glass half-full philosophy.  I also find things that I could work on to be happier - more goals go right on by than are actually achieved (although I do set them), and as much as I try to laugh at myself when I do something stupid, the small stuff does get me down at times and knowing how to calm down when I'm stressing...yeah, that is a work in progress.

Overall though, I am here to tell you that the happiness choice is just that, a choice.  If we aren't choosing happiness, as I said before, we are choosing unhappiness by default.  I'm not sure there is any middle ground.

I choose happiness though, and invite you to do the same.  I have so many things to be grateful for, how could I choose anything else?

Have a HAPPY day!  :)