Joy

Today was a wonderful Sunday. It was a great end to a GREAT weekend. I think I have had more fun this weekend than any other weekend in the last month and a half. I have just been able to do a lot of fun things with a lot of fun people. I have been honestly very happy lately. Which brings me to my doctrinal discussion for my Sunday post about Joy. My bishop talked about joy a little bit today. We know that one of our purposes on earth is to have joy. God wants us to progress towards becoming Godly, He wants us to work on being perfect. He wants us to serve, study, learn and grow. But just as any father wants for any of his children, He wants us to have joy! He wants His children to be happy. So the real question is... how can we be happy?

I have had the word 'joy' split down for me before in three words. Jesus, Others, Yourself. I honestly believe that when you make that your lifestyle, in that order, you will find joy. When the first thing you do in the morning is pray, and you put God and Christ above everything, and then you put others above yourself, you will be able to feel happy. I think maybe it has to do with the fact that you don't have a lot of time to dwell on the negatives about you. You spend your time thinking about other things that are more important. I think the saddest times in my life were when I was so upset about me not having good enough grades, or me thinking I wasn't the right weight, or me not thinking I could get a boy to like me... etc etc... You see the problem with all of those scenarios. They are all about me! Complaints about me! Once I started to realize that and think of others before me, I felt myself getting happier. Now lets be honest, I'm not perfect. I think about myself more than I should, and that is something that I am working on.

I want my life to be enjoyed... not just endured. At this point in my life I realized that I just need to be happy. There is no point in the waiting game anymore. I used to have a huge list of things to wait for in order for me to be happy. The next test I had to take, the end of the semester, when I got my mission call, when I left on my mission, when the next baptism was... etc. I was always looking ahead to be happy. But now I am just here. I work 8-5, Monday through Friday. I don't have any future plans that involve huge life changes. I don't have summer break to look forward to. I just have now. And I plan on being happy now!

So this blog wasn't as filled with doctrine like my other Sunday Blogs have been. But I thought of this at church today and think its important. People need to know that happiness doesn't come in waiting for your golden ticket. It comes from deciding how to spend your time. And don't get me wrong, its okay to think about yourself sometimes. For example, yesterday I was driving and drove past Sonic and I thought about how happy I would be if I had an ocean water. So I pulled over and got myself one! That made me pretty happy! (Which brings up another point, we need to find happiness in the small and simple things!)

It is my hope that everyone can understand their purpose in life. The Bible Dictionary says that Joy is "A condition of great happiness coming from righteous living. The purpose of mortal life is for all people to have joy. A full joy will come only through Jesus Christ." I know that to be true, and I hope that everyone will look to Jesus Christ for their fullness of joy!