"Love the Life You Live"

The other day I was loitering in the clothing department of a local store and ran across a shirt that immediately caught my eye for some reason. Written across the flowers on the front of the shirt are the words "Love the life you live". That thought, that idea keeps popping into my head. Clearly this is a message that I must need right now, and maybe it is a thought someone else out there in cyberspace needs right now as well.

Now I am sure it almost goes without saying that each of us can point to one aspect or another of their lives that we are not happy or in love with, right? One could always be taller or shorter, thinner, a great singer, a great dancer, a better friend, better off financially, etc, but what is wrong in loving the life you are leading if you are trying your very best to make it what it ought to be?

I know I have really been blessed in my life to have lived a life of relative ease. Now before the lightning strikes me I want to clarify what I mean by that. I have so many amazing people in my life that I learn from on a daily basis and I see the trials and struggles they are called to pass through and I think about how I would handle those situations, and what strengths they must have to endure them. I have had (and still have) my own fair share of loneliness and heartache, etc., but to me it doesn't seem to compare with the circumstances I find others in. Maybe because they have struggles and challenges that can be seen by bystanders and I think mine are more private, who knows.

In life I think we have a choice to make, are we going to love the life we are living and the experiences we have a chance to learn and grow from, or are we going to be miserable and dwell on the "why me's" or "what if's" of life. Right now at work I have a saying on my white board that reads "It is your attitude more than your aptitude that determines your altitude." I think our attitude has so much to do with whether or not we are going to love the life we have been blessed with or not.

For the most part I consider myself to be a fairly happy person (or at least on the outside), and for me I think it comes pretty naturally for the most part. [Maybe that is why I had someone jokingly threaten to slap me not too long ago.] How much harder would life be if we were constantly looking at wasn't right without trying to find a way to make it better?

I inherited this great book of quotes from a family in one of my last wards on my mission. Some of the quotes that stuck out to me on the subject of happiness are as follows (and strangely enough) they all happen to by the same person, Jack H. Goaslind.

"If you would find happiness and joy, lose your life in some noble cause. A worthy purpose must be at the center of every worthy life." (1982)

"Striving for happiness is a long, hard journey with many challenges. It requires eternal vigilance to win the victory. You cannot succeed with sporadic little flashes of effort. Constant and valiant living is necessary." (1986)

"Our yearnings for happiness were implanted in our hearts by Diety. They represent a kind of home-sickness, for we have a residual memory of our premortal existence. They are also a foretaste of the fulness of joy that is promised to the faithful." (1986)

Those all just seem to strike such a cord with me. May we all CHOOSE to be happy. Some days are easier than others, but if we follow this counsel I know we can be blessed with the fruits of happiness.