HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Yes, we all want a happy new year! Isn't that we wish each other every year at the old years end? Isn't that what we are all striving for? So, for this newsletter, let's discuss the word HAPPY, and see if we can figure out how to truly have a happy year. Just what is the formula for achieving happiness? The dictionary says that happy means: glad, content, lucky, and fortunate. I would add blessed. I would venture further to believe that one way to be happy is for us to count our blessings.

There are those thoughts we all labor with sometime in our life....I would be happy if I were out of school...if I were prettier, if I had more talent, if I were smarter, if I had a new car, if I had a good job, if I were making more money, if I were married, if we had no bills, if the kids would mind, if I could catch up on the laundry, if we could fix up the house, if I could retire, if I could solve this problem, if we could take a vacation....if, if, if.
So we go through life thinking if it weren't for that elusive thing I don't have right now, I would be happy. We all know, however, when we really think about it that those if's are a waste of time....a terrible waste of life.

There are those who actually have disabilties or problems that would be difficult to live with day in and day out, but guess what? Those people with daily problems to live with usually have a better attitude about life and how to manage the troubles than those of us with no real hardship facing us day after day. We know to be happy every day all day is unrealistic...but by focusing on looking for the good in situations and the humorous moments, we can be a happier people.

For the year 2009 let's see if we can make an attitude change...take on the mottos we have heard:
DON'T WORRY...BE HAPPY. LAUGH AND BE HAPPY. MAKE SOMEONE HAPPY AND YOU'LL BE HAPPY TOO. Have you ever been in the situation where you heard someone laugh and you couldn't help but laugh yourself? There is a lady who works in our local grocery store who has the most wonderful laugh.
I can be anywhere in the store and hear her laugh and have to laugh too. It doesn't matter what the humor is with her...it makes everyone who hears her happy. Could we do that with a little practice? It's true some have that magical ring to their laugh...maybe it's because they have already conquered the art of being happy and that laugh comes straight from the heart.

We can try to be happy each day and enjoy it as we work at having those things in our lives that we think will make us happy. It's called "act as if". Let's laugh a little more, see humor in daily happenings and not be so quick to criticize or see the gloomy side of things.

What do the scriptures say about being happy?
Proverbs 3:13..."Happy is the man who findeth wisdom and the man that getteth understanding.''
Proverbs 14:21..."He that despiseth his neighbor sinneth, but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he."
Proverbs 16:20.."He that handleth a matter wisely shall find gold, and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he." (aren't proverbs wonderful? They go right to the heart of the matter)
St. John 13:17.."If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them."
1 Peter 3:14..."But if ye suffer for righteousness sake, happy are ye, and be not afraid of terror, neither be troubled." Mosiah 2:41..."I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For they are blessed in all things both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end, they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true, for the Lord God hath spoken it." Then there is the statement written by Joseph Smith: "Happiness is the object and design of our existence." In a recent talk given by Brother Benjamin De Hoyos of the Seventy, he said: "Happiness is a position of the soul. Life doesn't have to be as hard as we sometimes make it". It's so inspiring to read the words of the prophets...their words are profound as they stir our souls to remember the truths.

So, let's put a smile on our face every morning this year and decide to have a happy day. Let's just say to ourselves when we get out of bed...I'm so happy today is here. It's going to be a great day! I've been told with that kind of an attitude that every day can be a great day. When we look for the silver lining even though there are clouds...there is always something good to find.

Remember, it's not the things that happen to us that define our life...it is the way we react to them. So let's focus on having a Happy Year one day at a time in 2009. May Heavenly Father's choicest blessings be yours throughout the coming year. Love, Maurine Winters