Ashley Baird

Oct. 28th, 2015

Happiness Plan

My Road to Happiness!

What is Happiness?

I think, that to understand how to have happiness, I must first be able to understand "what" happiness really is.

In my life, I have seen that I'm the happiest when I am open to the Spirit and I can listen for the right thing to do, and having the Holy Ghost with me!

So, to me, happiness means to be open to the Spirit of God!

Getting Started!

I can't just all of the sudden have happiness in my life, it's something I have to work towards, and learn for myself! If we just got happiness all the time without having to work for it, then it wouldn’t really be happiness because we didn’t have to go through anything to get there. And that, I think is how we do it! We need to take action! We should also have a good attitude about it! So, first things first…I need to get in the right mood and get ready to take action.

If I have a bad mood and I just don't feel like doing anything, then I might not necessarily be sad, but I will not be happy. So, I need to be in a GOOD mood!

Step 1 - Personal Prayer!

Believe it or not, this can really help with finding joy. About a year ago, I wasn’t saying my own personal prayer every morning. I would always have something more important to do. Well, one day I realized that I needed to change that! So I made a goal to remember to say my prayer right when I wake up. And now, It’s the first thing I do in the morning! I feel Happier, and closer to God!

When I took the action of making that goal to better my  life and have a better relationship with God, It really did make my life happier!

Here's a quote from Neal A. Maxwell…

"There is a memorable scriptural phrase about our need to have 'faith unto repentance'...” - Neal A. Maxwell

Step 2 - Remembering God!

I think doing this will cause me to really think more about my decisions. For example, I'm listening to the radio and a song comes on that I really like. However, just the other day, I found out that there is a swear word hidden in the chorus. I think, "Well, you can’t really hear it very well..." but I still know it’s there! If I were to remember that God is right here beside me, would I still listen to the song? Or, would I take the action of turning it off and showing God that I want to live a happy life and be worthy

of his presence!

Here's a quote from Plutarch that I really like.

"God is the brave man's hope, and not the coward's excuse." -Plutarch

Step 3 - Service!

In the Church, I am reminded to serve on a regular basis. Whenever I am able to serve, I feel so good after and I feel like I can have the Spirit with me! But sometimes I get lazy. So, when I don't feel like serving, that's probably when I need to serve the most!

So, to serve you I must...

• Look for opportunities to lend a hand to someone.
• Offer My help. Tell them that I’m here to help them.
• Serving is not, nor should not be, seeking praise. I need to try to stay humble.
• Start over, and do it AGAIN!

Step 4 - "Love thy neighbor"!

They say that “charity is the pure love of Christ.”  Well, if love can lead to happiness, than charity must be a good way to love, and therefore, it must be a good way to find happiness, and even love in my life! When I show somebody love, and that I care for them, then they are able to feel the spirit of love and charity! When I show love, I’m shown love!

I want to be worthy of people’s love. But first, I must love even to those that  hate me. And if I love them, perhaps one day, they will choose to love me as well.

Here is a quote from Ilyás by Leo Tolstoy…

"Now, when my husband and I wake in the morning, we always have a loving word for one another and we live peacefully..."

Final Step - Smile:D

I think that this part is the easiest and most successful action we can take to be happy! Think about, when you feel happy, you smile. If you smile, you feel happy! They go hand in hand. And it’s so easy to do! And as Rachel says it… "I smiled right when I woke up and my day just went so good!"

So... Why have Happiness?

Well, thanks to Sister Bates, and Sister Aaron having happiness in my life has become very important to me! As it says in 2 Nephi 2:25, “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." God sent me to this earth to have experiences. He wanted me to know what sadness was and trial and yes, happiness.

Challenge: When you feel like being sad this week, look for a way to be happy. (Like prayer, service, love, smiling? This would be a good time to sum up what you said and remind people how they could do this)

Here's a quote from the Excerpts from the Lantern Bearers…

"For to miss the joy is to miss all."

My Goal!

I have a goal to find happiness in everything I do. During the day I'll have a good attitude and take action so that I can earn it, pray for guidance and trust in my Heavenly Father , remember God and that he is with me even at my lowest point, serve everyone around me, love even those who might not love me, and smile to be in the right mood:D