I'm Happy

On the group blog I share with other members of American Night Writers Association, which is a writing network for LDS women writers, one of our bloggers, Kari Diane Pike, wrote about the choice to be happy. She told of her experiences with replying "I'm happy," when people asked her how she was, and suggested that we try the same experiment. I thought it was a wonderful suggestion, and I tried it out at church on Sunday.

I got some funny looks, and one woman who said, "I always just say I'm ornery as ever." However, the feeling I got as I said, "I'm happy," was so uplifting that I plan to continue.

On the whole, I think we choose how we're going to feel. I could decide to be grumpy in response to a negative experience, or I could be grateful for all things, as Corrie ten Boom, the author of The Hiding Place, learned during her trials in a German concentration camp during World War II.

For years, my kids always said, "Oh Mom. You're so negative." This was usually in response to my pointing out a practical consequence of some action they were contemplating. What I saw as 'cause-and-effect' they perceived as negative. I pondered on what they said, and I decided that I needed to change something. Either I would stop pointing out the doomday consequences of their actions, or I would smile and grit my teeth and let them find out for themselves.

(Fortunately, they grew up, and I can relate to them as adults now. I don't always like their choices, but I love them anywy, just as my Father in Heaven loves me, no matter how I choose to live my life.)

I choose to be happy. I choose to live my life with a smile on my lips. I have much to rejoice over, many lessons learned through the years, and the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to sustain me. My hope is that as I age, I won't be a crochety old lady, but will instead continue to be grateful and happy.