Editor's note: The Spoken Word is shared by Lloyd Newell each Sunday during the weekly Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcast.
It probably goes without saying that everybody wants to find happiness. Who wouldnt like to be happy all the time? But life isnt that way, is it? And maybe it isnt meant to be. After all, if we never felt sorrow and distress, would we really appreciate happiness or even recognize it? Religious leader the late President James E. Faust put it this way: Happiness is not given to us in a package that we can just open up and consume. Nobody is ever happy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Rather than thinking in terms of a day, we perhaps need to snatch happiness in little pieces, learning to recognize the elements of happiness and then treasuring them while they last (see "Our Search for Happiness," by President James E. Faust, October 2000).
That may be part of the secret to the pursuit of happiness to savor the little pieces of happiness when they come along. It may not be as difficult or elusive as it seems. Surely weve had enough personal experience and divine counsel to know that there are steps we can take, habits we can form, things we can do that while they may not guarantee happiness at least greatly increase our chances (see "The Quest for Happiness," by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, October 2016).
Ask anyone who seems genuinely happy, and they will tell you its a choice sometimes a daily choice. That means being positive in our thoughts, words and actions. It means looking for the good and, in some cases, overlooking the bad.
As we do, we will find moments of joy and little pieces of happiness all around us. One man has found that listening to some beautiful music always brings him joy. A family makes it a point to look for the sunset every evening. A woman discovered happiness in doing at least one little thing for someone else each day sending a thoughtful text or making a phone call to see how a loved one is doing. Each is a small moment, but they add up to become great treasures.
Your pursuit of happiness can be that simple. Happiness, youll discover, is right there in front of you and even inside you in little things, little ways, little moments, little pieces of happiness.
It probably goes without saying that everybody wants to find happiness. Who wouldnt like to be happy all the time? But life isnt that way, is it? And maybe it isnt meant to be. After all, if we never felt sorrow and distress, would we really appreciate happiness or even recognize it? Religious leader the late President James E. Faust put it this way: Happiness is not given to us in a package that we can just open up and consume. Nobody is ever happy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Rather than thinking in terms of a day, we perhaps need to snatch happiness in little pieces, learning to recognize the elements of happiness and then treasuring them while they last (see "Our Search for Happiness," by President James E. Faust, October 2000).
That may be part of the secret to the pursuit of happiness to savor the little pieces of happiness when they come along. It may not be as difficult or elusive as it seems. Surely weve had enough personal experience and divine counsel to know that there are steps we can take, habits we can form, things we can do that while they may not guarantee happiness at least greatly increase our chances (see "The Quest for Happiness," by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, October 2016).
Ask anyone who seems genuinely happy, and they will tell you its a choice sometimes a daily choice. That means being positive in our thoughts, words and actions. It means looking for the good and, in some cases, overlooking the bad.
As we do, we will find moments of joy and little pieces of happiness all around us. One man has found that listening to some beautiful music always brings him joy. A family makes it a point to look for the sunset every evening. A woman discovered happiness in doing at least one little thing for someone else each day sending a thoughtful text or making a phone call to see how a loved one is doing. Each is a small moment, but they add up to become great treasures.
Your pursuit of happiness can be that simple. Happiness, youll discover, is right there in front of you and even inside you in little things, little ways, little moments, little pieces of happiness.