The Road to Happiness 1

I've had moments in my life, as many have also experienced, where I think to myself that I could increase in spirituality. I've never considered myself not active in my spiritual life, but it know that there is much I can improve on.

This hasn't been such a demand on me to force me to really exact myself to development until most recently. It was yesterday March 17, 2014 in fact that this compelling force really hit me in full. Am I bad man? No, but I'm not the best man I can be. This is what I realized I've been missing.

It was while I read Mosiah chapter 23 that I discovered the road to happiness which I needed to embark on. There have been so many blessings I have longed for, and long plead for from The Lord, but why haven't I seen any of them? Well, simply put, how can I ask for something from God without showing why I deserve it? I can't expect eternal blessings through temporal works.

To describe briefly what it is that I have been searching for, I don't need to say much, I think. I'm sure many of my peers desire the same. There is nothing more desirable to me than imagining myself holding a child who looks me in the eyes and while hugging me says, "I love you daddy." Along with that I imagine looking at a beautiful woman and thinking to myself, "You lucky guy, look at her. She's simply amazing and by far the best wife and mother there is." These are the main desires I have, and at the same time there is much more that I want along this path of happiness.

Like I stated before, though, I can't expect to receive the eternal through temporal works. I'm not looking for a wife "til death do we part." I want a family for time and all eternity. Having really discovered how profound this blessing is, I came to know how profound my love and faith needed to be.

I want to detail my road of happiness in this blog as some sort of journal to keep and share with others. I feel it will be an opportunity for me to see the blessings as they come.

Today, I started on this path stumbling forward with only hope leading me on. I know that I'm most susceptible to temptation and idolatry when I'm feeling down and the blessing I saw today was small and simple, but amazing. I remembered. I remembered that I'm weak when I'm down. Knowing this, and remembering the lesson I learned when reading Mosiah 23, I held fast to hope and look forward to the blessings to come.

Today I felt slightly that I was treated unfairly in the workplace and that despite my best efforts, I was nobody. Im not going into much detail because it's not necessary to know the details. All that is important to know is I was not happy and as I began to feel desires to give up on myself and let me fall into anger and sadness, it was then that I remembered how Alma and his followers had times of the same down feelings for much time even. Yet they hoped and moved forward.

I'm happy to know that The Lord has not forgotten me and I see this in such a small but strong blessing of remembrance.

I will continue to log experiences as I go forward on this road. Maybe not daily, but with consistancy.

Chapter of Blessings

In reading Mosiah 23 I found one of the most wonderful sections of scriptural advice in teaching how we can receive blessings more abundantly in our lives. In the relation of Alma and his followers who fled from Noah, there are many things we can follow by learning from their examples.

The very first thing mentioned here is that they had received warning prophetically. The Lord had mentioned to Alma of the impending dangers. (Verse 1) Alma then gathered them together and gave them guidance as to how to protect themselves.

When they followed the prophet's voice, they were blessed and strengthened. (Verse 2) I noticed here the reassuring promise that when we strive to obey the prophet's voice, then we receive the blessing of strength against the adversary. It is not the other way around. The Lord requires us to prove to him our faith and willingness first, and as we do so, then we receive the blessing. As we continue to do so we are blessed and strengthened even more so it becomes simpler as time passes.

This is the next point. When faced with danger, instead of assuming their strength would overcome it, they fled. They realized that no matter how much their strength was, they were not in a position of fortification against evil and would not stand firm when attacked, So they chose the sure option to flee and avoid it completely. (Verse 3) Additionally, they were not provided the blessings and the proof of the Lord's blessing immediately. It was after 8 days that they found their spirits uplifted through his promised blessings. (Verse 4) What if we were to realize this in our time of need, or repentance. We shouldn't get discouraged and give up just because we don't see immediate results. Often it takes time, especially in repentance, keep strong, flee for however long you need to be safe and then when you arrive to safety you will see the Lord's promised blessings manifest.

After such we see that they do not give themselves to idolatry. An idle mind is the devil's playground. They put themselves to productive and uplifting work, they follow righteous examples and devote themselves to righteous living and knowledge. (Verses 5-20)

Even through this, we learn the truth that once we arrive to our happy safe place, we won't be free from trials or temptations. The Lord needs us to constantly prove our faith in him. (Verses 21-24)

Again we will be visited by temptations, but this time we are stronger. Even then though the example here is essential to know. When evil arrived at the doorstep, they fled from their places of weakness to the places that they could find strength through others and communion with the spirit of God. (Verses 25-28) Once they had done this, The Lord eased their burdens and provided for their protection. (Verse 29)

The remainder of the chapter goes to show that The Lord won't take away our trials! nor prevent others from making poor choices that effect us, Yet, as long as we follow him, put our faith in him, and endure, we will be blessed, prosperous, and strengthened.

Meeting People: Joining Existing Groups

Recently I have felt that my life has become stagnant. I've felt like im just in a routine of living. I know this isn't who I really am and what I really want to do. I have not been satisfied by playing video games all day every weekend even though I have been with friends. At this point I realized what I was missing was a social life. The kind that LAN parties cannot satisfy. The challenge here was how could I make new friends when these people already have groups of their own? How could I become part of their group?

The reality is it is difficult to want to meet or talk with someone when they are already surrounded by friends. The intimidation of groups is a natural thing and groups are ever present. So knowing this and that I needed to overcome it all that I might progress in my life, I began to experiment.

After trial and error many times through, I noticed a few things that seemed to be more successful than others. Hopefully anyone who reads this will be saying to themselves "Hey, duh! Of course that is what you need." But for those who don't say that, it might be a good idea to consider trying it out.

In a day and age where communication is primarily conducted through technology and secondarily through personal interaction I have noticed that many people lack confidence in interpersonal skills when they are actually in physical proximity to others. That is why the first important thing to know and use when attempting to become part of the group is confidence. When I say confidence though, I want to focus on being confident in yourself, who you are, and what your skills are. Don't worry what other people think about you, because you are the most amazing person there is. That is true! Others will sometimes think you are cocky, but people always think negative thoughts of others no matter what. Just forget what they think about you and be confident with yourself.

The lack of confidence in one's self leads to fear, intimidation, reservation, and stagnation. So take charge of yourself and move forward with confidence. I promise you that as you make this change in your life, you will begin to see the blossoming growth of new relationships that will really matter in your personal progress.

Now as important as it is to be confident, the potential to be confident is just as negative as no confidence at all. Think about physics for a moment. If a ball is held in a hand at rest above the ground, it has energy, but potential energy. It isn't doing anything and it has no purpose. Now if the ball is dropped that potential energy becomes kenetic energy which is active and progressing. The action of dropping the ball is the next important step to progressing and becoming part of the group. This is taking the initiative. Somebody had to take the initiative to drop the ball for the potential energy to shift.

If we want to move forward, we also need to take the initiative and put into action our confidence. Change that potential to be confident and make it a motivation for actions. You can't wait for them to come to you if you want to meet them or be part of their lives, you need to take charge and introduce yourself into their lives. Then and only then have you started the process.

Finally one of the most important things to know and consider when developing relationships, especially when connecting with groups, is to focus on everyone but yourself. Obviously the goal is to benefit yourself by gaining new relationships and becoming the new member of a group. This is not what you want to be thinking when you initiate your contact with others. Focus on them and they will return the favor. 

Isn't the idea here to get the group to accept you and want you around? If so then they also want the same treatment. It is important to focus on them, their abilities, their needs, their words, etc. As this occurs it is necessary to complement all of these positive things about them. When they see that you are focused on them and you have complemented them as well, they will want you around because you validate who they are. They most likely will also return the favor.

These are few examples of things that I have experienced with much success and I consider them to be very important in becoming part of new groups.