This is the one life we are given. How will we live it? Where will we let it take us? Life may present challenges that bring us to our knees and cause us to wish for something more, something better. These spells seems to always last longer than we want them to. Other times, relief and peace fill our days as burdens are finally lifted and light floods in. There is no way of knowing which phase will come or when it will hit and the future can be a gift we dread as it rolls into the present. What will bring us across the expanse of doubt and anxiety?
Choosing joy amidst the rocky paths and clear skies!
Russell M. Nelson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and prophet of God, shared the council that Lehi, a prophet from The Book of Mormon, gave to his family. President Nelson says, "Lehi knew opposition, anxiety, heartache, pain, discouragement, and sorrow. Yet he declared boldly and without reservation a principle as revealed by the Lord: 'Men are, that they might have joy.' Imagine! Of all the words he could have used to describe the nature and purpose of our lives here in mortality, he chose the word joy!" He continues: "Life is filled with detours and dead ends, trials and challenges of every kind. Each of us has likely had times when distress, anguish, and despair almost consumed us. Yet we are here to have joy?...Yes! The answer is a resounding yes!"
President Nelson teaches that the joy we feel has more to do with the focus of our lives, then with the circumstances of our lives. We can choose to focus on overcoming challenges and patiently waiting for the storm to pass. But how long will we wait? We are meant to have joy now. Not tomorrow, not next year, but now. And it all begins with a single thought:
I choose joy NOW!
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