How to Find Happiness A-Z: V

Because you are especially unique, you have a set of values you hold to. While everyone's inner compass might be different, I'd like to share a few values I grew up believing in, ones that I feel contribute greatly to my happiness.

Faith: "Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye have hope for things which are not seen, which are true (Alma 32:21)." --This one goes hand in hand with belief. Faith is acting on a hope or belief, without knowing the outcome.

Divine Nature: I believe I'm a child of God. That gives me a deeper sense of my purpose and importance. It also places the weight on my shoulders to act as his daughter.

Individual Worth: Remember that post about being unique? Because I know my divine nature, I understand my worth.

Knowledge: Education, learning, growth should always be sought after actively.

Choice and Accountability: I'm responsible for the decisions I make, and accordingly, I have the power to alter my circumstances. I am infidelity powerful to change my own world.

Good Works: Enough said. Right?

Integrity: Check out my "I" post. This is a sense of honesty with oneself and the world about them, not just in thought or word, but in deeds.

Image courtesy of public.resource.org

Virtue: "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies (Proverbs 31:10)." In this day and age I think most people have forgotten the importance of virtue--a high moral understanding/use of ones' physical self and thoughts. Virtuous living leads more powerfully to happiness than anything I know. Someone who lives a virtuous life is not bogged down by guilt, regret, and pain that comes from making poor decisions.

Do you have other values you live by or have found lead to happiness? What are they?

It Takes Courage

...to be different. (And I'm not talking about something like, "Dude, bet you've never seen this before. Check it out, toenail ring!") I'm talking a lifestyle or set of morals that the world may label as "lame", or "outdated". Who are they to judge? And while we're talking about this mysterious "they", who is that anyway?

One of my favorite WIP's (Work In Progress) is about a teen who's grown up in the "projects", or slums of New York City. While living in the city, I was astonished by the culture of government dependence and generational poverty. It was almost impossible for these people to see beyond their Section 8 housing and Foodstamps, to realize there was a better world out there--one where they didn't have to live in cockroach infested/frequently-flooding apartments, one where they could obtain gainful employment, one where the value of life wasn't dictated by power companies who would turn off your power in the middle of a heatwave, but by your own determination to excel. The problem was, most people got stuck in the city because it was too expensive to get out. My heart ached for them. Didn't they understand there was a better world out there?

There were, however, a handful of individuals who caught a glimpse. These were the hope of the future, the ones who would break the cycle of poverty against formidable odds, the ones who would become something.

My main character, Alaska (aka Ally), is one such individual who has lived through the grime. She's a fighter whose sights are set on a better life--not just for herself, but for her mom and little brother. She lives a strict moral code that her friends don't understand, one she created because of the people around her--to avoid some of the pitfalls they succumbed to, things that would keep her from her ultimate goal. She's different, weird, and sticks out. I adore Ally because of her courage. She's my hero.

For years we've been home schooling. Some people understand our reasons, but others turn their noses up and scoff. How dare we flout societal expectation and do our own thing? Don't we realize we're handicapping our children by keeping them out of the "cookie-cutter" school system? Don't we realize how socially damaged our kids will be from learning in a loving environment with educators who's most important goal is their success? Don't we know that sheltering our children from damaging influences will ultimately make for morally-different and confident people? Don't we know that no kid should be mature enough or educated well enough to graduate High School by the age of 14? I mean, how dare we!

My point is this:

People will tell you your work isn't good enough. They'll say you're going about it the wrong way. They'll insist that you have to follow a formula and do things by a predetermined method. If you don't do things their way, they'll tell you you're strange, or stupid, or wrong. The truth is, as long as you get the result you want, does it matter how you got there?

Courage, friends. Don't be discouraged by the voices out there. Do your best, and don't be afraid to go against the "norm".

The America that Was

My grandfather fought in World War II. As a pilot, he recalls sitting on a hill in the Philippines and looking out over foreign landscape, wondering if he would ever have a family. To him and the thousands of others who have served their country, I salute you. There is no greater love than a man or woman being willing to lay down their life for their friends.

Thankfully for Grandpa, there was a happily ever after. He married an amazing woman, served the Salt Lake City area as a respected physician for many many years, and has built a legacy of productive, god-fearing children, none of whom would enjoy the blessings of freedom without  his and other veterans' willingness to serve. Instead of laying down his life for a great cause, he lived his life for a great cause, bringing forth a generation of hard-working people who fight to keep America great.

I have often heard my grandmother say she wishes we could see the America she grew up in. It has changed so much. She was a professional secretary, and the technological leaps are baffling to her. The conveniences we enjoy are things she never takes for granted. BUT, in one vital way this America is nowhere near as wonderful as the one she remembers.

When I was a kid, I recall every great romantic movie or story ended with a proposal. There was no greater sign of love than a life-long commitment to the other person. The expectation was that you'd grow up, get married, have kids and do your very best to raise them in a moral and disciplined environment--like the one your parents and their parents before them created. And why? Because you were building the future and perpetuating a society that thinks more on the good of the future than individual satisfaction. (Like the world for which our veterans and military have sacrificed.) Fathers went to work to provide for their children. Mothers remained at home to build and maintain a loving environment that was clean and wholesome for raising a family. Children attended school and obtained an education under the tutelage of caring instructors.

True love is about sacrifice, and we could see it in our parent's every-day choices.

One thing I've learned in my short 32 years: people have short memories. 

The society we live in today has forgotten many of these lessons. Be that because of media influences, or the gradual turn toward a "me" mentality, the result is the same: increased divorces, a majority of children being born to unwed mothers, a loss of confidence and hope in children about the future, a populace who chooses to legalize addictive and damaging drugs, a presidential candidate who champions abortion (oh, I mean the murder of unborn babies--because let's call it what it is), and a society that no longer believes in the sanctity or importance of marriage. Who is going to stand and fight against this decay of morality?

This is no longer the America where I was born, but I am fighting, just like my grandfather, for the values that I hold dear. Every day I spend hours educating three children I hope will build a better future for our nation. I give hours each week to church and community associations that strengthen families and teach lost morals. I keep a daily journal to remind myself the reasons I do what I do, and recommit each morning to continue the fight. We've banned TV from our home to keep out immoral influences and monitor what our children read and view online.

Will you join in that fight with me? Will you commit to build a stronger America (or whichever country in which you reside), and a brighter future for the world to come?

America is a burning beacon of hope for the world. Let's keep it shining bright.