---

“She’s too happy.”

At various times in my life, I have heard people say this about me. They say it with disdain – as an insult. As if being happy was somehow distasteful. As if my happiness and energy was all a façade… all for show. Fake even.

Here’s the thing. I LIKE to be happy! In fact, I love it! I enjoy life most when I’m happy. If given the choice between sadness and happiness… I would choose happiness EVERY TIME. In fact, I have never heard anyone choose sadness over happiness. I have never heard someone prefer anger, despair, or anguish over happiness.

Why?

Because choosing joy makes life a lot more enjoyable. A lot more fun! I really believe that happiness is a choice.

Don’t get me wrong. That doesn’t mean when you’re going through an extremely tough time, “choosing” to be happy will solve everything. No. What I mean is choosing a perspective of happiness. A perspective of happiness is actively remembering the good while going through the bad. It’s keeping that eternal perspective during the hard times. It’s knowing that those tough times won’t last and that you are tougher! A perspective of happiness can’t be passive. It can’t be idle. A perspective of happiness has to be actively engaged – actively seeking for the good and actively rememberingthe good during the hard times.

I have been asking throughout my life, “why are you so happy all the time?” or “How are you so happy?”

Here’s my answer:

My happiness literally stems from my gratitude. And I feel like I have so much to be grateful for.

Because in the end, no matter the trial or heartache, there is SO MUCH to be happy about! There is SO MUCH to be grateful for! In the end, I know that whatever bad day or rude comment comes my way, I am genuinely happy. Not the fake-happy with a false smile plastered on my face. I mean inside me. I mean my body… my SOUL… is genuinely happy.

Because I know this pain… this sorrow… that we all go through is only for a moment, and the joy and happiness I have in the gospel… in Christ… is FOREVER.

It’s a mindset. It truly is. We have to program ourselves to remember the good. Remember that perspective of happiness? I’m not saying I’m happy all the time. I’m not! I have terrible days. I have awful weeks. I have cried so hard that my body went numb and I couldn’t think, and I couldn’t feel, and I just wanted to disappear. I just wanted to fade away… because I didn’t feel like I could take any more of the pain.

Those times? Those times are tough. Those trials and those sorrows are REAL. So I don’t want you to read this and think you have to push down all your pain and plaster a smile on your face in order to “choose happiness.”

No.

In fact, I’m going to tell you the opposite. You need to feel it. You need to let yourself feel that pain and you need to cry and yell and pray and not understand. You need to let yourself feel those emotions because pushing them down? That’s not joy. That’s not happiness. That’s prolonged suffering. We have to feel our emotions… but only to a certain extent.

At some point, we need to surface. It’s okay to feel (and I mean really feel) our emotions, just as long as we don’t let those emotions consume us. Once we’ve felt what we’ve needed to feel, then we move. Then we get back on our feet. Then we keep going.

We can do it. You can do it. You have the strength. God will give it to you! He will help you! We just have to ask.

So, do I have bad days? Oh my goodness, yes! But am I happy? You better believe it.

In all honesty… it’s the gospel. The gospel keeps me going. Christ keeps me going. Heavenly Father keeps me going. This gospel is a fountain of everlasting happiness that keeps me going and gives me strength and joy, as I keep going!

So, when people tell me I’m too happy, I smile. 😉 Some people will scowl and say there’s no way I can be that happy. There’s no way my happiness could be genuine.

And you know what? It’s okay if people think it’s all fake. But I know – and God knows – that I’ve chosen happiness. The real happiness. The BEST happiness. Because in the end, who doesn’t want to be happy? And who doesn’t want to share that happiness and joy with other people?

I love the gospel! And I love to be happy! No matter what others may say about my happiness, I will continue to be happy! I will continue to choose joy! I will continue to choose God! Because as long as I’m choosing Him, I know I will always be happy.

“and men are, that they might have joy.” (2 Nephi 2:25)

I believe that. I live by that. It’s true joy. The real joy.

I am so grateful. I am SO HAPPY – because of Him. And you can be too because of Him. It’s a choice. A choice to choose Christ. Because when you choose Him, you choose joy. The real joy. The true joy. The underlying perspective of joy. It won’t eliminate trials and heartache, but it will make those loads a little easier… a little lighter.

All because of Him.

And that’s why I’m happy.

Love, Shalee