Every November for several years I have hosted a ‘favorites’ party. Some friends come over to eat (because, party…) and to share our favorite things from the past year. To prepare for the event, I get to think about what I have loved from the year-things that have brought me happiness or pleasure, books or words that have inspired me, experiences that have influenced me for the better, etc.
The party itself is great fun, and something I look forward to all year. But what I have noticed is that the preparation for the event brings me as much joy as the event itself. I am more consistently happy in the weeks leading up to the party as my focus is centered on the good things in my life. There are still irritations and annoyances, and sometimes even really rotten things that happen during that time, but my ability to see and feel joy seems enhanced as I think more often on my favorite things.
This is a simple but very real example of the principle President Nelson taught several years ago, “the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives,” (“Joy and Spiritual Survival”, Ensign, Nov. 2016, 82) at work. Without putting forth any serious effort other than thinking of good things, my joy in my everyday life is more full while I’m focused for those few weeks on happy thoughts. There is an undeniable power in our thinking and our primary focus.
There are, of course, limits to the joy thinking about my favorite recipe or product of the year can give me, I know. The true, enduring, transcendent type of joy comes from focusing on the source of joy itself. President Nelson continued, “When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation…and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening-or not happening-in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy.” (ibid.) If we can more often focus our attention, our thoughts, and our hopes on the glorious truths that our Father has a plan for our lives designed to bring us the greatest happiness; that He knows us to our very souls and therefore knows what is best for us; that His son, our Savior, has conquered every obstacle to our attaining everlasting joy; that He knows the way and leads the way and helps us along the way, then any temporary disturbance in our lives has little power to rob us of the soul-settling joy that knowledge brings. We can be confident, no matter what, that joy is both our journey and our destination. As we learn to focus more on those ‘best, most favorite’ of all things of life and eternity, our lives will be filled with that joy.
