Gratitude: The Key, Window, and Door to HAPPINESS

As Sister Steadman is always reminding me, God promises His children "never-ending happiness" (Mosiah 2:41). That is an eternity of "living after the manner of happiness" (2 Nephi 5:27). I need to be reminded that joy, peace, contentment, serenity, and gladness is in my future—that like Elder Uchtdorf said, "[W]hat you see and experience now is not what forever will be" (You Matter to Him). 

But what is the key to this happiness? There are probably a lot of keys to personal happiness: chocolate, puppies, good books, sunny days, brilliant vistas, etc. You can put whatever you want on the list (and you probably should make a list).

And because everything good comes from God (Moroni 7:13), those things on your list come from Him. However, there is an overarching key to happiness that takes it a little farther, and that is gratitude. I love this story shared by J. Spencer Kinard that highlights how much gratitude changes your perspective:

The story is told of a person who noticed that his friend was always happy. If there were gray skies, he celebrated the shapes of the clouds; if it stormed, he went out on the front porch to watch and wonder. At each day, he awakened not with anxiety or depression but with rejoicing. Finally, the one friend asked the other, “What is the secret of your happiness? You are not a wealthy man. You are not exempt from the heaviness and pain of this world, yet you are happier than most.” And the happy man answered in one word: “Gratitude.” [qtd. by Sharon G. Samuelson]

I know that gratitude really does change the world. Expressing your thanks to God is the key to happiness—it unlocks the door he invites us to walk through, and it's the escape that He offers us when we need to climb out of a depressing perspective. I love it!