9 Ways to be Happy and Make Something of your Life
Gordon B. Hinckley
1. Be Grateful
Being grateful is being thankful.You must always be grateful for everything someone does for you. Never take anything for granted. Do not make people feel bad for then trying to help you. Say thank you and next time do an act of kindness for them. If some one tries to or does something helpful be grateful and return the favor. Karen Salmansohn quoted "you gotta look for the good in the bad, the happy in your sad, the gain in your pain, and what makes you grateful not hateful". That is a really good quote because it explains what you have to look for. This quote gives us motivation to show us that when we are sand that there could be happiness coming our way. No matter how bad or good you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs. That is why there is always something to be grateful for.
2. Be Smart
Being smart is more than the ability to talk a good game. There's also math smarts, history smarts, and smarts for everything else they teach in school. And finally, one big smarts is social smarts. That's the ability to figure out other people, and what they really mean when they say and do things. Being smart is to having good understanding or a high mental capacity. Even quick to comprehend. There is a vast difference between education and intelligence. Both ideas involve knowledge; however, they are fundamentally different concepts. Intelligence is an innate and natural ability that we are born with. It involves our natural abilities. Being smart is not choosing the wrong.
3. Be Involved
Being involved is more than just standing around in a group. It's impossible to be involved in all situations, but there's no excuse not to be involved in something, somewhere, somehow, with someone. Make an ounce of difference. Everyday in school i get involved I am in a school club that helps the environment. We go to beach clean up and we go to food banks to help people out. Zadie Smith said “Involved is neither good nor bad. It is just a consequence of living, a consequence of occupation and immigration, of empires and expansion, of living in each other's pockets... one becomes involved and it is a long trek back to becoming uninvolved.” Getting involved and making change is the least someone can do.
4. Be Clean
Being clean is very important because it shows that you can be a neat and organized person. Cleaning is an essential part of everyday life, and you really can't avoid it. You should be clean when everyone is watching, but also when no one is watching. If you are a clean person, it reflects on the way you carry yourself. It is very important to be clean in all aspects of your life, not just one or two. I believe the most critical part of being clean is personal hygiene. Implementing good personal hygiene practices has both health and social benefits. In health, you are less likely to catch sickness or diseases. In social, people are more likely going to want to interact with you because you are not dirty.
5. Be True
Being true is being honest. Being true to yourself means to act in accordance to who you are and what are the things you believe in. If you know and love yourself well, acting true to self will feel effortless and natural. A saying goes, "You can't love anyone else before you love yourself.", and it applies the same way to "You can't be true to anyone else until your true to yourself." You should never take action to pretend to be someone else for acceptance. A lot of times, us young people believe we should do things to please our peers, such as partying and drinking. We go against our common sense or advice of our parents, only to involve ourselves in trouble and not accomplish what we are set out to do. If you do things that don't feel genuine/ do not reflect the real you, you will end up unhappy and confused.In order to be true to yourself, it takes massive courage. It requires you to be open-minded and sincere. However, this doesn't mean you are inconsiderate to others, it just means you will not let others define you or make decisions that you should be making. You should always be true to yourself and live your life with your highest aspirations and values.
6. Be Positive
You should always try to be positive in your life because it will make everything feel better. You have to focus on the fantastic things you have going for you right now, not the negative things. You wont only feel better but you'll have a happier lifestyle. If you start to change your attitude to a positive one, you will start to notice the difference immediately. Being positive can also help you be active, you will have more energy and motivation. If you carry positive throughout within your mind, they are very likely to have positive outcomes.A negative attitude may lead to decreased productivity, so if you change it to positive, you will get more done. One example of thus new way can be seen within myself. Whenever I am going through a problem or issue, I never let it bring me down completely. I have the power to resist negative thoughts if I replace them with positive thoughts. I've been told many times that I must never be sad since I always have a smile on my face. That's because I am the only one who can control my happiness and I like to be happy. I can find happiness because I always try my best to carry a positive attitude, because even if you fake it at first, it becomes such a habit that it comes out as natural after a period of time. You can also be a better friend if you are positive, after all no one likes that friend who never has anything nice to say. Being a positive person can have a great impact on those that surround you also, even if you don't realize it. Happiness is contagious, and you can lift people's moods just based on the attitude you carry. Also, I have realized that being positive has made me the confident person that I am today. No one can bring me down with negative thoughts if I immediately replace them with positive ones.
7. Be Humble
No matter what you do, no matter how lucky you are, never boast about being better than others. Not being humble will bring down your character and make people not want to hang around with you. We should be grateful and appreciative of what we have/ do not have in this life. You need to be a CTR person 24/7 in order to be humble, in other words the first step. CTR 24/7 isn't just a motto, it is a lifestyle. It is important to become a CTR person. If you become a CTR person, then the ethics of each choice will become clear. They will each weigh in, and you will be able to realize the outcome. If you can realize the outcome, then you can make the decision easier. If the right decision is made easier, then you are more likely to choose it again. If you choose to be a CTR person, then you will definitely choose it again. If you choose the right, then the rest will follow. If you choose the right, then you are showing good character and working hard. Being humble is one of the most important parts of Choosing the Right.I will apply this new way to myself by always appreciating what I have and not showing it off to others. No-one likes someone who boasts because they can make a person feel bad. This is why I pledge to be humble 24/7 and also be a CTR person.
8. Be Still
I agree with this way by Gordon B Hinckley. We all have very rushed and busy lives, which leads to us never having time for ourselves. To be still is to be calm and at peace with your mindset. For example, if you go to the river, there may be birds chirping and occasionally a fish might jump in and out of the water. There you can be at peace & meditate or ponder to yourself about life itself. It is important to be still whenever we have a chance too, because if we are still for too long life will move on without us. There is a quote in the Bible that stands out to me a lot and it goes : "Be still and know that I am God." This means that we need to be motionless/silent when experiencing God himself. When we are still and quiet, we put ourselves in a pos lives and peace to our souls. We are more receptive to the things of the Spirit, thereby enabling us to grow closer to the Lord. I will apply this new way to my life by taking timeouts at least once a day to reflect on who I am as a person.
9. Be Prayerful
Final Reflection
Overall, I feel that by learning and writing about these 9 ways to be happy and make something out of your life, I have grown deeply as a person. Each day that I came into Mr. Hay more's class and discovered a new way, I started to apply them to my daily life. Now that the 9 Ways have come to an end, I feel happy and excited to continue to apply these to my life, not just now but also in the future. Over the past couple weeks that I have been applying these ways into my lifestyle, I can reflect and say that they have helped me to become a happier and better version of myself. Now that I have substantial knowledge of these 9 ways, I hope to share them with all of my family and friends, so that they too can be happy. I really enjoyed learning about this concept because it is not something that I am taught in my English or math class. I really want to thank Mr.Haymore for opening my eyes and being able to show me these 9 ways so that I can continue being a CTR person.
Being smart is more than the ability to talk a good game. There's also math smarts, history smarts, and smarts for everything else they teach in school. And finally, one big smarts is social smarts. That's the ability to figure out other people, and what they really mean when they say and do things. Being smart is to having good understanding or a high mental capacity. Even quick to comprehend. There is a vast difference between education and intelligence. Both ideas involve knowledge; however, they are fundamentally different concepts. Intelligence is an innate and natural ability that we are born with. It involves our natural abilities. Being smart is not choosing the wrong.
Being involved is more than just standing around in a group. It's impossible to be involved in all situations, but there's no excuse not to be involved in something, somewhere, somehow, with someone. Make an ounce of difference. Everyday in school i get involved I am in a school club that helps the environment. We go to beach clean up and we go to food banks to help people out. Zadie Smith said “Involved is neither good nor bad. It is just a consequence of living, a consequence of occupation and immigration, of empires and expansion, of living in each other's pockets... one becomes involved and it is a long trek back to becoming uninvolved.” Getting involved and making change is the least someone can do.
Being clean is very important because it shows that you can be a neat and organized person. Cleaning is an essential part of everyday life, and you really can't avoid it. You should be clean when everyone is watching, but also when no one is watching. If you are a clean person, it reflects on the way you carry yourself. It is very important to be clean in all aspects of your life, not just one or two. I believe the most critical part of being clean is personal hygiene. Implementing good personal hygiene practices has both health and social benefits. In health, you are less likely to catch sickness or diseases. In social, people are more likely going to want to interact with you because you are not dirty.
Being true is being honest. Being true to yourself means to act in accordance to who you are and what are the things you believe in. If you know and love yourself well, acting true to self will feel effortless and natural. A saying goes, "You can't love anyone else before you love yourself.", and it applies the same way to "You can't be true to anyone else until your true to yourself." You should never take action to pretend to be someone else for acceptance. A lot of times, us young people believe we should do things to please our peers, such as partying and drinking. We go against our common sense or advice of our parents, only to involve ourselves in trouble and not accomplish what we are set out to do. If you do things that don't feel genuine/ do not reflect the real you, you will end up unhappy and confused.In order to be true to yourself, it takes massive courage. It requires you to be open-minded and sincere. However, this doesn't mean you are inconsiderate to others, it just means you will not let others define you or make decisions that you should be making. You should always be true to yourself and live your life with your highest aspirations and values.
You should always try to be positive in your life because it will make everything feel better. You have to focus on the fantastic things you have going for you right now, not the negative things. You wont only feel better but you'll have a happier lifestyle. If you start to change your attitude to a positive one, you will start to notice the difference immediately. Being positive can also help you be active, you will have more energy and motivation. If you carry positive throughout within your mind, they are very likely to have positive outcomes.A negative attitude may lead to decreased productivity, so if you change it to positive, you will get more done. One example of thus new way can be seen within myself. Whenever I am going through a problem or issue, I never let it bring me down completely. I have the power to resist negative thoughts if I replace them with positive thoughts. I've been told many times that I must never be sad since I always have a smile on my face. That's because I am the only one who can control my happiness and I like to be happy. I can find happiness because I always try my best to carry a positive attitude, because even if you fake it at first, it becomes such a habit that it comes out as natural after a period of time. You can also be a better friend if you are positive, after all no one likes that friend who never has anything nice to say. Being a positive person can have a great impact on those that surround you also, even if you don't realize it. Happiness is contagious, and you can lift people's moods just based on the attitude you carry. Also, I have realized that being positive has made me the confident person that I am today. No one can bring me down with negative thoughts if I immediately replace them with positive ones.
No matter what you do, no matter how lucky you are, never boast about being better than others. Not being humble will bring down your character and make people not want to hang around with you. We should be grateful and appreciative of what we have/ do not have in this life. You need to be a CTR person 24/7 in order to be humble, in other words the first step. CTR 24/7 isn't just a motto, it is a lifestyle. It is important to become a CTR person. If you become a CTR person, then the ethics of each choice will become clear. They will each weigh in, and you will be able to realize the outcome. If you can realize the outcome, then you can make the decision easier. If the right decision is made easier, then you are more likely to choose it again. If you choose to be a CTR person, then you will definitely choose it again. If you choose the right, then the rest will follow. If you choose the right, then you are showing good character and working hard. Being humble is one of the most important parts of Choosing the Right.I will apply this new way to myself by always appreciating what I have and not showing it off to others. No-one likes someone who boasts because they can make a person feel bad. This is why I pledge to be humble 24/7 and also be a CTR person.
I agree with this way by Gordon B Hinckley. We all have very rushed and busy lives, which leads to us never having time for ourselves. To be still is to be calm and at peace with your mindset. For example, if you go to the river, there may be birds chirping and occasionally a fish might jump in and out of the water. There you can be at peace & meditate or ponder to yourself about life itself. It is important to be still whenever we have a chance too, because if we are still for too long life will move on without us. There is a quote in the Bible that stands out to me a lot and it goes : "Be still and know that I am God." This means that we need to be motionless/silent when experiencing God himself. When we are still and quiet, we put ourselves in a pos lives and peace to our souls. We are more receptive to the things of the Spirit, thereby enabling us to grow closer to the Lord. I will apply this new way to my life by taking timeouts at least once a day to reflect on who I am as a person.
Final Reflection
Overall, I feel that by learning and writing about these 9 ways to be happy and make something out of your life, I have grown deeply as a person. Each day that I came into Mr. Hay more's class and discovered a new way, I started to apply them to my daily life. Now that the 9 Ways have come to an end, I feel happy and excited to continue to apply these to my life, not just now but also in the future. Over the past couple weeks that I have been applying these ways into my lifestyle, I can reflect and say that they have helped me to become a happier and better version of myself. Now that I have substantial knowledge of these 9 ways, I hope to share them with all of my family and friends, so that they too can be happy. I really enjoyed learning about this concept because it is not something that I am taught in my English or math class. I really want to thank Mr.Haymore for opening my eyes and being able to show me these 9 ways so that I can continue being a CTR person.
