Choosing Cheerfulness Position Statement

"... and men are that they might have joy."  I look around me at the beauty of God's creations and they all testify to me that our Heavenly Father wants us to be happy.  There are struggles and hardships that come into all of our lives.  Some come through our own choices, some through the poor choices of someone else, and some just because their is opposition in all things.  We are meant to taste the bitter so we can appreciate the sweet.  But no matter how difficult things may seem, we can still choose to be happy.  Someone once taught me The Coin Theory.  If you look at a coin you cannot see both sides at the same time.  You have to choose a side to focus on and dismiss the other side.  This does not mean that the other side does not exist, just that you are choosing not to focus on it.  We have this choice in life as well.  We can look at the positive things that are happening and dismiss the negative or visa versa.  It doesn't mean that there aren't bad things that have happened, it just means that we have chosen to to focus on them, not to allow them power over us.  It must be very disheartening to our Father when we are not grateful for the good things He has given us and rather choose to be miserable.