Maternal Perspective on Happiness

My children, my greatest desire for you is to be happy and have peace in your lives.  Most parents (and grandparents) the world over are happy when their family members are happy.  I believe there are many ways to be happy in the world, but there are four absolute musts to attain and maintain lasting joy and peace throughout all the challenges and trials in life.

1.  Never let go of faith in God.  

I promise you He knows and loves you.  Since I am a "religious" person, I will always testify there is only one way you can ensure the greatest joy that lasts forever--follow Jesus Christ and live as he has taught.  You will know what he says we have to do to have everlasting joy when you study the scriptures and pray always.  

2.  Please do good in the world.  

That is one of the things Jesus Christ taught, but even those who don't believe in Him have discovered this truth.  By so doing, you will find greater happiness than indulging yourselves in acts of selfish pleasures.  I don't mean you shouldn't take care of yourself and enjoy life (who doesn't love something that sends them into bliss?), but you will receive so much more out of living when you expand your capacity to mature as a human being by contributing to the well being of others or your community in some way.  By working hard, you can make a living and have a little left over to contribute to greater causes beyond your power to assist alone.  You don't always need to donate money, you can give of your time and energy to worthwhile causes or individual cases.  You will learn the difference between needs and wants in this way and discover your wants aren't nearly as important as the needs of someone else.  Your life will be less cluttered with unnecessary things.  There will be the discovery of kinship and connection to all living things on this earth.  It is liberating to serve a cause higher than yourself.  The feeling of being worth something in this world does not come from what we get, but from what we give.  Being other oriented will also make your personal relationships solid and satisfying.

Mother and son washing grandpa's truck

3.  Love enormously, unconditionally, and broadly

Dad and Daughter
4.  Do the best you can.  It is enough.  It is what is in your heart that matters.

Here's a young artist walking backwards as his family wanders the beach.  We followed this little guy as he made this serpentine pattern quite a lengthy distance, while he and his family were oblivious as to what the other was enjoying at the moment.

What, you say?  No more sage advice from all those years of living?  Well, you can find excellent, educated, and elaborate advice from thousands of well-educated, illustrious folks, some of whom are geniuses--qualified by the world as experts--to enlighten you from their perspective.  Read, listen to lectures, search the Internet, and study everything everywhere searching for the key to happiness, and it will still boil down to the basics mentioned above.  It isn't more complicated than that, though everyone tries to make it so.

Simplistic?  That's fine with me.

Another artist left this gift for others to enjoy.