Charity

It's as if we're not enjoying life to the fullest if we are not fully possessed with charity.  Charity, the pure love of Christ, is one of the supreme keys to happiness, I believe.  Without it, we judge, backbite, fault find, compare, envy, look down upon, and etc., etc., etc.

The absence of charity is like choosing to wear dark sunglasses everywhere.  Outside, inside, everywhere.  If we were forced to do this, eventually, we would perceive that the world is just a dark place, devoid of much light.  And while we would think this was the norm, think of how much we would be missing.

Or you could compare the absence of charity to the absence of glasses when they are truly needed.  Anyone who has experienced the blurry vision of poor eyesight knows that glasses make a world of difference.  I remember when I first got glasses.  I was in 2nd grade.  We drove home from the eye doctor and I could see every leaf on every tree.  The detail was exquisite.  I couldn't believe all that I had been missing.

I think it's this way with charity too.  Until we choose to wear the lens of love, we don't really know what we're missing.  But the exquisite detail that comes from a simple paradigm shift is incredible.  Life is more beautiful and happier.  And we are happier too.  Choosing to see others as our wonderful Savior does is not just for their sake...it's for ours.  Until we learn to consistently take off the dark sunglasses, or wear our prescription glasses, we are missing out on one of the most enlightening and enlivening keys to happiness.  With charity turned on, we see the world around us (including the people) as beautiful.  Everything is beautiful and we are happy.

Happy Challenge:

For today, choose to take the charity prescription and watch your happiness levels skyrocket:

...charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. ~Moroni 7:45

And then, do it again tomorrow.  And the next day, and the next.  Until charity is not just a habit you're working on developing, but it becomes part of your very nature.  And then, happiness will be your lot.