Forget Not the Happiness That Surrounds You

Yesterday President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, First Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint, spoke to women all over the world.  I felt that a lot of what he said went perfectly with the theme of this new blog, "See the Good." You can watch the entire talk here: http://lds.org/general-conference/watch/2011/10?lang=eng&vid=1180453706001&cid=7


President Uchtodorf used the forget-me-not flower as a metaphor for his talk. He said that although the flower is small in size, and easily unnoticed among larger flowers, it is still beautiful and vibrant.  He used the five petals of the forget-me-not flower to represent five things we should never forget. The one that I'd like to talk about in this post is, "forget not the happiness that surrounds you."

Forget not the happiness that surrounds you:

Using an example from the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, President Uchtdorf described how one of the characters, Willy Wonka, hid golden tickets within chocolate bars, promising to reveal wonders to five people who discovered the tickets.

President Uchtdorf said, “In their anxiousness, people began to forget the simple joy they used to find in a candy bar. The candy bar itself becomes an utter disappointment if it does not contain a golden ticket.”

"So many people today are waiting for their own golden ticket — the ticket that they believe holds the key to the happiness they have always dreamed about."

Whatever a “golden ticket” may represent to each person, President Uchtdorf warned to not put your happiness on hold as you wait for a future event, or golden ticket, to appear.

“The lesson here,” he said,” is that if we spend our days waiting for fabulous roses, we could miss the beauty and wonder of the tiny forget-me-nots that are all around us.”

I love the quote on my kitchen wall.  "Happiness is a journey, not a destination."  And another in my living room, "Enjoy the journey."

Toward the end of his talk President Uchtdorf stated, “You may at times feel a little like the forget-me-not—insignificant, small, or tiny in comparison with others.”

He continued, “I hope (the forget-me-not) will be a symbol of the little things that make your lives joyful and sweet.”

May we remember to see the good in the little things, for they have a beauty and a joy of their own.


Note: These photos come from http://sxc.hu/.