*Edit -Two days before posting this I read this in Unlimited Power by Tony Robbins:
“Let’s consider the habit of smoking cigarettes… They contribute to everything from cancer to heart disease… People have every reason in the world not to smoke. Yet the tobacco industry continues to profit, and millions of people continue to smoke cigarettes, with more starting all the time. Why is that?
People may learn to enjoy the experience of smoking, but is that what got them started?.. What happened when they first smoked? They hated it. They coughed and gagged and felt nauseated. Their body said, ‘This stuff is terrible. Get it away from me.’ In most cases if your own physcal evidence tells you something is bad, you would expect to listen. So why don’t people do that with smoking? Why do they continue to smoke until the body gives in and finally becomes addicted?
They do it because they’ve been reframed as to what smoking means, and then that new representation and state have been anchored into place. Someone with a great deal of knowledge about persuasion has spent millions and millions of dollars to convince the public that smoking is something desirable. Through skillful advertising, clever images and sounds were used to put us in positive-feeling states; then those desired states (paradigm shift) were associated with or linked to a product called cigarettes. Through massive repetition, the idea of smoking has been linked with various desirable states. There’s no inherent value or social content to a piece of paper wrapped around tiny tobacco leaves. But we’ve been persuaded that smoking is sexy, or suave, or adult, or macho…
How crazy is this? What in the world does putting carcinogens into your lungs have to do with any desirable state? But advertisers do on a mass scale exactly what we’ve talked about in this book. They put out images that put you in a receptive, elevated state-and at the peak of the experience, they anchor you with their message. Then they repeat it on television, in magazines, or on the radio so that the anchor gets constantly reinforced and triggered.”
My own emphasis (underlines) and commentary (in parentheses) were added. Eerie. This book is copyright 1986. Do you think advertisers have let up? Do we think Lucifer is deciding to go easier on us? Anyone reading the above might say, “well cigarettes aren’t cool anymore, and they’re definitely not advertised the same.” Go to any bar and look at the mass of people outside. Then if you really think things have changed, pay closer attention to the next liquor/beer commercial you see. Shouldn’t take long. We’re bombarded by them all day, every day. I’ll now get to my original post. That was a long side-tangent.
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Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles once gave an address at BYU where he talked about a discussion he had. The discussion was about the influence of evil and the consequences of bad choices. Elder Cook was given an interesting hypothetical: how would Lucifer present his plan to an advertising agency?
“The adversary described his dilemma: he and his followers had rebelled and rejected the Father’s plan and had come to understand that they could not prevail against God. Lucifer understood that while the Father’s plan was about joy and happiness, his own plan resulted in grief and misery. The problem, Lucifer explained to the ad executive, was how to attract followers.”
Lucifer would determine that the only way he could win would be to achieve a “paradigm shift.” He would need to convince us that what he wanted us to do would result in happiness, joy, and freedom while following God would result in misery, lack of freedom, and bondage.
“This hypothetical meeting serves a useful purpose. The truth is, not only do the enemies of the Father’s plan attempt to undermine the doctrine and principles of the plan, but they also attempt to mischaracterize the blessings that flow from the plan. Their basic effort is to make that which is good, righteous, and joyful seem miserable.”
It’s an amazing thing to consider how humans gravitate towards what destroys them. As the lyrics from OneRepublic’s song Counting Stars says, “Everything that kills me makes me feel alive.”
Consider the most obvious examples. Everyday millions of people drink literal poison. Here’s the amazing thing, you just read that and depending on who you are you thought of a different beverage from someone else. There are multiple poisonous drinks consumed every day. Am I referring to soda or alcohol? Both? How about cigarettes? I’m blown away every time I see someone smoking one. Like, “you know that is actually decaying your body from the inside out right?” Don’t care.
There are certain things that we have been asked to avoid in this modern day. We don’t always know why we avoid certain things. What I do know is that faithfully trying to follow God leads to blessings, both spiritual and temporal.
This leads to an important question.
Why do you think God doesn’t want you to sin?
Is it because He wants to control and tell you what to do?
Why wouldn’t He just force you not to sin then? He’s God.
Why does God hate and abhor sin?
God hates and detests sin because He know what the results of sin are: unhappiness, pain, suffering.
God doesn’t hate sin; He hates the unhappiness it leads to.
God is love. God is peace. God is joy.
I think about this often. I used to wallow in my sin and wonder why I was so miserable. Now that I’ve drawn closer to God, I’m so much happier. I see others stuck in the same pattern I was in and I desperately wish they would see there is another way. You don’t need to drink alcohol until you forget, to find happiness. You don’t need the lifestyle you think is bringing you joy, but you know is not.
Does God want you to be happy? An emphatic YES.
Does God want you to have freedom? An even more emphatic YES.
God would rather you have freedom even more than happiness. Otherwise, He would force you to make the choices that bring you joy. He refuses to do that. Your freedom means more to God even more than your happiness. To find true happiness you must choose it. To find true love you must gravitate towards it. We see this in what He’s given us, our agency. We always have the option to choose.
God’s plan, the Plan of happiness is meant to do just that. Bring happiness.
That doesn’t mean we all find joy the exact same way. That doesn’t mean we’re all on the same path. But I do believe the path of greatest joy leads to the being who gave us this whole experience. If life is hard, come to God and he will lighten your burdens. If life is joyful, we owe it to Him. Joy, growth, and freedom go hand in hand. We are meant to find these things during our mortal journey.
I use alcohol as an example because I believe it’s the easiest to use as an example, and because it’s what I have personal experience with. I’ve tried that life. I know alcohol doesn’t bring happiness. In fact, the terrible impact of alcohol on young brains and adult lives is now medically established.
A study from Harvard in the 1940s on success and happiness found:
“This study contains three significant insights. First, adult happiness has a high correlation with childhood family happiness, especially love and affection from parents. Second is the importance of a healthy, stable marriage to lifelong happiness. Third is the negative effect of alcohol on marital and lifetime success and happiness. Alcohol abuse touches one-third of families in the United States and is involved in one-fourth of hospital admissions. It plays a major role in death, bad health, and diminished accomplishment.”
The above quote was from the 1940s!! Has alcohol consumption gone down?
Notice the three things this study found that lead to happiness:
- Love and affection from parents
- Stable marriage
- Alcohol avoidance
It’s no wonder the family has been attacked so aggressively the past 80 years. The paradigm shift has officially happened. Society says it’s about me, not my kids, kids take away MY freedom. Divorce. Drink and be merry. This isn’t happiness.
When the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored on the earth, soon after, the advice was given to abstain from strong drinks (Doctrine and Covenants section 89). The Word of Wisdom has blessed my life. It was established a century before studies started to prove its temporal benefit.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ brings happiness. I know this personally, from my experience following it. It only occurred to me recently that many of my friends and people I care a lot about really don’t think this happiness is an option for them. I know many of my friends and people around me are happy. That’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is there is always more joy to be gained. The Gospel of Jesus Christ isn’t an exclusive club. I wasn’t chosen to be a part of it because I’m lucky. I’m a part of it because it makes me happy, and that option is available to everyone.
I know a lot of people think “organized religion” or “God” or maybe even “a family” isn’t meant for them. I just want to remind anyone taking the time to read, happiness is for everyone. Happiness is something we all can find.
I know many of my friends think I’ve become a religious nut. Good. I have. The reason is because I’m happier than I’ve ever been. I used to invite people around me to bars, or parties, or to gamble. I’ve invited people to participate with me in things I thought brought me happiness. So why wouldn’t I invite every person I come in contact with now that I’ve found real happiness?
I wish I could shout it from the rooftops. I wish I was bolder about it than I am. I wish I could tell the entire world: you deserve to be happy. Find your happiness, however you need to. But I will tell you this, Jesus Christ is the source of all love. Therefore, He is the source of all truth and light. For that reason, He is the source of all happiness. I’ve learned that for myself and hope we all can, on our timeline.
I know where I come from. I know where I’m going. I know why I’m here. I know what happens when I leave here. I know I’ll be with my family forever. I know my daughter and my wife, who I’ve known for countless days, going all the way back to our premortal existence, I know I will be with them for eternity. This is true joy.
I know these things. Knowing these things bring me comfort. Knowing these things makes me happy. The choices and changes I’ve made in my life have brought me happiness I never thought I deserved. This happiness is for everyone.
No Coincidences 