CHOOSE HAPPY
"And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness."
-2 Nephi 5:27
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
-John 14:6
The Story Behind the Song
Our Young Women girl’s camp theme a few years ago was “Choose Happy.” I wrote this song as a theme song for our camp, and it is meant to be played on the ukulele, but I wrote a piano arrangement of it after we got home from camp, because the message is one that is useful to hear even when not seated around a campfire.
I loved the message from a devotional talk by Elder Jeffrey R Holland titled, “The Quest for Happiness.” In this talk he says:
“I do not think God in his glory or the angels of heaven or the prophets on earth intend to make us happy all the time, every day in every way, given the testing and trial this earthly realm is intended to provide. But my reassurance to you today is that in God’s plan we can do very much to find the happiness we do desire. …Your best chance for being happy is to do the things that happy people do. Live the way happy people live. Walk the path that happy people walk. If you do, your chance to find joy in unexpected moments, to find peace in unexpected places, to find the help of angels when you didn’t even know they knew you existed, improves exponentially.”
I strongly believe that our happiness is a choice, made consciously every day in the way we act, the way we respond to people, the way we open our hearts, and the way we choose to recognize the Savior’s hand in our lives. So choose happy!
LYRICS
Choose happy, choose joy.
Choose to recognize the beauty all around
That was made to bring you joy.
Choose happy, choose peace.
Choose to listen to the spirit’s quiet voice
That can bring your soul such sweet release.
Choose happy, choose light,
Choose to take your savior’s outstretched hand
Let him lead you through your darkest night to joy.
Life isn’t always easy
Some days it’s hard to get through.
Between the harder right and the easy wrong,
You know just what you should do,
But the choice is up to you.
So choose happy, choose joy.
Choose to recognize the beauty all around
That was made to bring you joy.
Choose happy, choose peace.
Choose to listen to the spirit’s quiet voice
That can bring your soul such sweet release.
Choose happy, choose light,
Choose to take your savior’s outstretched hand
Let him lead you through your darkest night to joy.
Every day is a new adventure,
full of possibilities
Every day can be full of happiness,
If you start out on your knees,
Asking, Father, help me please
To choose happy, choose joy.
Choose to recognize the beauty all around
That was made to bring you joy
Choose happy, choose peace.
Choose to listen to the spirit’s quiet voice
That can bring your soul such sweet release.
Choose happy, choose light,
Choose to take your savior’s outstretched hand
Let him lead you through your darkest night to joy.