9 Ways to be Happy and Make Something of your Life
Gordon B. Hinckley
1.Be Grateful
Being grateful is a very important way to be happy and make something of your life. You should be grateful for what you have because maybe you have things that others are wishing they have. You should be pretty happy for how your life is, its never going to be perfect so you should strive to make it better. For example, a lot of us have phones and we just take it for granted. We use them everyday and we don't really notice and appreciate it enough. Some people throw their phone and just don't care about it, while they're people out there that wish they had one.
"The things you take for granted, someone else is praying for. Be thankful." I will apply this new way everyday. I will be grateful everyday I wake up and have another day to live and be grateful for everything and everybody that I have in my life.
Some people can have more then you, but people can also have less than you. If you have that mind set you will be a more grateful and happier person.
2. Be Smart
Being smart is a very important way to be happy and make something of your life. Being smart will help you with the very important decisions you make in your life. Being smart can help you accomplish your goals and dreams. It helps you choose the right choices and rights things to do in your life. If you are not smart you might struggle in your life because you will be choosing the wrong and not making the right decisions. There can be many examples of being smart. There are ways to be smart. For example, doing well in school, being respectful, being responsible, being honest, etc. "Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn't hard work." I really like this quote because I believe this is true. You have to work hard to get what ever you want in life. You might have a talent but if you don't work hard making that talent even better, it will go to waste. You have to work hard, workings hard is a way to be smart. I will apply this way to do better in school and work harder and make better decisions and try to be more wise and think about it.
3.Be Involved in Good Works
Being involved in good works is a important way to make something of your life. If your involved in good works you will be happy and be a good person as well. For example, I play soccer so if I see somebody struggling and I can see he's getting mad at himself, I will try to cheer him up and tell him to be positive, instead of being negative. Helping the player out will make him feel better. Another example of being involved in good works is maybe you see somebody struggling to carry the groceries, you can ask if they need help. If they say yes help them out. Being involved in good works shows respect, being kind and having good sportsmanship if your in sports. I feel like I already do use this way, but I will continue to use this way and try to use it better and in different ways.
4.Be Clean
Staying clean is a important way to make something of your life. When you hear be clean you think of showering, brushing teeth, etc. Which is also important for your health, but to me being clean is also not doing drugs and not smoking. Drugs are not good for you, they can maybe make you feel good at the moment but can really affect your life in a negative way. Also, another way of not being clean to me is being sexually active without protection. Having unprotected sex with many people is unsafe and can lead to bad illnesses. I'm not saying having unprotected safe is dirty, but personally I will only do it when I am ready. I will apply this way by saying no to drugs and make to have protection when sexually active.
5.Be True
Being true is an important way to make something of your life. Be true to yourself, don't lie to yourself. Notice what you need to improve on and get better, don't lie to yourself and say your the best already and don't need to work on improving yourself. Also be true to your family, girlfriend/boyfriend and best friends. Be honest with them and don't tell them bad lies. Also be true to your sports team, work hard, stay loyal and committed to your team, stick with them when things aren't working out. I will apply this new way by trying to be more honest to other people and letting people know how I feel, also will always be true and honest to myself.
6.Be Positive
Being positive is an important way to make something of your life. Being positive can really help you and lead to great opportunities. Being positive can give you confidence to do what you want to do. There is a lot of negative people and are scared to do things in their life because they don't have a lot of confidence. With positive things on your mind, the most likely positive things will happen. People can get so negative because maybe they're not where they want to be in life or maybe a bad experience happened to them they just give up, but when you fail your suppose to be positive and get back up stronger. Positive people most likely succeed because they don't quit and see the positive in a situation. I will start using this way more often because I can be a negative person sometimes and it really puts me down. But then I eventually realize that I hate being negative and being negative will not help me in any way so I try my best to think positive, I usually think negative some days usually in soccer because I feel like i'm not good, but there's days when I am positive where I tell my self "I am good and I will keep on improving." I will have more of those positive thoughts so I can improve and succeed.
7. Be Humble
Being humble is a important way to make something of your life. Being humble can lead to a lot of positive things for your life. If your humble to others most likely they will like you as a person, nobody likes people that brag and are really cocky and have too much ego. You should be a kind person because its the right thing to do, but also I feel you should be aware of who your being really kind too because people can take advantage of your kindness and I've experienced that. "Work hard and be humble." People have told me that I am a kind and humble person and I think I agree with them. For example, there are many good soccer players but have too much ego and just think its all about them and don't give others respect. I feel like I am a decent soccer player and I think I am not like that at all. I will continue being a humble person because it's what I like being and I hope I can succeed by doing so.
8. Be Still
Being still is a important way to make something of your life. "To be still means to empty yourself from the incessant flow of thoughts and create a state of consciousness that is open and receptive." Being still to me means to be consistent, being consistent in good things and good things will happen to you. I believe being still also means to be patient. Be patient for all the opportunities you will have in the future. I also think it means to be hopeful, and being positive. I will be still more often because sometimes I can be a really negative person and have no hope and wanting to give up, but I am learning and hopefully the older I get the more of a positive person I'll be. Also, be more of a consistent person in doing smart things that will help me in my life.
9.Be Prayerful
Final Reflection: I agree in all these 9 ways to be happy and make something of your life. All of them are really important to be happy. My favorites out of the 9 are to be Grateful, Be Smart, Be Humble and Be Positive because I feel like I do that already. I will really try my best to always use these 9 ways to be happy and make something in my life. I can be more grateful for things and not take it for granted. I will start appreciating what I have more. I will be smart by making the right decisions. I will be more involved in good works, by helping people out when they need it. I will always be clean and not do drugs. I will try my best to be true and always tell the truth and be loyal. I will try my best to be positive by always looking at the good side. I will be humble by being nice and good to others. I will try to be more still when I have time to think about important things. I will do all these important ways to be happy and make something in my life.
This Weekend 
You should always have big and challenging plans for yourself. Having big plans would challenge yourself and that how you become better. For example, if you want to pass all your classes sure that's a good goal, but instead you should try to pass your classes with all A's. You should have future plans also, like how much money you want to make, or what job you want to have, etc. If you have big plans you're most likely to succeed. If you have small plans you will be missing out on way more that you can be getting.
Willing to prepare yourself will set you up for success. Preparing yourself for something you want to do will give you a better advantage. Some examples are, preparing yourself for college. Your doing college type work, doing applications, studying, etc. Also, you have a soccer game and you need to prepare for it earlier so you can have a better chance of playing well. I prepare for soccer games consistently. It really helps me feel good and stay sharp on game day. I go for runs and practice with the ball. I feel like I need to improve on preparing myself more often for school, like for example on tests. I sometimes get low scores but if I were to prepare myself I would get a better score.
High achievers and successful people are teachable. People won't be successful because they aren't teachable, or they think they know it all already. You should be a person that is open to any help and take it to try to make yourself better. For example, my soccer coach tells me on what I need to improve on and I listen and try to improve on the things he told me I needed to improve on. That will help become a better player.
Being grateful is a very important way to be happy and make something of your life. You should be grateful for what you have because maybe you have things that others are wishing they have. You should be pretty happy for how your life is, its never going to be perfect so you should strive to make it better. For example, a lot of us have phones and we just take it for granted. We use them everyday and we don't really notice and appreciate it enough. Some people throw their phone and just don't care about it, while they're people out there that wish they had one. "The things you take for granted, someone else is praying for. Be thankful." I will apply this new way everyday. I will be grateful everyday I wake up and have another day to live and be grateful for everything and everybody that I have in my life. Some people can have more then you, but people can also have less than you. If you have that mind set you will be a more grateful and happier person. 
2. Be Smart 
Being involved in good works is a important way to make something of your life. If your involved in good works you will be happy and be a good person as well. For example, I play soccer so if I see somebody struggling and I can see he's getting mad at himself, I will try to cheer him up and tell him to be positive, instead of being negative. Helping the player out will make him feel better. Another example of being involved in good works is maybe you see somebody struggling to carry the groceries, you can ask if they need help. If they say yes help them out. Being involved in good works shows respect, being kind and having good sportsmanship if your in sports. I feel like I already do use this way, but I will continue to use this way and try to use it better and in different ways.
Staying clean is a important way to make something of your life. When you hear be clean you think of showering, brushing teeth, etc. Which is also important for your health, but to me being clean is also not doing drugs and not smoking. Drugs are not good for you, they can maybe make you feel good at the moment but can really affect your life in a negative way. Also, another way of not being clean to me is being sexually active without protection. Having unprotected sex with many people is unsafe and can lead to bad illnesses. I'm not saying having unprotected safe is dirty, but personally I will only do it when I am ready. I will apply this way by saying no to drugs and make to have protection when sexually active.
Being true is an important way to make something of your life. Be true to yourself, don't lie to yourself. Notice what you need to improve on and get better, don't lie to yourself and say your the best already and don't need to work on improving yourself. Also be true to your family, girlfriend/boyfriend and best friends. Be honest with them and don't tell them bad lies. Also be true to your sports team, work hard, stay loyal and committed to your team, stick with them when things aren't working out. I will apply this new way by trying to be more honest to other people and letting people know how I feel, also will always be true and honest to myself.
Being humble is a important way to make something of your life. Being humble can lead to a lot of positive things for your life. If your humble to others most likely they will like you as a person, nobody likes people that brag and are really cocky and have too much ego. You should be a kind person because its the right thing to do, but also I feel you should be aware of who your being really kind too because people can take advantage of your kindness and I've experienced that. "Work hard and be humble." People have told me that I am a kind and humble person and I think I agree with them. For example, there are many good soccer players but have too much ego and just think its all about them and don't give others respect. I feel like I am a decent soccer player and I think I am not like that at all. I will continue being a humble person because it's what I like being and I hope I can succeed by doing so.
