Excerpt from a Talk

Brothers and Sisters, it appears in this life that happiness is something that might be fleeting or unobtainable but it is not.  The Lord wants us happy just like a parent wants their child to be happy.  The world tells us that women must have a “perfect” body, that they must have a perfect looking home and young women must be promiscuous to be liked.  The world tells men that we are overbearing and keep women in shackles in our homes and that we are worthless unless we provide every perceived need for our families instead of instilling the ability to teach children to work.  Young men are taught the most important think is the next video game and playing them overrides every responsibility that they have wasting hours and hours of time.  Young men are also taught by the world that using young women like dirty rags to be thrown away when they are done with them is OK.  We as members of the members of the Church often have “perfection guilt” and unless we are perfect here and now we are not good people so what is the point of even trying.  All of these are lies to make us unhappy.

These things are not so.  Women are beautiful because they don’t look like the unrealistic women on TV and in magazines.  Husbands should remind their wives of this until they actually believe it and most importantly wives you need to start believing your husband when he tells you these things!  Young women, you are beautiful too even if some boy has no clue how to interact with you socially.  Don’t surround yourself with boys that don’t treat you like the princesses you are.  Men should continue to treat their wives like an equal and no matter how many male “roll-models” on TV act stupid and realize that we are smart and we can take care of our families.  Men should work hard and teach their families to work hard.  They should be respected for the Priesthood they hold especially if they are raising their family to the Lord.  Young men should invest their time in something worthwhile and long lasting or significant other than how many zombies they killed with which weapon in which game.  For the youth, Eagle Scout, Duty to God certificate and the Young Women medallion could be some of these worthwhile ventures.  All of these good and worthy things should lead us to happiness.

It is important to strive to be perfect but realize that this is a long term goal with daily short term steps.  Some days it is important to realize that just getting through the day with a happy continence is a success.  Sometimes it is just OK to throw the well made plans out the window and make sure your family’s needs are being taken care of no matter how messy the process may get.  For example, it is might be OK that your kids have a sandwich for dinner to ensure Mom and Dad don’t go nuclear because of the day’s stresses.  It is better for kids to see a sandwich on their plate than Mom and Dad frustrated because their 8 course meal isn’t perfect.  A sandwich sustains life just as well as an 8 course meal.