The 9 Ways to Be

The 9 Ways to Be Happy and Make Something Of Your Life

Gordon B. Hinckley

The 9 Ways to Be Happy and Make Something Of Your Life

Way 1: Be Grateful 

"Gratitude creates the most wonderful feeling. It can resolve disputes. It can strengthen friendships. And it makes us better men and women."

Reflection: I think being grateful is very important to everyone's life. I say this because many of us have many blessings, and others may not have too many. But it's still important to be grateful for everything you have in your life. Whether it's family, a roof over your head, friends, food and etc. Not only that but also yourself. There are many people who have insecurities and don't like certain ways about their body or face. But there's really nothing you can do but be grateful that you are healthy. You must always be grateful for that because you don't know if it can be taken away from you in any moment. Marc Chernoff's quote kind of stood out to me, "Gratitude leads to greatness. It can literally turn what you have into more than enough, jobs into joy, chaos into order, uncertainty into clarity, and bring peace to an otherwise chaotic day." I will apply this to my life by thanking my parents and just being grateful because I sometimes take things for granted. 

Way 2: Be Smart

"Train your mind and your hands to become an influence for good as you go forward with your life. Perform excellence"

Reflection: What this statement tells me is to make smart choices. It doesn't mean literally be smart like academically but be smart with your life and decisions. Sometimes we are faced with many decisions in our life's. And we choose whether to make a good or bad decision. I think when people make bad decisions, it is intentionally because to make a bad decision you have to physically and mentally do it. For example doing drugs just to fit in. That, you know the consequences of it. Not only doing them makes you look bad but also it affects your health. The quote that i thought was very truthful and stood out to me was from Keri Russell.

"Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever." This means to me that any wrong or bad decision can affect you in the long run. 

Way 3: Be Involved in Good Works
"Be willing to work, for it will make all the difference in your life."

Reflection: This statement in my opinion would be the most important one out of all the ones we've done so far. I say this because there are many ways you can do good things. For example, help out people in need by giving them food or even money, helping out your parents, and just in general doing things you think are right. I believe doing good often goes back to you. And not only that but at the end of the day you'll feel good and proud of yourself for doing what's right. One of the quotes i found that stood out to me was by Jim Stovall, “Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching.” This quote kind of summarizes what I was talking about. 

Way 4: Be Clean
"Be clean in every way. Delight in being clean. Relish the challenge of standing above and beyond the base trends of the world. You will never regret it."

Reflection: What this statement means is to always be clean. Not only in health ways but also in telling the truth, being a good person, doing right, staying away from drugs and alcohol, and having a positive attitude. All those ways to me is being clean,  you don't have any negative energy inside or outside of you. I think its important to be clean because not only do you feel good and proud of yourself but also physically feel good because you don't choose to do wrong and do drugs that will eventually ruin your body. One of the quotes that I think connects with being clean and choosing to do right is by Albert Einstein, If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things. 

Way 5: Be True
"Be true to what is right, fair, and honest."

Reflection: To me this statement means to be honest/true with everything that comes your way. Meaning to always tell the truth, and do what you think is the right thing to do. I think many of us do things just to impress others and to please others. Sometimes it's good to just focus on yourself and do what makes you happy. There are many examples in which show this, for example like at school. Doing drugs to pretend that you're about that life, talking back to teachers because your friends think it's funny. Most of the times we know what we are doing is wrong but we do it either way. That's why i think it's important to ALWAYS be truthful, fair, and right. This will also make you feel good inside because you know you're doing what you think is right. As i searched to find a good quote i found one by Shannon L. Alder, “One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.” I think this perfectly shows what today's way is about. 

Way 6: Be Positive
"There is good all around us- if we only look for it. When good men and good women face challenges with optimism, things will always work out."

Reflection: Being positive I think is kind of a requirement to living a good, happy, and healthy life. I say this because thinking positive and doing positive things kind of cleanses you and makes you feel good. Being positive also gets us through many difficult times in our life. I say this because we often think negatively and think about all the things that can possibly go wrong instead of thinking of the good sides of certain situations. Also being positive about yourself is good. For example loving yourself, always believing in yourself, and pushing yourself to do good. There are plenty of other examples to being positive like in your grades, hard situations, family problems, in your relationship, upcoming tests, and plenty of others. One of the quotes i found was from Roy T. Bennett, and they said “Great things happen to those who don't stop believing, trying, learning, and being grateful.” I think this quote perfectly says how being positive is very important.

Way 7: Be Humble  

"Don't be arrogant. The world is full of arrogant people. There is no place for arrogance. There is no place for conceit. There is no place for egotism." 

Reflection: Way #7 means to me is to not be arrogant or egotism. What this means is to be humble. Many people like to show off their successes, or put others down by thinking they are better than them. In my opinion I agree and disagree with this way. I say this because i think sometimes it's okay to have pride for yourself, but putting others down while you do that isn't right. 

Way 8: Be Still

"Find time to drown out the noise of the world. Take time to think about the kind of person you want to become. 

Reflection: I think this means to really think thoroughly and be open minded on what kind of person you want to evolve into. I think where it stays " find time to drown...." it means to ignore everything and everyone and focus on yourself. Kind of like no other opinions matter other than yours. I think being a good person is hard but easy at the same time. If you truly want it and put your heart into it then it'll be just fine. But many people tend to get in the way of that. For example they might push you into doing drugs, stealing, making fun of someone and the list goes on and on. One quote that i thought would fill this position would be, “Never stop being a good person because of bad people.” This quote was given anonymously but i think it does say a lot. 

Way 9: Be Prayerful 

"Prayer will change your life. It will bring you peace. It will give you direction and guidance."

The 9 Ways to be Reflection 

I think overall these 9 ways are such eye openers. I say this because all of these are ways on how to be a better person or how to improve yourself. I think I can pretty much agree with all these ways, except for way #7. Way #7 talks about being humble, and NOT being arrogant  and conceit. In some way I do think you shouldn't be like that. But being proud of what you accomplished and showing it off a little isn't a bad thing. Other than that I think the rest of the ways are very positive and important to remember. These can have a very positive impact on you and your life if you follow them. I think in my everyday life I do follow the 9 ways, but if I don't i'll make sure I do follow them to become a better me.