You Choose

I felt that during conference we were reminded several times that life is not meant to be easy all the time. Trials will come and they are important for our growth. And so, that leaves us with a choice: Will we endure our trials with happiness or will we complain and muster through until we feel like life is easier once again (and truly would the Lord take a trial away if we haven't learned to deal with it anyway?)
This morning I was reading in First Nephi 17: 21
(Laman and Lemuel speaking) Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy.
They make it sound like you can only be happy if there are no hardships and you are surrounded with ease and luxury. Eight years they have wandered in the wilderness (people, that is a long time to be camping and hunting for food) and they have finally reached the land of Bountiful (at least they have fruit now) and this whole time Laman has decided to be unhappy. Why would he choose that? Yes, packing it through the wilderness is probably not a day in the park; hunting for your own food is no picnic (as evidenced by the broken bow), but to choose to be miserable is the greatest disservice you can do for yourself. Elder Holland gives some great advice here and I think about this quote often:
"I can still hear you.” Yes, life has its problems, and yes, there are negative things to face, but please accept one of Elder Holland’s maxims for living—no misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse. More importantly, please know that your Father in Heaven loves you and so does His Only Begotten Son." The Tongue of Angels, Ensign May 2007
So, life will be hard and misfortunes will befall us all, but let's choose to be happy. Let's choose to look at the bright side, to laugh a bit more when there is nothing we can do. I don't want to look back and say "yea, and we might have been happy." No, I will choose to be happy now.