Patience --> Anticipation --> HOPE!

I went to Rockledge ward today with my family, and I LOVED the lesson in Relief Society!  We talked all about the talk that Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave called "Continue in Patience," and it was great.  A sister made a comment about how patience allows us to experience anticipation, and that is what leads us to hope.  This is why our microwave generation of kids aren't as optimistic anymore.

You can find yourself so focused on what you're getting at the end of the road that you forget about the journey! Patience is more enjoyable than people realize; you can experience SO much more if you just wait a little bit and stop to smell the flowers on the road side.  You can savor the experience of getting to your destination instead of only thinking about the end.

It's hard though!  It's so hard to slow down in our speedy, instant-gratification society that expects you to get things done and get them done quickly.  People wonder why you haven't graduated from college yet or haven't settled down and gotten married, and you feel so much pressure from outside forces to conform to that mentality.  It's so important to use this as an opportunity to fine tune your line of communication with Heavenly Father to see what He wants instead of relying on the arm of flesh.  It's an opportunity to work on putting your trust in God instead of worrying about whether people think you are becoming an old maid or not.  WHO CARES!

I am grateful for the experiences I've had in my life.  I am SO happy with where my life is right now, and I always hope that I can keep the mentality of enjoying what I am experiencing now instead of waiting for some future event to make me happy.  Finding happiness right now is actually the way to have lasting happiness.  If we seek for joy in certain events all the time, we'll get it, and then the happiness wears off as we get used to it.  

Happiness is more a state of being than an emotion.