On Being Happy

The other day I was asked the question "how do you make yourself happy?"  I sent the following response and thought it might make a good post here (since I have been so delinquent in posting things here.)  Being happy is certainly a driving force for any Priesthood Warrior.

Here is my email in it's entirety:

You asked me the other night how to be happy…the short answer that I gave you was that you simply “Decide to be happy and then be that way.”

I received and email from a young man asking me which branch of the armed forces I'd join if I wanted to become a Special Operations Force Warrior.  I decided that the answer would make a good post.  So I share it here for everyone to read...

Cameron,

Your email made me really pause and think.  Since I’ve never served in the military the only loyalty I feel is to people I’ve known, not to any branch of service.

There are many great resources available to research and learn all about different Special Operations Forces.  I especially enjoy the work of Dick Couch as he served as a Navy SEAL and was allowed unprecedented access to many schools of training, and his books are priceless if you want to learn about the process of becoming a real warrior.  Many recruiting offices can also hook you up with a mentor who’s ‘been there’ and can guide you.

I personally know men who are or were: Green Berets, Navy SEALS, Army Rangers, Air Force Special Ops, RECON Marines, and your average, every day, soldier.  I have been impressed by them all.  Each is unique in their mission and each serves our country with honor and courage.

Living a Higher Standard

Nearly every organization in the world has standards, creed’s or codes of conduct for their members.  Those who belong to those organizations make a commitment to act, behave or comply in the way those codes outline.  In fact, most people who join any organization, do so BECAUSE of the standards set forth by those organizations.  They join because they want to be a part of what that organization represents and stands for.

This is especially true in warrior cultures. From the ancient Spartans, to the modern day SEAL’s…all of them have had rigorous standards that defined who and what they were.  They were great because they set high and undeviating standards.  If someone could not live up to the standard, then they simply could not be a part of the organization.

For example…to even be considered a candidate to become a Navy SEAL requires that you:
a)    Must be Male
b)    Must be in the US Navy
c)    Must be able to pass a minimum physical fitness requirements
d)    Must complete the BUD/s school training


There is also some additional testing that occurs to determine mental and psychological compatibility to serve.

Thinking About Warriors...

In my estimation, when talking about warriors, there are two very distinct groups of warriors.

One warrior is the kind who fights a physical enemy, the one who can harm and kill our physical bodies.  The second warrior is the one who fights on a more spiritual plane.  This is the warrior who steps in to stand between Heavenly Father’s children and the forces of Satan who wish to tear us down. 

The first kind of warrior is the typical image we think of when we hear the word ‘warrior’.  The Navy SEAL, the Green Beret, the fighter pilot, the police officer, etc.  His job is two-fold, to bring ultimate destruction to his enemy and to do all he can to protect his own people.  This warrior goes out to fight so that others don’t have too.  He is the main force standing between the threats to his country and those he loves at home.  He will sacrifice his physical body so that others don’t have to experience pain.

“People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf” – George Orwell

The ATTACK

In this article I outlined the basics of ‘the Battle’ that we fight on a daily basis to do what is right, to face life’s challenges and to overcome weakness’ that we are hounded by.  Today I’d like to focus on step one of HOW to fight those battles, the Attack, and give you some insight as to how we fall prey to the lies, deceptions and constant attacks of our common adversary.

First off, let me state that this is not a product of my own thought.  The original concept was developed by a well respected Licensed Professional Councilor who does a LOT of great work to help men defeat sex and pornography addictions.  His information can be found at www.sonsofhelaman.org and I’ve enjoyed my association with him immensely. His knowledge of the science of brain chemistry combined with some great spiritual insight is the inspiration for this idea. 

I also owe a lot to a very close friend who helped me take these ideas and refine them a bit to apply to all our daily battles, not just those dealing with the Law of Chastity (though I feel pretty confident that a great many men have struggles with this law in various forms…, whether they want to admit it or not).  He also helped me to establish gospel doctrinal basis’ for every concept taught in this information.

If you missed the post on WHY WE FIGHT, I suggest you read that first so you can understand why the Lord refers to us as “warriors” and why we face the drastic choice of “Fight or Die”.

With that introduction: let’s talk about The Attack!

Fitness Apps I Love

This will be a VERY short post.  I just wanted to let you all in on a couple of fitness apps and sites that I've been using for a while now and I LOVE EM!!!  I highly encourage you to get on them and put them to work for your fitness.

Humanity

Are We Loosing a Vital Part of Our Humanity?

I was sitting in a Church meeting the other day and I had a chilling thought:

You see, Santa brought me a tablet computer for Christmas and I love it!  It has replaced a large book bag that I used to have to carry around with me to Church to fulfill my calling.  Handbooks, notebooks, binders…all gone and stored on the memory of the small 7” tablet.  Which also has access to the entire gospel library, videos, web sites and more.  It is incredible and I love to use this tool. (you should see the looks of shock and amazement when I tell people that I don’t have any games on it).

But as I typed out some notes on the this device in my meeting, I felt like I was missing something, then it dawned on me what it was.  You see, part of my note-taking process includes doodling, and making notes of ‘inspirational thoughts’ that come to me. I use color and graphics to highlight different notes or to emphasize an idea.  I’m very visual in my style.  It occurred to me that I can’t do any of these things on my tablet very well.  Sure there is a sketching app on there, but I’d have to exit the notebook, open a second app, and then get frustrated with how slow the sketching occurs.  It isn't worth doing.