Happy or good?

Which would you rather your children be?  

Until recently I thought I wanted my kids to be happy, regardless of what they achieve or experience in life.  As long as they are happy, what else matters ..... right?  

But I've come to realize that happiness can, in our muddled mortal brains, be subjective.  What an individual perceives as happiness, may be something less than its potential.  

Among the tenets of my religion are that our ultimate goal is happiness.  "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy."   (2 Nephi 2:25, Book of Mormon)   And yet we are also warned ..... "Wickedness never was happiness."  (Alma 41:10, Book of Mormon)  

Many people live in a state of wickedness, (meaning a life contrary to God's plan) intentionally or otherwise, and claim to be happy.    

But are they really happy?  And will they still be happy .... tomorrow?

Again, what do you wish for your kids ..... to be happy or to be good?  Sometimes, in this life, it seems like we can't always have both.

Although I, like all parents, yearn deeply for my children to be happy today, tomorrow, next week, next month and each minute thereafter ...... I must side with goodness when it's an either/or situation.  Goodness trumps happiness.  And sometimes goodness doesn't result in happiness right away.  Sometimes goodness brings pain, struggle, disruption, and a truck load of sacrifice.  Sometimes goodness brings sadness .... for a while.  

That's where faith enters in.  Faith is believing in the unseen ..... and happiness may be that which we don't yet see.  Faith assures us that it will come ..... genuine, eternal, God-like happiness.  The Real Deal that lasts forever, recognizable because of its eternal companion -- Peacefulness.  Not the fleeting counterfeit with which Satan baits his hook.    

So that's what I hope for my kids.  The Real Deal.  And the God we believe in, mercifully encircles us with glimmers and snippets of the joy to come ..... as we determine in all our mortal clumsiness, to trust Him.  Because He knows the Real Deal.   And He, as the Father He truly is, yearns deeply for us, His children, to have it too.  And considering how wonderful those glimmers and snippets are ..... it's going to be incredibly worth it.