A:  I sense that you are having some discouragement in your life…but be of good cheer! You are not alone, and you are not without help…

Happiness and joy are greatly misunderstood in this earth life. Consider this passage From The Urantia Book:

100:4.3 But the great problem of religious living consists in the task of unifying the soul powers of the personality by the dominance of LOVE. Health, mental efficiency, and happiness arise from the unification of physical systems, mind systems, and spirit systems. Of health and sanity man understands much, but of happiness he has truly realized very little. The highest happiness is indissolubly linked with spiritual progress. Spiritual growth yields lasting joy, peace which passes all understanding.

In other words, to experience that joy and happiness that you seek, you will need to cultivate your spiritual life, and place LOVE at the top of your priorities—love for God, love for yourself, and love for others. Also, love for the Truth.

God does not give us happiness, but by pursuing the divinely good, true and beautiful, you can earn happiness through greater identification with that fragment of God that indwells your mind . Even while we tread the paths of earthly existence, with all of its problems and challenges, we can enjoy a large measure of happiness and joy within our inmost selves when we choose to live our lives in accordance with God’s will. This always brings joy and that indescribable “peace that passes understanding.”

Simply surviving this life, and waking up on the Mansion Worlds will probably afford us a great deal of happiness also, but why wait? There are things you can do NOW to increase your sense of happiness.

Please have a look at our topical study on HAPPINESS . It is a collection of Urantia Book passages that will help you to get a new perspective on how to achieve a happy life for yourself, and those around you.

Thanks for writing, and I hope that this reply is helpful to you. Please feel free to write back anytime—and in the meantime, I invite you to subscribe to our free Quotes About Life service, where you’ll receive a daily dose of Urantia Book truth, beauty and goodness to light your way. It is easy to subscribe and unsubscribe…just look under the picture

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