I Rejoice in What I Have

In Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy there is a scene where Oblonski comes to visit Levin in the country. Levin’s marriage proposal to Kitty, the one woman he loved, had been rejected recently and he had returned to his farm in the country. While at first devastated, his life in the country resumed and he was able to find purpose and meaning there with what he had. Oblonski was from the city and was a man of very low moral standards. He said to Levin after observing him in the country, “You’re a lucky man! You’ve got everything you like. You like horses—and you have them; dogs—you have them; shooting—you have it; farming—you have it.” Levin responded with this wise statement, “Perhaps because I rejoice in what I have, and don’t fret for what I haven’t.” The text states that he was thinking of Kitty, but he had learned not to focus on what he had not been able to obtain and instead rejoice in the life that he did have. That is wise counsel for all of us, no matter what we have in our lives. As I’ve heard it stated before, happiness does not come from having what you love but in loving what you have. There will of course always be things we don’t have which we want, relationships that don’t work out which we desperately wished they could have, or experiences we hoped for which never come. But if those things are our focus we may never be satisfied. In one of his most oft-quoted talks, President Nelson famously put it this way: “Saints can be happy under every circumstance. We can feel joy even while having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year! My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.” Even when what we desperately want is not given to us, we can still find joy. The apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians this simple injunction, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). He also wrote to the Colossians, “And let the peace of God rule in your heart, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful” (Colossians 3:15). Certainly those two things are strongly connected: when we are thankful, we find the peace of God in our hearts. Levin was at peace, despite having not obtained the one thing he desperately wanted, because he found gratitude in his simple country life.

               On Saturday I went mountain bike riding with my son. He is faster than me and so he took off ahead. Not long after we started, I came around a corner and found him lying on the trail, moaning in pain. He had fallen and gotten pretty bad road rash on his arm and leg. I was able to help him off the mountain and back home, and on examining the cuts in his arm we worried that stitches were needed. At Instacare they said otherwise and simple helped clean him up, and they thought the scarring—one thing he is really worried about—would be minimal. When I suggested to him later that he should be grateful for the protection he received, he was surprised and his facial reaction to my statement said something like, “What do you mean protection? Look at me!” But I told him how much worse it could have been; for example, a broken wrist or arm or ankle would have immediately been the end of his biking for the season. With the injury he received, he should be healed relatively quickly with no permanent damage. As with anything negative that happens to us, we can find ways to complain or we can find ways to be grateful, and there will always be opportunity for both. But, as Levin suggested, life is much better when we rejoice in what we have and don’t fret over what we don’t. I love the injunction of Alma to Zoramites: “That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you” (Alma 34:38). To live in thanksgiving daily is not easy, but it is the happiest way to live.