Project C'mon Get Happy

I made a remarkable discovery last week. I think it was preempted by the string of near perfect days here in Provo, but I'd like to think that at least some of it was personal choice and not just the end of the seasonal slump. I found out that it takes effort to be happy, but you can be, pretty much whenever you want.
I know that this is probably not a huge revelation to anyone else, but it was for me. I was reading for my Living Prophets class (good class!) and my assignment was this tiny little talk by President Hinckley called "Each a Better Person." ( Ensign, Nov. 2002 pg. 99) It's a great talk - way more packed into a page and a half than I would have thought possible. But my favorite part was this: "Let us be a happy people. The Lord's plan is a plan of happiness. The way will be lighter, the worries will be fewer, the confrontations will be less difficult if we cultivate a spirit of happiness." (emphasis added)
Cultivate. That's like what you do in a garden, yes? And you can't just stick the plants in the ground and leave them there, especially during one of our gloriously dry Utah summers. I grew up on the remains of a brick yard, and unless we paid attention to our little plants, they shrivelled up in the dry brown clay that passed as a garden plot. So "cultivate" implies some work for results.
So I decided that I was going to try it. And guess what?
It totally worked. I've been in a funk since the ever-so exciting goings on of last semester, and I had convinced myself that I had a right to walk around with a scowl on my face. But why would I? I've forced a few smiles this week and I've had to suck it up a few times when I was faced with yet another midterm or project, but overall, I ended up being sincerely happy.
So I'm still working on it, even though the week of the religion class "experiment upon the word" is up, and I think I'm a fan.
Out of context song lyric of the week: "Please drop the message that I'm picking up my chin at last." -Blue October, "Everlasting Friend"