"Are we not all beggars?" Elder Holland says. Aren't we? Don't we beg for help, for better lives? There are many aspects of my life that I am not content with, that I am unhappy with. But, my life is good. I will never say that I have an unhappy life for I might have a bad day, but there is always something good in every day. However, there is something that we can all do to make those small, unhappy aspects of our lives go away and it's simple. Serve.
I took to heart not just the commandment of looking to the poor and giving to the poor, but serving everyone around us. President Monson said in one of his talks, "It is more important to walk as Christ walked, then to walk where he walked." Christ's life was dedicated to serving those around him even to his last breath when he was on the cross and asked God to forgive those who had wronged him, who had put him on that cross. Every time I tell my mom that I am unhappy with my life she immediately responds to me by saying, "You need to serve." Service to God's children is where we find ultimate joy.
My sophomore year, my class took a field trip up to the planetarium in Salt Lake City. I was amazed by how many homeless people there were. As my friends and I were walking back to the bus, we passed an old man begging for anything we could spare. I had two dollars in my wallet and as I pulled it out my friend pulled me away from the man. My friend said to me that he would just use it for drugs or alcohol. I responded by saying that it didn't matter. What mattered is that I did something. I walked back to the man and put my two dollars in his jar. The man said, "God bless you" and I remember thinking, "I have enough. I hope he blesses you with more." When we got back to the bus my friend told everyone else how I had given money to a homeless man. Another boy made the comment that he had given money to a handicapped veteran down the street, implying that he needed more than the man that I gave the money to. I didn't respond. I was happy with my choice. It didn't matter how small or how great my service was. All I did was set two dollars in a jar. Money that I could probably find in coins in my couch at home. But it's what I had at the moment and so I gave it away. It mattered that I did something. Service is measured by how often you act on inspired moments, not how much you give.
True joy is not an external thing. It is internal, therefore we cannot have true joy through external, tangible things. We must look for internal things, things that come from our hearts, things like serving others. Someone can live in a mansion and have millions to billions of dollars and people around them will say, "Wow, they must be so happy" or "I would be happy if I had their life." But, in reality, this person could be the loneliest and saddest person in the world. What we feel inside isn't always reflected on our outside. I had a teacher tell me that she had the opportunity to marry someone who made eight million dollars a year, but she declined. Later, she found who is now her current husband. When he proposed to her he told her that he would never make eight million dollars. She responded by saying that she would scratch for dimes and nickels if she could just live the rest of her life with him. That is an example of something that can bring you true joy and it isn't tangible, just like service.
Choose to serve today. Don't let this be just an inspiration that makes you think about it. Too many times are we inspired without action. Let this be the time of inspired action. A truly poor life is not determined by how much money we make; it is determined by how much we try to bring joy into others' lives.
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