Wholesome Family Recreation: Building Strong Families

My husband and I LOVE going to movies! In fact, we had a movie theater themed wedding. This chapter, titled "Wholesome Family Recreation: Building Strong Families," caught my attention because I have always been the type of person to love to do out and do fun things with my family and the ones that I love!

This chapter states, "successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." Recreation is easy because we all have things that we love to do! Especially today, there is an infinite number of activities that us as individuals like to do in our free time. It becomes a problem when we are looking for instant satisfaction all the time. During this lifetime, it is not the goal to be constantly entertained. We sometimes have to do things that we do not want to do, so it is important that when we are entertaining ourselves, it is with wholesome activities.

Research shows that seeking more comfortable or pleasurable circumstances is likely to only bring temporary happiness. We seek pleasure or comfort, thinking it will make us happy, but soon become accustomed to the new pleasure or comfort and then continue to seek something more appealing.

Lastly, I would like to share a quote from the material that stood out to me the most:

"In truth, happiness is not all that it's cracked up to be, and most people don't really want to be happy all the time anyway. People often choose to go to movies or operas that are very unsettling- that terrify, sadden, disgust, or anger them. There is something about experiencing these emotions, whether in the safe and comfortable context of a theater or at a dangerous mountain pass in the Himalayas that is appealing to many people... the true meaning of being alive is not just to feel happy but to experience the full range of human emotions."

I know that doing things that we love is so healthy. I challenge all of you guys to find something that you love, and strive to do it at least once a week because it will help you become happier with other aspects of your life!