My immune deficiency doctor asked me during our visit last week how I stay cheerful with so much uncertainty nipping at my heels constantly. It wasn’t a particularly good day, and I wasn’t feeling very cheerful, but it was an honest question, and I gave him my honest answer. In less succinct words than these, I said, “I know that this life is not the end. After I die, I will eventually have a resurrected body, free of disease, and will enjoy life with my family and friends forever. It will be much like this life, but perfect; free of pain and sorrow. So, no matter what happens with my health, things will be okay.”

I don’t always stay positive, and this was a week without much cheer. Nothing tragic, just a string of irritants, and I let them get to me more days than not. It was unpleasant, but not because of anything that was happening to me. It was a series of days where I focused on the unknown and the uncomfortable.

I’ve been asking myself all week how to stay on a more positive note, regardless of the ups or downs I’m dealing with. The realization I had and the fact is that what I focus on has everything to do with how successful I am at staying “up”.  President Russel M. Nelson taught, “the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.”

When I focus on the irritants and uncertainties that my mortal body and cancer treatments throw at me, even when I have good appointments or positive test results, or good days full of energy and activity, those celebrations and good days are always interrupted by the next side effect or irritating reality of mortality. When I focus on these, what I see is what I can’t do, the future I can’t see, the promises I can’t make.

I’m not suggesting that I should pretend that these realities don’t exist. I’m just saying that the result of focusing on them does not, and can not help me feel joyful, happy, cheerful, or hopeful. I don’t laugh when I focus on the “can’t’s” and the “don’t’s”. I smile weakly and wonder what happened to my cheerful nature.

On the other hand, when my focus is on the promises God has made, I just feel stronger, more resilient, more able to see the irritants and setbacks as just that, and let them roll off.  I did some studying about what God has promised us. God never promised us health or longevity or the ability to do all the things we planned on as a reward for righteous living. He did make some more permanent promises for this however. Here are some of the promises He has made that I hold on to:

• That we can experience joy, regardless of our circumstances.
• Eternal life, including eternal families and progress.  
• That through the Atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ, we can overcome all things.
• All promised blessings will come to us (we may have to wait for the eternities for some).
• Strength beyond our own as we bind ourselves to Him through covenants.
• Comfort through His Spirit.
• The assurance that we can become like Him and live as He does, with a fulness of joy eternally.

On Sunday I decided I need to look up, and keep my focus on the eternal promises. It’s amazing how quickly the positive feelings can return when you decide that’s what you’re going to choose. That doesn’t mean it’s easy to hold onto them, but it is a choice.

Alma’s words are relevant to us today: “O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief?

“If so, wo shall come upon you; but if not so, then cast about your eyes and begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to atone for [our] sins; and that he shall rise again from the dead.”

“As we remember Jesus Christ and trust in His power, we receive strength through His Atonement. It is the means whereby we can be relieved of our anxieties, our burdens, and our suffering. It is the means whereby we can be forgiven and healed from the pain of our sins. It is the means whereby we can receive the faith and strength to endure all things.”  (Elder Carl B. Cook)

I’m glad I decided to look up.