More Likely To Be Happy

"And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness." (2 Nephi 5:27) Nephi did not say that they were always happy. After all, one of the very first things Nephi ever said was that he had seen many afflictions in the course of his day. His father in law died of starvation in the desert, his brothers tried to murder him many times and almost succeeded a few times, he had to abandon his home and then when he got to the promised land where everything was supposed to be better he had to abandon his home again because his brothers were trying to murder him again. I wouldn't say that Nephi and his people lived happily ever after, but as Nephi says, they lived "after the manner of happiness." They lived the gospel, tried to love their neighbors, be generous to those in need, sacrificed their time in the service of others, followed the Commandments. There are patterns of living that lead more often towards happiness and peace and away from misery and chaos and that is what living after the manner of happiness means. It's not a guarantee that living righteously will always be free of pain, but if will lead to happiness more than any other way of living. It's like eating healthy can't necessarily protect you from getting infected with malaria or breaking your leg when you fall off a bike, but in the long run it does make you feel better than not eating healthy, and can help you avoid certain kinds of diseases and disabilities. If we are living after the manner of happiness then we are more likely to be happy more often and more fully than living any other kind of way.