How Do We Live?

I was reading my scriptures the other day and a verse stood out to me, as they sometimes do.  This verse was simple, but it came across to me as being very profound.

And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness. (2 Nephi 5:27)

This is Nephi's description of how his people lived after removing themselves from the Lamanites.  The Nephites were happy, but what does that mean?  And why did this stand out to me?

We know that the Nephites were industrious because they supported themselves with farming and herding livestock (5:11).  They also found hard work to be a good quality because Nephi denounces the Lamanites by calling them "idle" (5:24).  We also know that there were battles between the Nephites and the Lamanites (5:34), so it's fair to assume that at least some people on both sides were killed.

All of this stands out as being hard.  Physical labor is hard work, which is one of many reasons why I earned my degree: so I can avoid it.  Plus, the closest I've gotten to being in a real fight was being in a shoving match in eighth grade (it was with a kid twice my size who would have destroyed me if it had turned more serious than just pushing).  Having to defend my life and the lives of my family sounds really hard.  If life was so hard, what made the Nephites so happy?

In addition to the hard life already described, they built a temple (5:16), had the scriptures with them (5:12), and observed the law of Moses (5:10), so we know that they were devout—plus, with Nephi as their leader, it'd be hard not to be devout: even Laman and Lemuel temporarily changed their ways when Nephi spoke up.

Life was hard for them, but they were happy because they had the Lord with them.  And because of that, we know that they helped each other and they worked to make sure that there were no poor or needy among them.

Life is different today in that there are new challenges and dangers, but life is still hard.  Instead of waring with our brethren (which still happens), we have to deal with unemployment, marital separation, and severe allergic reactions (although, a fly-infested home may still have been a challenge they faced).  Life is hard, but happiness is a choice.  I hope that we can all choose to live after the manner of happiness.