Most people seem to think that happiness comes from without. As long as your happiness is a product of the environment you find yourself in, you are a prisoner to things outside of your control. The goal of our existence is to gain the tools we need to become actors on our environment, and not subjects to it; to reach the point where our happiness is no longer a function of what happens to us, but rather emanates from inside of us independent of what happens to us.
The Lord publicly read this scripture to announce the beginning of his earthly mission:
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; (Isaiah 61:1)
God wills “to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from confinement and from prison those who sit in darkness.” (Isaiah 42:7, Gileadi Translation)
Our incremental but deliberate march towards a more effectual understanding of reality and how to interact with it is the path to greater joy and happiness:
18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil. (Proverbs 4)
As you acquire God’s knowledge, you will learn how to break free of any and all bondage you find yourself in. No matter how thick the chains that may bind you, Jesus has all the power and knowledge necessary to not only free you from them, but to make you stronger as a result of your experience with them.
Obtaining the tools that provide you with joy and gaining power over the things that presently deprive you of joy is called overcoming all things. To overcome all things is to have maximal joy and happiness in spite of a full awareness of the depths of reality. It is to have the understanding, actions, beliefs, and feelings sufficient to have great joy and happiness in spite of anything that has happened, will happen, or could happen to you in this life.
The Lord has overcome all things. He said: “...I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) He promises that inasmuch as we seek and follow him, we will do the same: “He that is faithful and endureth shall overcome the world.” (D&C 63:47) Jesus overcame all things and extends to you the opportunity to do the same as you become one with him through learning all he knows and becoming all he is.
The Lord created this world and all things that are on it. He is intimately aware of all the crosses that exist here that we must carry, and he has commanded us not to shy away from those burdens. But he has not left us alone. With the crosses of mortality he has also provided the path where we, like him, can attain both great purpose in the midst of our suffering and unimaginable joy as a result of it. As Christ was resurrected to glory and life through his cross, we can encounter glory and life through ours if we learn from him how this is done.