For quite a while I have been pretty stressed about things. Things that even though people said I shouldn't stress about I still was. A lot of the time I internalize a lot of what I am going through. I don't like people to think I am weak, or overwhelmed. So I keep it all inside.
Things pile up in layers inside me, stress, sadness, anger, exhaustion, frustration, etc. and it keeps piling up, until I burst. It isn't healthy and it isn't okay, but it has become a habit I have formed over time so that I wasn't a burden when others around me were worse off than I was.
However, this is a topic for a different day. This post is going to be sunny and bright if it is the last thing I do...
Well in my last post I talked about how through patience, and trust I was able to find the some light again. Guess what? It just keeps coming. I have been asking a lot of questions in my heart about what I was supposed to do, and how things were supposed to work out in my life. Well my friends I got some answers..
Two weeks ago I agreed to interview for a promotion at Pier 1.. it is a Sales Leader position. I was nervous about it since well this is my first real job.. but since I had been doing so well there. I GOT IT! I got the promotion and I am thrilled. It is so refreshing to be learning new things, and gaining management experience.
The afternoon after my interview I got tickets to see one of my favorite bands next summer in California with my girls, and I was so happy I thought it was Christmas already. I cannot wait to visit San Diego next summer, and take in the ocean, and my favorite things.
The same night as my interview I got an email from the financial aid department of my school informing me that I had been selected to receive the sophomore scholarship at my school, due to my academic performance last semester! I was thrilled. Even though my parents told me not to stress over it I still was because school isn't cheap these days, and even though this isn't going to pay for all of my school for the year. It is a big help! So I was quite the happy camper.
A lot of good things happened in such a short period of time I was overwhelmed. I didn't know whether to smile or burst into tears. There is so much happening in my life right now, and even though I am crazy busy, and exhausted half the time, the experiences that I am having, and the memories I am making are worth every second of it. So there you have it folks, my happy go lucky post. I am one happy girl for the time being, and I am going to enjoy it while it lasts..
By the way in case you were curious only 24 days until I get to see my favorite people live in concert in Arizona! It's okay if you can't control your excitement, I have the same feelings! (:
Friday, August 22, 2014
Friday, August 8, 2014
look up
I have sat here staring at this blinking bar for the past three weeks. I have been trying to think of something to say that wasn't overly depressing, or was too hard for me to write. My own personal form of writers block. I think at this point I have about 10 half written blog posts just sitting waiting to be touched. I have been waiting for that answer. The answer to what I have been searching for, and today I found it.
I have this constant battle within me every day. I wake up look up at the ceiling of my room, and fight with myself whether to get up, or just lay there, whether to smile at the thought of a new day, or see the day as what it is another day fighting the darkness in my mind.
I have never had do this before. I have always been able to face the days with a smile, and mean it. It was never forced, or lacking in genuine nature. However, it is different now. Even though I have thousands of reasons to smile and be happy, none of them seem to matter at that point in the morning. Well minutes pass over this internal battle, and I usually decided to get up frankly because there is no other option when you have to go to work, and I put on the face the world expects to see.
At this point people expect me to have the same overly optimistic smile, and positive attitude that I have always had. And truth be told I wish I was still that person. I wish I could see the light at the end of the darkness, and embrace the truths that I know. Now more than ever I wish I was as bright as I used to be. Now the darkness clouds me, and most days the darkness of the day wins over. This darkness isn't anything like temptations, or bad choices. It comes in more of a sadness, and an overwhelming sense of loneliness, and depressing thoughts.. I think of things that are wrong in my life and not necessarily the good things..
For about a month I have been pleading to my Heavenly Father why he keeps putting really crumby things in my path. Why I had to experience all of these heartaches and pains. Why did Taylor have to have so many trials? Why did my dad have to lose his job? Why did Taylor have to be taken so early? Why couldn't Grandma have been around long enough to see me get married? Why did I not qualify for financial aid to pay for school? The list could go on. I am pretty sure he has just sat there listening to me as if to say, are you done yet? I have been so quick to shy away from any thought of gratitude that even the slightest things I would brush off.
That is why I posted my talk in my last post. I thought maybe, just maybe if I read the words I wrote, and found that sense of strength in gratitude again, that I could wake up in the mornings to see the light. It didn't come. I read and re-read that talk over and over and I got nothing. I needed a sign. A sign that He still cared enough about me. That the light was still there, and that I was still the grateful person I had always been.
It didn't come right away. The answer to the question I had in my heart didn't come to me all at once one morning. No, it came in pieces. It came in a Mormon message posted by a friend, it came in memories, it came in a few positive things happening in my life, but most of all it came by a way of patience. A patience that in some time The Lord was going to heal me. That one day I would wake up and look up and my ceiling and smile at the thought of facing the day ahead knowing that I was going to be okay.
I still wake up every morning and look up. I look up at my ceiling, and the darkness is still there. But if I looked around, if I turned my head to the left I would see a wall full of photographs of people who I love, and people who love me, if I looked to the right I would see a collage of photographs of my brother and me, if I looked forward I would see a quote, "If you can't control the wind, learn to adjust your sails", and if I really looked around I would see so much light that it could shine for the world to see.
It is still hard. No amount of gratitude or answers will change that. I believe that it will be hard for the rest of my life. That no day will be perfect because I am not perfect. I am learning day by day again to seek out the light, to find the rays that fill my soul. I hope to one day find the light again, to feel of it's warmth as it fills my soul. One day I will look up, and I won't see darkness, but the purest of lights..
maybe this message will touch your soul like it did mine.
I have this constant battle within me every day. I wake up look up at the ceiling of my room, and fight with myself whether to get up, or just lay there, whether to smile at the thought of a new day, or see the day as what it is another day fighting the darkness in my mind.
I have never had do this before. I have always been able to face the days with a smile, and mean it. It was never forced, or lacking in genuine nature. However, it is different now. Even though I have thousands of reasons to smile and be happy, none of them seem to matter at that point in the morning. Well minutes pass over this internal battle, and I usually decided to get up frankly because there is no other option when you have to go to work, and I put on the face the world expects to see.
At this point people expect me to have the same overly optimistic smile, and positive attitude that I have always had. And truth be told I wish I was still that person. I wish I could see the light at the end of the darkness, and embrace the truths that I know. Now more than ever I wish I was as bright as I used to be. Now the darkness clouds me, and most days the darkness of the day wins over. This darkness isn't anything like temptations, or bad choices. It comes in more of a sadness, and an overwhelming sense of loneliness, and depressing thoughts.. I think of things that are wrong in my life and not necessarily the good things..
For about a month I have been pleading to my Heavenly Father why he keeps putting really crumby things in my path. Why I had to experience all of these heartaches and pains. Why did Taylor have to have so many trials? Why did my dad have to lose his job? Why did Taylor have to be taken so early? Why couldn't Grandma have been around long enough to see me get married? Why did I not qualify for financial aid to pay for school? The list could go on. I am pretty sure he has just sat there listening to me as if to say, are you done yet? I have been so quick to shy away from any thought of gratitude that even the slightest things I would brush off.
That is why I posted my talk in my last post. I thought maybe, just maybe if I read the words I wrote, and found that sense of strength in gratitude again, that I could wake up in the mornings to see the light. It didn't come. I read and re-read that talk over and over and I got nothing. I needed a sign. A sign that He still cared enough about me. That the light was still there, and that I was still the grateful person I had always been.
It didn't come right away. The answer to the question I had in my heart didn't come to me all at once one morning. No, it came in pieces. It came in a Mormon message posted by a friend, it came in memories, it came in a few positive things happening in my life, but most of all it came by a way of patience. A patience that in some time The Lord was going to heal me. That one day I would wake up and look up and my ceiling and smile at the thought of facing the day ahead knowing that I was going to be okay.
I still wake up every morning and look up. I look up at my ceiling, and the darkness is still there. But if I looked around, if I turned my head to the left I would see a wall full of photographs of people who I love, and people who love me, if I looked to the right I would see a collage of photographs of my brother and me, if I looked forward I would see a quote, "If you can't control the wind, learn to adjust your sails", and if I really looked around I would see so much light that it could shine for the world to see.
It is still hard. No amount of gratitude or answers will change that. I believe that it will be hard for the rest of my life. That no day will be perfect because I am not perfect. I am learning day by day again to seek out the light, to find the rays that fill my soul. I hope to one day find the light again, to feel of it's warmth as it fills my soul. One day I will look up, and I won't see darkness, but the purest of lights..
Sunday, August 3, 2014
who are you?
I wrote this a while back and I have found it to be a comfort in the past few weeks... enjoy.
In any situation you face in life there is always a silver lining. To members of our church these silver linings come in the form of tender mercies or blessings from our Heavenly Father.
Life is far from perfect. No one gets through life un-scared. This is not meant to frighten us it is there to teach us. In life there are two different types of people there are the Tiggers, and the Eyeores. For those of you who have seen the many adventures of Winnie The Pooh you know exactly what I am talking about. Tigger a fun-loving character who never lets a bad day get him down, he continues to bounce a long without a care in the world. And then there is Eyeore a pessimistic negative character that dwells on all the bad stuff that seems to happen to him. Now in the adventures of these two characters it always seems that more bad things happen to Eyeore. But if you watch closely most of the time these two are stuck in the exact situation, but you never realize that Tigger is having a bad day since he is never complaining. In a talk given by Elder Worthin entitled “Live in thanksgiving daily” he shares a story about a husband and wife who live and work together. It says: A long time ago in a faraway village lived a man who everyone did their very best to avoid. He was the type of person who believed that there was only one competent person in the world, and that one person was himself. Consequently, he was never satisfied with anything. His shoes never fit right. His shirt never felt comfortable. When his food wasn’t too cold, it was too salty, and when it wasn’t too hot, it was too bland. If a field wasn’t sowed by himself, it was not sowed well. If he didn’t close the door, the door was not closed properly. In short, he made a career of frowning, lecturing, criticizing, and mumbling about the incompetencies of every other person in the rest of the world. Unfortunately, the man was married, which made matters all the worse. No matter what his wife did, in his eyes it was wrong. No matter what the unfortunate woman cooked, sewed, or cleaned—or even when she milked the cow—it was never satisfactory, and he let her know it. She tried very hard to be a good wife, but it seemed the harder she tried, the less she pleased him. Finally, one evening she could take no more. “I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” she told him. “Tomorrow I will do your chores and you will do mine.” “But you can’t do my chores,” the man replied. “You don’t know the first thing about sowing, hoeing, and irrigating.” But the woman was adamant. And on top of that, she was filled with a righteous anger that frankly astonished and frightened the man to the point where he didn’t dare disagree. So the next morning the wife went off to the fields and the man began the domestic chores. After thinking about it, he had actually convinced himself he was looking forward to it. Once and for all, he would demonstrate to his wife how things should be done. Unfortunately, not everything went according to plan. In fact, nearly everything the man touched turned into disaster. He spilled the milk, let the pig get into the house, lost the cow, burned the dinner, and ultimately set the house on fire, narrowly escaping with his own life. When his wife returned, she discovered her husband sitting on a pile of ashes, smoke still rising from his clothes. But the woman wasn’t the type to rub things in. She helped him up, wiped the soot from his beard, fixed him a little something to eat, and then prepared a bed of straw for them to sleep on. From that day forward, the man never complained about anyone or anything else for as long as he lived.
This man was an Eyeore. By living in a life without any gratitude he made his life a horrible thing. By not being grateful for what he had and for the blessing his wife was in his life. He never seemed to think his life was good enough, or anything anyone did was good enough either. He harmed the relationship with his wife and all the other people in his life. We all know people in our lives that show these similar characteristics. Look at your life. When bad things happen who are you in the situation, now think of your friends. Who would you rather spend time with. I know I would much rather hang out in a room full of Tiggers than a room full of Eyeores.
You may be wondering how you can become a Tigger if you find yourself to be more of an Eyeore. Well the good news is it is quite a simple solution. Give thanks to The Lord. Show him your gratitude. There is a popular quote that states, “Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day.” How true is that. It is so easy to look at a bad day and think it is never going to get better, but by noticing the hand of The Lord we can change our mind set. We are taught in the scriptures how valued gratitude really is. In D&C 59:7 it says “ Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.” And as we know when we hear those two words in the scriptures “Thou shalt” we know that the Lord is commanding us to do something. Showing gratitude is a commandment given to us. When we show gratitude it is our way of showing our Heavenly Father that we see the silver linings he is sending us. Life is far from easy. It is something that takes work it is important for us to notice the hand of our Heavenly Father in all that we do. When we do this we will soon find ourselves to be more like Tigger people. I’m not saying that by showing gratitude, that all our problems will suddenly disappear, they will simply just become easier to live through.
My life has been far from easy and perfect. Some day’s trials hit me in the face and I feel like my life cannot get any worse than it is right now. It is how I face these trials that affect my life.
When my brother passed away I had to take a step back, and when I did I saw two options, almost like a fork in the road in my path it gave me two options. One option I could chose was from that day forward live a life with the attitude of “woe is me” or with the attitude that life was just never going to be good again, and how can I possible attempt to be happy when this huge piece of my life was suddenly without warning or cause missing. Then there was the other option, the option to face this new trial with a brave face and have hope. Hope that little by little I would grow and live my life the way my brother would want me to. To find that joy he so easily brought to my life in things that I would come across in the days to come. In that moment of decision I had to grow up, because the decision I made in that moment would affect my entire life, the life of my future family, and the life of my family now. That day I made my choice to live the life that my brother would be proud of, to live with hope that my Heavenly Father knew what he was doing, and to trust in his will.
Since that choice no day has been easy. I don’t wake up and feel like I am filled with life and everything suddenly is perfect. Every day I have to find that one thing that was a blessing sent to me that was supposed to get me through that day. And without fail there is always that one thing, and most times there is multiple ways I see my Heavenly Fathers hand in my life during that day. Heavenly Fathers hand is in all of our lives. That is his way of showing us his love on a daily basis.
Many of us have been in a situation where we have helped someone and received no gratitude in return for that help. How do you feel when that happens? I know I feel upset, almost to the point where I don’t want to help that person anymore, because I feel like I am being taken advantage of.
Well our Heavenly Father feels the same way when he blesses us, and we don’t show him our gratitude, he feels those same emotions, except being the amazing father that he is, he puts that pain aside and he continues to bless us.
We should not take advantage of our Heavenly Fathers love for us. We should show him our thanks and gratitude every day. I challenge all of you to never let a day pass where you don’t let your Heavenly Father know how grateful you are, and how much you appreciate his love for you and for all that he has given you. If you do this, little by little you will find that the burdens you are carrying will begin to feel lighter, and you will see yourself become more and more like a Tigger.
Another thing we can do is open our hearts. We need to let go of negative emotions. Anger, resentment and bitterness stunt our spiritual growth. We can cleanse our hearts by getting rid of the thoughts and feelings that drag us down.
Nephi certainly had reason to be resentful. Hated by his brothers, bound and beaten and nearly murdered, he had plenty to be bitter about. After his father died, Nephi must have felt completely alone. He surely felt threatened. He surely felt discouraged. He surely felt troubled. But when it came time for him to communicate his feelings, what did he write? “Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.
Yes his path had been difficult. Yes, his heart groaned because of mistakes he had made, but he did not allow himself to linger in negativity. Instead, he told himself. “Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee”.
The third thing we can do to live in thanksgiving daily, is open our arms.
One of the best ways we can show our gratitude is by blessing the lives of those around us. King Benjamin taught his people in Mosiah, “If you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice.” “Behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your god.”
We can live in thanksgiving daily by opening our arms to those around us. When was the last time you told someone you love how much they mean to you? When was the last time you expressed your gratitude to someone who has always been there for you, someone who has sacrificed for you, someone whose heart has always been filled with hopes and dreams for you?
When was the last time you unselfishly reached out to help another in need? Every time we cheer another’s heart, every time we ease another’s burden, every time we lift a weary hand, we show our gratitude to Heavenly Father to whom we owe all that we have and all that we are.
The blessing that come from opening our arms to others are among the choicest this earth has to offer.
As we strive to open our eyes, hearts and arms, our step will become a little lighter, our smile will become a little brighter and the darkness that sometimes tries to take over our lives will become a little lighter. Don’t be discouraged if you haven’t been an especially grateful tigger like person. Be happy and smile when you think of what an impression you will make on those who thought they knew you. Think how you will surprise them.
The Lord expects us to be Tiggers in our lives. The Lord promises us great things if we show gratitude. In D&C 78:19 it reads “He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious”. In the topical guide it says that we should thank our Heavenly Father for His goodness to us by acknowledging His hand in all things, thanking Him for all that He gives us, keeping His commandments, and serving others. We should especially thank Him for His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, for the Savior's great example, for His teachings, for His outreaching hand to lift and help, for His infinite Atonement. Gratitude is a great thing to have in our lives and to show and express daily not only to our Heavenly Father, but to all the people we come in contact with.
Don’t wait to start. Open your eyes open your hearts and open your arms. If you do so, your life with have a new level of meaning and your will forge relationships that will last through out your life and into the eternities.
My heart is continuously filled with gratitude to my Heavenly Father for everything he has given me, for his great plan of happiness that gives me hope that I will be with my brother again, and that he has a plan for me in my life. What great peace that brings..
In any situation you face in life there is always a silver lining. To members of our church these silver linings come in the form of tender mercies or blessings from our Heavenly Father.
Life is far from perfect. No one gets through life un-scared. This is not meant to frighten us it is there to teach us. In life there are two different types of people there are the Tiggers, and the Eyeores. For those of you who have seen the many adventures of Winnie The Pooh you know exactly what I am talking about. Tigger a fun-loving character who never lets a bad day get him down, he continues to bounce a long without a care in the world. And then there is Eyeore a pessimistic negative character that dwells on all the bad stuff that seems to happen to him. Now in the adventures of these two characters it always seems that more bad things happen to Eyeore. But if you watch closely most of the time these two are stuck in the exact situation, but you never realize that Tigger is having a bad day since he is never complaining. In a talk given by Elder Worthin entitled “Live in thanksgiving daily” he shares a story about a husband and wife who live and work together. It says: A long time ago in a faraway village lived a man who everyone did their very best to avoid. He was the type of person who believed that there was only one competent person in the world, and that one person was himself. Consequently, he was never satisfied with anything. His shoes never fit right. His shirt never felt comfortable. When his food wasn’t too cold, it was too salty, and when it wasn’t too hot, it was too bland. If a field wasn’t sowed by himself, it was not sowed well. If he didn’t close the door, the door was not closed properly. In short, he made a career of frowning, lecturing, criticizing, and mumbling about the incompetencies of every other person in the rest of the world. Unfortunately, the man was married, which made matters all the worse. No matter what his wife did, in his eyes it was wrong. No matter what the unfortunate woman cooked, sewed, or cleaned—or even when she milked the cow—it was never satisfactory, and he let her know it. She tried very hard to be a good wife, but it seemed the harder she tried, the less she pleased him. Finally, one evening she could take no more. “I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” she told him. “Tomorrow I will do your chores and you will do mine.” “But you can’t do my chores,” the man replied. “You don’t know the first thing about sowing, hoeing, and irrigating.” But the woman was adamant. And on top of that, she was filled with a righteous anger that frankly astonished and frightened the man to the point where he didn’t dare disagree. So the next morning the wife went off to the fields and the man began the domestic chores. After thinking about it, he had actually convinced himself he was looking forward to it. Once and for all, he would demonstrate to his wife how things should be done. Unfortunately, not everything went according to plan. In fact, nearly everything the man touched turned into disaster. He spilled the milk, let the pig get into the house, lost the cow, burned the dinner, and ultimately set the house on fire, narrowly escaping with his own life. When his wife returned, she discovered her husband sitting on a pile of ashes, smoke still rising from his clothes. But the woman wasn’t the type to rub things in. She helped him up, wiped the soot from his beard, fixed him a little something to eat, and then prepared a bed of straw for them to sleep on. From that day forward, the man never complained about anyone or anything else for as long as he lived.
This man was an Eyeore. By living in a life without any gratitude he made his life a horrible thing. By not being grateful for what he had and for the blessing his wife was in his life. He never seemed to think his life was good enough, or anything anyone did was good enough either. He harmed the relationship with his wife and all the other people in his life. We all know people in our lives that show these similar characteristics. Look at your life. When bad things happen who are you in the situation, now think of your friends. Who would you rather spend time with. I know I would much rather hang out in a room full of Tiggers than a room full of Eyeores.
You may be wondering how you can become a Tigger if you find yourself to be more of an Eyeore. Well the good news is it is quite a simple solution. Give thanks to The Lord. Show him your gratitude. There is a popular quote that states, “Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day.” How true is that. It is so easy to look at a bad day and think it is never going to get better, but by noticing the hand of The Lord we can change our mind set. We are taught in the scriptures how valued gratitude really is. In D&C 59:7 it says “ Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.” And as we know when we hear those two words in the scriptures “Thou shalt” we know that the Lord is commanding us to do something. Showing gratitude is a commandment given to us. When we show gratitude it is our way of showing our Heavenly Father that we see the silver linings he is sending us. Life is far from easy. It is something that takes work it is important for us to notice the hand of our Heavenly Father in all that we do. When we do this we will soon find ourselves to be more like Tigger people. I’m not saying that by showing gratitude, that all our problems will suddenly disappear, they will simply just become easier to live through.
My life has been far from easy and perfect. Some day’s trials hit me in the face and I feel like my life cannot get any worse than it is right now. It is how I face these trials that affect my life.
When my brother passed away I had to take a step back, and when I did I saw two options, almost like a fork in the road in my path it gave me two options. One option I could chose was from that day forward live a life with the attitude of “woe is me” or with the attitude that life was just never going to be good again, and how can I possible attempt to be happy when this huge piece of my life was suddenly without warning or cause missing. Then there was the other option, the option to face this new trial with a brave face and have hope. Hope that little by little I would grow and live my life the way my brother would want me to. To find that joy he so easily brought to my life in things that I would come across in the days to come. In that moment of decision I had to grow up, because the decision I made in that moment would affect my entire life, the life of my future family, and the life of my family now. That day I made my choice to live the life that my brother would be proud of, to live with hope that my Heavenly Father knew what he was doing, and to trust in his will.
Since that choice no day has been easy. I don’t wake up and feel like I am filled with life and everything suddenly is perfect. Every day I have to find that one thing that was a blessing sent to me that was supposed to get me through that day. And without fail there is always that one thing, and most times there is multiple ways I see my Heavenly Fathers hand in my life during that day. Heavenly Fathers hand is in all of our lives. That is his way of showing us his love on a daily basis.
Many of us have been in a situation where we have helped someone and received no gratitude in return for that help. How do you feel when that happens? I know I feel upset, almost to the point where I don’t want to help that person anymore, because I feel like I am being taken advantage of.
Well our Heavenly Father feels the same way when he blesses us, and we don’t show him our gratitude, he feels those same emotions, except being the amazing father that he is, he puts that pain aside and he continues to bless us.
We should not take advantage of our Heavenly Fathers love for us. We should show him our thanks and gratitude every day. I challenge all of you to never let a day pass where you don’t let your Heavenly Father know how grateful you are, and how much you appreciate his love for you and for all that he has given you. If you do this, little by little you will find that the burdens you are carrying will begin to feel lighter, and you will see yourself become more and more like a Tigger.
Another thing we can do is open our hearts. We need to let go of negative emotions. Anger, resentment and bitterness stunt our spiritual growth. We can cleanse our hearts by getting rid of the thoughts and feelings that drag us down.
Nephi certainly had reason to be resentful. Hated by his brothers, bound and beaten and nearly murdered, he had plenty to be bitter about. After his father died, Nephi must have felt completely alone. He surely felt threatened. He surely felt discouraged. He surely felt troubled. But when it came time for him to communicate his feelings, what did he write? “Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.
Yes his path had been difficult. Yes, his heart groaned because of mistakes he had made, but he did not allow himself to linger in negativity. Instead, he told himself. “Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee”.
The third thing we can do to live in thanksgiving daily, is open our arms.
One of the best ways we can show our gratitude is by blessing the lives of those around us. King Benjamin taught his people in Mosiah, “If you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice.” “Behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your god.”
We can live in thanksgiving daily by opening our arms to those around us. When was the last time you told someone you love how much they mean to you? When was the last time you expressed your gratitude to someone who has always been there for you, someone who has sacrificed for you, someone whose heart has always been filled with hopes and dreams for you?
When was the last time you unselfishly reached out to help another in need? Every time we cheer another’s heart, every time we ease another’s burden, every time we lift a weary hand, we show our gratitude to Heavenly Father to whom we owe all that we have and all that we are.
The blessing that come from opening our arms to others are among the choicest this earth has to offer.
As we strive to open our eyes, hearts and arms, our step will become a little lighter, our smile will become a little brighter and the darkness that sometimes tries to take over our lives will become a little lighter. Don’t be discouraged if you haven’t been an especially grateful tigger like person. Be happy and smile when you think of what an impression you will make on those who thought they knew you. Think how you will surprise them.
The Lord expects us to be Tiggers in our lives. The Lord promises us great things if we show gratitude. In D&C 78:19 it reads “He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious”. In the topical guide it says that we should thank our Heavenly Father for His goodness to us by acknowledging His hand in all things, thanking Him for all that He gives us, keeping His commandments, and serving others. We should especially thank Him for His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, for the Savior's great example, for His teachings, for His outreaching hand to lift and help, for His infinite Atonement. Gratitude is a great thing to have in our lives and to show and express daily not only to our Heavenly Father, but to all the people we come in contact with.
Don’t wait to start. Open your eyes open your hearts and open your arms. If you do so, your life with have a new level of meaning and your will forge relationships that will last through out your life and into the eternities.
My heart is continuously filled with gratitude to my Heavenly Father for everything he has given me, for his great plan of happiness that gives me hope that I will be with my brother again, and that he has a plan for me in my life. What great peace that brings..
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