This is to be an interesting blog. I have much to be grateful for, but right now, I'm grateful to be alive and able bodied. I had a bad collision just a few hours ago on Canyon road, and my car is probably totalled. The airbag went off, and it was the most dramatic crash I have yet been involved in.
I realize a little shakily now how grateful I am to be alive. I love life. I deeply and truly love my friends and especially my family. The Lord is so infinitely good to me. He is merciful and patient, gracious and understanding, to those who trust in him. What ridiculous wealth, prosperity, and happiness are all around us! I am especially grateful for the happiness. Prosperity is not a fair means for measuring happiness; some of the most miserable people on earth are the wealthiest. But with the bounty we as Americans enjoy, we as Latter-Day Saints ALSO have reason to be SOOOOO happy! It is easy to lose sight of, but there are truths we have that justify our being the happiest people on earth, collectively.
I am grateful for prophets. Where would we be without revelation! In utter darkness and confusion. Much of the world is. I am grateful for the knowledge by the Spirit that I have, that God does again speak to prophets on the earth for the benefit of His children. There is so very much to be grateful for! This is the best holiday ever! and it really is what you make it.
My cup is done running over, it's basically drowned. I think many people are in my state as well, and how wonderful it is to ponder.
I am alive. I will not always be. I almost wasn't tonight. But today is a gift, and what a gift it is.
P.S. I am also grateful for food. It is delicious. :)
Monday, November 24, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The STRESS! Factor
Stress is an interesting thing. It is a hinderance and a source of harm, but it also is often a help and a motivator. I find it much easier to write a paper or do some homework I know will be due tomorrow than to do homework due in a few weeks. Pressure is helpful at times. I would liken it unto a kite....
If there is not enough tension on the string of a kite, the kite will come crashing down. It needs a little stress to keep it up in the air. Similarly, if we as people were without ambition, purpose, or stress, we would be useless and uneffective in the purpose of our creation. However, just as a kite with too much tension will snap from its string and plummet to the ground, so do we risk destroying ourselves by putting too much strain and stress in our lives.
I am always astounded to ponder the lives of the general authorities. My sundays are really busy; I am just a ward mission leader. I cannot imagine having the responsibilities those men and women have! And yet, they don't seem stressed. I think stress is a choice in many ways. What is required of you is required of you, what is going to happen is going to happen, so why stress about it? Why not choose to be relaxed and work quickly instead?
Stress definitely affects the way we eat. I usually don't eat hardly at all when I am stressed and working on a big project, and then I eat a ton afterwards to celebrate and relax. Food is a good destresser.
If there is not enough tension on the string of a kite, the kite will come crashing down. It needs a little stress to keep it up in the air. Similarly, if we as people were without ambition, purpose, or stress, we would be useless and uneffective in the purpose of our creation. However, just as a kite with too much tension will snap from its string and plummet to the ground, so do we risk destroying ourselves by putting too much strain and stress in our lives.
I am always astounded to ponder the lives of the general authorities. My sundays are really busy; I am just a ward mission leader. I cannot imagine having the responsibilities those men and women have! And yet, they don't seem stressed. I think stress is a choice in many ways. What is required of you is required of you, what is going to happen is going to happen, so why stress about it? Why not choose to be relaxed and work quickly instead?
Stress definitely affects the way we eat. I usually don't eat hardly at all when I am stressed and working on a big project, and then I eat a ton afterwards to celebrate and relax. Food is a good destresser.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
I can see clearly now, the rain is gone...
Re-vision, to see again. I really like this topic, as I had not thought of revision in this way before. Revision is looking at a paper in a new light, in a different way, with new perspective. I suppose we are all constantly revising our attitudes and actions as well, and learning to see again.
On Sunday, our bishop shared a powerful story called "The Spyglass," I believe. There once was a kingdom in disrepair and disaster. The fields were unfruitful and unkept, the economy was in shambles, and the countryside was disgusting. One day a traveler came by and stopped at the king's palace, mistaking it for an inn. He talked with the king about the state of the kingdom, and promised him a gift if the king would let him stay the night. The next morning, the stranger gave the king a magic spyglass. When looking thru this spyglass, the king could see things as they had the potential to be. The fields looked fruitful and beautiful. The economy was healthy. The people were productive and happy. The king traveled around the country sharing the spyglass with his citizens, showing them what their country could be. With new motivation, having seen the outcome of their labors, the people revolutionized the country and made it an amazing and ideal nation. Then the stranger came back and requested his spyglass. The king responded, "No! I need it!" The stranger told him he did not need it, all he had needed all along was faith and vision.
I think this story applies to revision. Sometimes we have to stretch our minds and look at what our papers (or our lives, for that matter) have the potential to become. This "vision again" provides us with the motivation to work toward that goal. I am grateful for good people, and divine prophets in particular, who have the perspective to inspire me, to hand me a proverbial spyglass thru which I can see my potential. Writing is rewriting is rewriting; vision is revision is revision; and life is reliving is reliving.
On Sunday, our bishop shared a powerful story called "The Spyglass," I believe. There once was a kingdom in disrepair and disaster. The fields were unfruitful and unkept, the economy was in shambles, and the countryside was disgusting. One day a traveler came by and stopped at the king's palace, mistaking it for an inn. He talked with the king about the state of the kingdom, and promised him a gift if the king would let him stay the night. The next morning, the stranger gave the king a magic spyglass. When looking thru this spyglass, the king could see things as they had the potential to be. The fields looked fruitful and beautiful. The economy was healthy. The people were productive and happy. The king traveled around the country sharing the spyglass with his citizens, showing them what their country could be. With new motivation, having seen the outcome of their labors, the people revolutionized the country and made it an amazing and ideal nation. Then the stranger came back and requested his spyglass. The king responded, "No! I need it!" The stranger told him he did not need it, all he had needed all along was faith and vision.
I think this story applies to revision. Sometimes we have to stretch our minds and look at what our papers (or our lives, for that matter) have the potential to become. This "vision again" provides us with the motivation to work toward that goal. I am grateful for good people, and divine prophets in particular, who have the perspective to inspire me, to hand me a proverbial spyglass thru which I can see my potential. Writing is rewriting is rewriting; vision is revision is revision; and life is reliving is reliving.
I can see clearly now, the rain is gone....
Re-vision, to see again. I really like this topic, as I had not thought of revision in this way before. Revision is looking at a paper in a new light, in a different way, with new perspective. I suppose we are all constantly revising our attitudes and actions as well, and learning to see again.
On Sunday, our bishop shared a powerful story called "The Spyglass," I believe. There once was a kingdom in disrepair and disaster. The fields were unfruitful and unkept, the economy was in shambles, and the countryside was disgusting. One day a traveler came by and stopped at the king's palace, mistaking it for an inn. He talked with the king about the state of the kingdom, and promised him a gift if the king would let him stay the night. The next morning, the stranger gave the king a magic spyglass. When looking thru this spyglass, the king could see things as they had the potential to be. The fields looked fruitful and beautiful. The economy was healthy. The people were productive and happy. The king traveled around the country sharing the spyglass with his citizens, showing them what their country could be. With new motivation, having seen the outcome of their labors, the people revolutionized the country and made it an amazing and ideal nation. Then the stranger came back and requested his spyglass. The king responded, "No! I need it!" The stranger told him he did not need it, all he had needed all along was faith and vision.
I think this story applies to revision. Sometimes we have to stretch our minds and look at what our papers (or our lives, for that matter) have the potential to become. This "vision again" provides us with the motivation to work toward that goal. I am grateful for good people, and divine prophets in particular, who have the perspective to inspire me, to hand me a proverbial spyglass thru which I can see my potential. Writing is rewriting is rewriting; vision is revision is revision; and life is reliving is reliving.
On Sunday, our bishop shared a powerful story called "The Spyglass," I believe. There once was a kingdom in disrepair and disaster. The fields were unfruitful and unkept, the economy was in shambles, and the countryside was disgusting. One day a traveler came by and stopped at the king's palace, mistaking it for an inn. He talked with the king about the state of the kingdom, and promised him a gift if the king would let him stay the night. The next morning, the stranger gave the king a magic spyglass. When looking thru this spyglass, the king could see things as they had the potential to be. The fields looked fruitful and beautiful. The economy was healthy. The people were productive and happy. The king traveled around the country sharing the spyglass with his citizens, showing them what their country could be. With new motivation, having seen the outcome of their labors, the people revolutionized the country and made it an amazing and ideal nation. Then the stranger came back and requested his spyglass. The king responded, "No! I need it!" The stranger told him he did not need it, all he had needed all along was faith and vision.
I think this story applies to revision. Sometimes we have to stretch our minds and look at what our papers (or our lives, for that matter) have the potential to become. This "vision again" provides us with the motivation to work toward that goal. I am grateful for good people, and divine prophets in particular, who have the perspective to inspire me, to hand me a proverbial spyglass thru which I can see my potential. Writing is rewriting is rewriting; vision is revision is revision; and life is reliving is reliving.
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