Lord, we thank thee for this sink of dirty dishes;
We have plenty of food to eat.
Thank you for this pile of dirty, stinky laundry;
We have plenty of nice clothes to wear.
And I would like to thank you, Lord, for these unmade beds;
They were so warm and comfortable last night.
Thank you for this finger-smudged refrigerator that needs defrosting so badly;
It is full of cold drinks and enough leftovers for 2 or 3 meals.
Thank you, Lord, even for that slamming screen door.
My kids are healthy and able to run and play.
Lord, the presence of all these chores awaiting me says
You have richly blessed my family.
I shall do them cheerfully and I shall do them gratefully.
"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't DIE; so, let us all be thankful."
-Buddha
A quick journal entry from last year.....
May 27th, 2010: "As of lately, my personal goal has been to work on my positive attitude. Some days, I completely fail!
Let me go ahead and rant for a sec...
I HATE my Quiznos job. My back always aches, my coworker keeps throwing me under the bus to suck up to our arrogant manager, I'm constantly looking at the clock that never seems to budge, I burnt my finger on the toaster yesterday, I'm tired, I'm grouchy, and I don't want to talk to anyone.
(I can be a little dramatic at times)
Oh, and don't worry, Salem just happens to be in the top 20 worst economic cities in the U.S. which means I can't quit because there're zero jobs. All this stress of work and finances makes it really easy for me to become mentally weak, depressed, and feel trapped in this job prison.
I decided to pray about this. I didn't pray to find a new job, I know he already knows that's what I want. Instead, I prayed for his help to get me through this because it's too hard on my own.
How lucky are we to have a savior who can relate to every trial and trouble we're going through? How great is it that he'll be there to carry us when we have no more strength to carry ourselves? Heavenly Father knows me so well and knows exactly in what ways to teach me so I'll understand what he's trying to say. Things always seem to be put in a different perspective than what I was focused on earlier.
Yeah, I might feel like I'm trapped in a prison, but it's not my job that's trapping me, it's my negative thoughts. My attitude is the way to escape.
We are all gonna have situations that we can't fix or change no matter how bad we want to. But if we go though these situations with a negative attitude, WE ARE WASTING our lives away! If we make up our minds to be happy while we get through it, we'll be getting the most out of life."
"Elder Neal A Maxwell once said, 'We are here in mortality, and the only way to go is through; there isn't any around!' I would like to add, the only way to get thought life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache."
-Marjorie Pay Hinckley
Happiness is not the absence of problems. It's the ability to deal with them.
My absolute favorite movie quote of all time has to be from Lord of the Rings. You've got this hobbit, Frodo, and he's kind of having a rough day. He's got a bunch of guys trying to kill him, and basically the fate of the world rests on his shoulders. So, you know, he's feeling a little stressed, and he's saying how he wished none of this had ever happened to him. And I love the wizard's response. He says...
"So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
??? - What experiences could you share that illustrate how you have learned that blessings do not always feel like blessings?
Ever since I was a kid, I've always had a conflict avoidance personality. I hate, hate, HATE drama and contention. If there's tension in the room between two people, I get super uncomfortable and my heart starts racing and I panic. Because of this, I never really got in fights with friends at school and I don't think I really had any enemies. And that's great and all, but it's kind of not good in a way too because when I got older, I didn't know how to deal with it when it started happening to me.
There was a person that I had a really hard time with who really hurt me. And because of this I realized that I didn't know how to forgive people. I tried, and tried and there were times where I would almost forgive them, but then my grudge and anger and sadness would rush back into my heart. I really struggled with this for months and months. I am so happy to say that I'm over it! I no longer have negative feelings towards this person, and I wish the best for them :) But I know, without a doubt, the reason for them being in my life was to help me be a better person and learn how to forgive.
Wrapped tightly in its cocoon, the developing chrysalis must struggle with all its might to break its confinement. The butterfly might think, why must I suffer so? ... Such thoughts would be contrary to the creators design. The struggle to break out of the cocoon develops the butterfly so it can fly. Without that adversity, the butterfly would never have the strength to achieve its destiny.
-Joseph B Wirthlin
I had the chance to take a microbiology class a while ago, and one thing that I found so fascinating was how our immune systems work. When we get sick, our system fights off our illness, and although we may be miserable coughing and sneezing, our cells become immune and our body becomes stronger. Sometimes I think our spirits work the same way. We go through these trials that may seem hard at the time, but while we're experiencing it, we're getting stronger. So the next time we face the same trial, our spirits will be like, "Psh! ... Please." The Lord is giving us trials to perfect us. And as hard as it is, we need to recognize these trials as blessing. HURRAY GRATITUDE!!
D&C 78:19
"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more."
You express yourself very well Sister Jesse :) Thank you for sharing your thoughts, it was perfect! Sister Hinckley's quote is "so her" which I hope someday is "so me". Heavenly Father loves us mucho mucho!
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