I sometimes get really down -- especially when I am feeling the weight of the responsibilities I have. However, Fraulein Maria was not wrong when she thinks of her favorite things (Sound of Music- Stay with me here) Then she doesn't feel so bad. So I wanted to list a few of my favorite things here on my blog.
My wife. -- OK she is not a thing. But whenever I think of my blessings She is the first to pop into my mind every time.
My kids. -- They pop up too anytime I think of my wife. Honestly it is hard to separate the two and rarely would I ever want to.
The Gospel -- This is what makes the love I have for my wife and kids relevant in almost any context. They are a part of me and I am a part of them and the Gospel of Salvation enables that.
My Job -- I am more than glad to be able to pay my bills and meet my responsibilities. It is often hard to see what it is that I am actually doing with my life unless I see the benefits of what I do for my job... which leads me to...
Family History -- I have learned so much about my family and the families of others that I understand more and more about who I am and why I am the way I am. So many personalities went into making me I am always curious about where it all comes from. Then I read about them! and I wonder where they got it.
Friends -- I have many friends that is to say those who do not actively try to destroy me. Then I have closer friends who make an effort to make me, my family, and my life a good one. Then I have those precious few who I can open up to and they do their best to try to help me sort through it all and find a clear answer. They are to me like family.
Work -- Yes I am grateful for work. This is beyond a job, as I have already covered that. Work is the stuff that allows me to act upon my surroundings and create my world the way I want it. However without hard and strenuous work, it will all eventually slide down that slippery slope of entropy till it becomes ... well... like my daughters bedroom -- a disaster!
Hope -- Now this is not really a thing either. However it is the drive to keep going despite all of the struggles, the setbacks, and the failures. Speaking of which...
My Failures -- Yes I am grateful for them too. However failures are not bad. Failures are the charred remains of honest attempts of someone trying to do something. Doing nothing and letting the world happen around you because of the fear of failure. That is bad.
Spell checkers. just sayin'.
My car -- It would be a very long walk to work without it.
My bed -- I sleep much easier on the bed than under it. (Ask me later)
My home -- I have been very nearly without one a number of times. Having walls in which to retreat out of the cold is a good thing.
Food -- Me likes to eat.
Humor -- I need it. It is like blood to me.
Root Beer -- Check that. ROOT BEER is like blood to me.
Idle thought time -- I need a few minutes a few times a day to let my brain get out and wander around a bit. I can get really creative with stories, and imaginations when it gets a chance to breathe.
Music -- Music is the perfume for the ears. I feel music all the time and when I listen to it I can feel it course through me. Energizing and uplifting as well as calming and soothing. Music is powerful and unlike math, it can go beyond numbers. Unlike language, it can speak lifetimes without words.
Scriptures -- I find more guidance in the scriptures than almost anywhere else. It is never about what I am reading. It is the mechanism whereby my mind can tune to the voice of the Spirit who can tell me directly what I need to know. It is much like music that way for the language of the Spirit transcends finite language and limited words. It can place meaning to a feeling and direction to a prompting.
History -- I am an avid student of history. I dwell on my own history and many of my memories include many of you. Sometimes, you will just pop into my head and I daydream about our history and I wonder what you are doing now, what kind of person you have become. Many I still seek and many I may never see again in this life. I am what I am because of all of you.
I have many other things which I am grateful for. I could go on all year. But what I am grateful for holds little importance. It is that I am grateful that is important. What are you grateful for?
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
What is with the weather in Utah?
Now most of you know I have lived in areas with vastly different climates. Here in Utah it is blazing hot in summer, cold and snowy in Winter and sometimes mixed up in between. I have also lived in Russia where a high without windchill could be in the negatives for days on end and it is perfectly normal. Then there is Oregon where winter plays out like a particularly dreary "Twilight" scene with cold and rizzly rain, cloudy all the time and then the good part is when freezing rain hits and all of the Californian Expatriates drive around like there on an oil slick. Very amusing to watch.
Now I got up this morning to a sleet like drool plastering the ground which is what it stayed like till I turned the corner above La Caille and it changed almost instantly to snow. Now it has been snowing steadily since but form what I have heard around the valley, it hasn't made up its mind yet whether to rain, snow or just glower at us.
I guess I should just be happy that the snow hasn't drifted to the fourth story of downtown buildings, right Russia?
Now I got up this morning to a sleet like drool plastering the ground which is what it stayed like till I turned the corner above La Caille and it changed almost instantly to snow. Now it has been snowing steadily since but form what I have heard around the valley, it hasn't made up its mind yet whether to rain, snow or just glower at us.
I guess I should just be happy that the snow hasn't drifted to the fourth story of downtown buildings, right Russia?
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Goodbye 2010 -- Hello 2011
2010 has been a rough year for a lot of people I know. It has been a rough year for us. However despite how rough it is, I learned a lot. Best summed up in a phrase by Heber J. Grant. "It is the pursuit of easy things that makes men weak" This man presided over the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during the end of World War One -- Through the Roaring 20's - through the Great Depression - and through most of World War II. Considering that resume, I think the statement is accurate.
I would talk about some of the struggles we have faced this year or even what I may have learned from them, but that would indicate an intent that everyone else needs to learn the same lessons. Those lessons are mine and apply to me and my family because of our unique situation. Instead I want to talk about trials and learning in general.
It has also been said that the blessings, trials, miracles, and sorrows we experience in life are customized each for us to give us each the best possible shot at Exaltation. The extension on this thought is that the blessings, trials, etc. of others, if given to us, may make it harder to get to exaltation, not easier. Yes that assertion includes blessings. Also what may be a blessing for one may be a curse, or trial for another. We see the lives of others from the "looking-glass" of our own lives and our own experiences and so our perspective may be different from others. The film "Eye of the beholder" is a good example. Different people look at the same man all within minutes of each other and all describe him differently. He also reacts to them differently as they are each different to him. It is our differences that make each one of us special and our experiences that give us insight tot he human experience that is unique to us alone. The great part of it all is the conclusions we draw most benefit ourselves and not others.
As we are each unique and special in our own way, often our attempts to "be like someone else" are met with frustration. We can't seem to figure out why that one plan, that one, system, that one bit of advice works for some but not others. Good advice when grounded in good fundamental principles is often always good advice. Execution of the advice we are given, though always varies and by association, the results vary just as much. It is getting to the fundamentals that the advice was based upon and the principles they teach that we should form a plan around and execute it loyally to those fundamentals. The best fundamentals to base them on is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Many different religions have elements of the Golden Rule in them, but execution of the principles or laws derived from the golden rule widely vary. I have found that the temperate laws of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are the most in harmony with my own beliefs and experiences. The Beatitudes in particular are a good example. The benefits inscribed is that of inclusiveness without respect to the differences. Humility, meekness, charity are all examples of this. Charity, in particular has been debased by many of the prideful poor as an undesirable trait but I think they misunderstand. Charity is the expression of love unbound of one human to another and most particularly where love is least likely to exist. Christ could have ended the lives of all of his enemies with a single thought but he came to this earth to save them and fully atone for them. If he ended their lives, wherein lay their chance for repentance? Saul of Tarsus repented and later became one of the strongest fighters for the cause. Charity is not limited to handouts any more than Christmas is only about Santa Claus. Charity is love, unconditional and humble love, expecting nothing in return, asking for nothing in advance. It is service, kindness, nurturing, and joy gifted to one in hopes of making the recipients life better. Often what is given is everything the giver has, even their own life as the example of the Savior shows.
Learning the true virtues of godly living, living as He would have us live would be a far better resolution than anything I could come up with and far more reaching. The great part is that it does not shatter with momentary setbacks as He whom is our Exemplar is forgiving to those who are honestly trying and we gain bit by bit those virtues He desires for us. This, when compared with a feeble and narrow weight loss goal, or a goal to achieve a specific goal or task that can be easily lost with one tiny slip, seems much more enduring. Besides shouldn't our resolutions be to make every part of our life better.
I don't know what 2011 will bring. I don't even know all of the challenges I will face. However, I do know that as time goes on, if I will honestly strive to live by the virtues that have been taught me, honestly try to be a better person, and learn of Him, I will face all of my challenges, problems, bad habits, and difficulties and gain the power I need to conquer them. To flip President Grant's statement upside down, which also paraphrases Ether 12:27 It is the pursuit of hard things that make men strong.
I would talk about some of the struggles we have faced this year or even what I may have learned from them, but that would indicate an intent that everyone else needs to learn the same lessons. Those lessons are mine and apply to me and my family because of our unique situation. Instead I want to talk about trials and learning in general.
It has also been said that the blessings, trials, miracles, and sorrows we experience in life are customized each for us to give us each the best possible shot at Exaltation. The extension on this thought is that the blessings, trials, etc. of others, if given to us, may make it harder to get to exaltation, not easier. Yes that assertion includes blessings. Also what may be a blessing for one may be a curse, or trial for another. We see the lives of others from the "looking-glass" of our own lives and our own experiences and so our perspective may be different from others. The film "Eye of the beholder" is a good example. Different people look at the same man all within minutes of each other and all describe him differently. He also reacts to them differently as they are each different to him. It is our differences that make each one of us special and our experiences that give us insight tot he human experience that is unique to us alone. The great part of it all is the conclusions we draw most benefit ourselves and not others.
As we are each unique and special in our own way, often our attempts to "be like someone else" are met with frustration. We can't seem to figure out why that one plan, that one, system, that one bit of advice works for some but not others. Good advice when grounded in good fundamental principles is often always good advice. Execution of the advice we are given, though always varies and by association, the results vary just as much. It is getting to the fundamentals that the advice was based upon and the principles they teach that we should form a plan around and execute it loyally to those fundamentals. The best fundamentals to base them on is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Many different religions have elements of the Golden Rule in them, but execution of the principles or laws derived from the golden rule widely vary. I have found that the temperate laws of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are the most in harmony with my own beliefs and experiences. The Beatitudes in particular are a good example. The benefits inscribed is that of inclusiveness without respect to the differences. Humility, meekness, charity are all examples of this. Charity, in particular has been debased by many of the prideful poor as an undesirable trait but I think they misunderstand. Charity is the expression of love unbound of one human to another and most particularly where love is least likely to exist. Christ could have ended the lives of all of his enemies with a single thought but he came to this earth to save them and fully atone for them. If he ended their lives, wherein lay their chance for repentance? Saul of Tarsus repented and later became one of the strongest fighters for the cause. Charity is not limited to handouts any more than Christmas is only about Santa Claus. Charity is love, unconditional and humble love, expecting nothing in return, asking for nothing in advance. It is service, kindness, nurturing, and joy gifted to one in hopes of making the recipients life better. Often what is given is everything the giver has, even their own life as the example of the Savior shows.
Learning the true virtues of godly living, living as He would have us live would be a far better resolution than anything I could come up with and far more reaching. The great part is that it does not shatter with momentary setbacks as He whom is our Exemplar is forgiving to those who are honestly trying and we gain bit by bit those virtues He desires for us. This, when compared with a feeble and narrow weight loss goal, or a goal to achieve a specific goal or task that can be easily lost with one tiny slip, seems much more enduring. Besides shouldn't our resolutions be to make every part of our life better.
I don't know what 2011 will bring. I don't even know all of the challenges I will face. However, I do know that as time goes on, if I will honestly strive to live by the virtues that have been taught me, honestly try to be a better person, and learn of Him, I will face all of my challenges, problems, bad habits, and difficulties and gain the power I need to conquer them. To flip President Grant's statement upside down, which also paraphrases Ether 12:27 It is the pursuit of hard things that make men strong.
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