Lessons Learned {Part 2}

Lesson #2- Love. Love yourself, love your life, love others, do things you love, surround yourself with people and things you love, go places you love, find new things to love, and when you do this, you'll always be happy, even in the hardest of times. 

I've always disliked winter. I don't ski or snowboard, I occasionally sled, but that's about the extent of my winter sporting skills. Needless to say I have been thrilled to see the beautiful sunshine out. The first day the temperature rose, my sister and I went for a walk that ended up lasting a few hours. It felt so good to be out! We went on one everyday that there was nice weather until it dropped again. I then made it a goal to soak up that sunshine every time it came out, and I've happily succeeded. It has gotten me out and being active and I think I've found one missing puzzle piece!

As the days have continued getting warmer, I have found myself doing much more outside than any of the past years. In high school I would come home, chill, then spend time doing homework. This led to the majority of outside time on the weekends. Now that I'm home most of the day, I can go outside whenever I want and stay out there as long as I want, and that makes
me happy.

I've found a hobby in writing my LDS missionary friends (which has now added up to more than ten...) and I love that. It's such an uplifting thing to hear from people who do nothing but devote every second of everyday to serving the Lord. It always makes me want to do better, which gets me making new goals for the week. This has been a good thing for me. It's especially great hearing from two of my best friends who are serving in Croatia and Portugal. Those letters give me my boost for the week and make my heart so happy. Getting the mail has become one of the most exciting things ever. Who knew a mailbox could be so fun?

I've began taking more pictures again. I've always been fascinated with photography and the way you can capture time. With the weather being nice, and even when it's a little gloomy out, I've been out taking pictures of the beautiful world. It's amazing what you can find when you actually open your eyes and look!

"There is no tomorrow to remember if we don't do something today." - President Thomas S. Monson

The end of Sophomore year and my entire Junior year of high school I had been taken under into a dark time of my life. I've always been a happy person, but that just wasn't the case anymore. Then from some help from a dear LDS Seminary teacher, and a lot of personal changes, I decided to make my outlook on life a little different. It didn't matter what others thought about me, or where I fit in compared to the others. All that mattered was my happiness, and my progression towards the ultimate goal.

I love myself and who I've become, and I strive to be better everyday. I know who I am, and I'm proud of that. At one point in a Seminary lesson, my teacher told the class to do the things you love that bring you true happiness. I've found those again this week. Or maybe just re-recognized them. 

Last night, I spontaneously went out and played some tennis with a good friend of mine that I ran into after eight months, and we went on a 6 1/2 mile walk. Sore legs, plans for the upcoming week, and a few heart to heart talks later I realized that I am extremely blessed to be surrounded by people I love that will do the things I love with me. People who continually build me up, support me, and help me stay positive. People who remind me of who I am and who I want to be. Life can get hard, throw you curve balls, and direct you onto unknown paths, but without fail, if you surround yourself with love in all forms, you can always be happy. And I can honestly say, without the slightest bit of hesitation, I am so happy.

"Cultivate an attitude of happiness. Cultivate a spirit of optimism. Walk with faith, rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you love, in the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning things divine." - President Gordon B. Hinckley

Lessons Learned {Part 1}

I have learned a few valuable lessons this past week. Three to be exact, but I am going to share them over three separate posts so they aren't as lengthy.  If I have some details that seem irrelevant to the "lesson", they will come into play in a following "lesson". Bare with me. So this is part one of a three part post. 

Lesson #1- Slow down. We rush by life too fast, and wish our days away. Slow down and take time to appreciate what surrounds you. The world is a beautiful place. Take time to appreciate the blessings you have and to enjoy the minutes usually take for granted.

(I will warn you, my stories are a bit long, so prepare yourself.)

After the fall semester ended I got really sick. I've been dealing with mysterious health issues for several years now, but my frustration came back towards the end of the semester. This led to the fun doctor visits, tests, and draining my body of more blood than I felt necessary, leaving me feeling hopeless and uncomfortable, I came to the decision to take the spring semester off to get back on my feet, which the doctor agreed would be best for me to do.

This decision definitely has had it's pros and cons. For one, I do not like being behind in the norm. I'm the type of person who just wants to get school finished and out of the way, so taking the semester off sort of cramped my style in a sense. I also have gotten into the groove of not going to school, so now I don't ever want to go to back. That's bad. I'll go, don't worry. But that dreaded feeling of school has crept into my head and it's awful. Not to mention I've second guessed what I want to go into. Now, I know what you're thinking. I'm a freshman in college. That's normal to change, and I'll probably change multiple times, but IT STRESSES ME OUT. What the heck am I supposed to do with my life? It also has turned me into a somewhat lazy person. This is also very bad. I've never been lazy. I'm an on-the-go, busy, scheduled person... or I once was. 

I work at a little clothing boutique which I love. Seriously. It's the greatest job in the whole world, and I have yet to complain about it once the whole five months I've been there. The ladies I work for are the best ever, and this job has been such a blessing. It kind of fell into my hands and I will forever be grateful that it did. If I could work there the rest of my life I totally would. Maybe. ;) So other than working, I don't do a whole lot. I don't feel well a lot of the time, and sometimes it's a lot worse than others, but I don't ever lead onto how I feel. But, I usually rest lots and relax, thus turning me into a lazy person. I feel like I don't do anything with my life, and that's maybe because I don't. 

The boutique doesn't open until noon everyday, so I've had the wonderful/terrible privilege of sleeping in. A few mornings ago was the first time in months I had to wake up early, and stay awake. (Naps have become a welcomed friend with my immune system.) I had a doctors appointment that I had to be to at 7:50 am, and then a few errands to run after that.

As I headed out that way, I realized that it felt so good to be awake and going and to breathe morning air. I had definitely missed it! I gladly left my appointment, grateful for modern medicine, and decided to stop by Great Harvest and get something to eat. This was the best decision I made all day. Not only did I get a delicious, fresh cinnamon roll right out of the oven, but the employees were extremely attractive all-male workers. Well done Great Harvest. You know how to run a business. I set aside the fact that I had rolled out of bed and looked a little scary, and I quite enjoyed my little visit to the bakery.

When I left I had to run an errand for my mom, and got stuck behind a train. I had my windows down, my music up, and a warm cinnamon roll on my lap. I was in no hurry, but I was probably twenty cars back from the train. I began to notice impatient cars leaving the line to change routes to get to where they needed to be. It made me realize that we spend too much time worrying about time! People are always in a hurry, always watching the clock, and always missing what's around them. I sat in my car enjoying life for a good twenty minutes as the rest of the world spun on without me. How good it felt to breathe and not worry about anything for those few minutes, and how good it felt to not care what others thought so I could enjoy my morning! I noticed how blue the sky was, flower buds starting to pop out of the ground, how warm the air was getting, I watched birds create fascinating patterns in the sky, and it made me sad knowing that so many others were missing out on such a beautiful day.

So take a minute to slow down and enjoy the blessings that surround you. We take life for granted way too much and spend too much time worrying about the future. Take a minute to breathe.

"Do we listen to beautiful music waiting for the final note to fade before we allow ourselves to truly enjoy it? No. We listen and connect to the variations of melody, rhythm, and harmony throughout the composition... We shouldn't wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to discover that happiness was already available—all the time! Life is not meant to be appreciated only in retrospect." -President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"Of Regrets and Resolutions" LDS General Conference October 2012

To The Interested

If you are curious about whether or not I have learned anything at school yet, here is the beginning of my list of random things I have taken note of thus far.

> When walking past a building with mirror like windows, be sure to keep walking.  If you stop to fix your hair, check to make sure your outfit still looks okay, or surprise yourself because you really like the shirt you saw a girl wearing in your peripheral vision and realize it is yours, you will be laughed at.  There are people on the other side of those windows watching you.  But hey, if that doesn't bother you, by all means, use those mirrors to their potential!

> If you have a night class and decide to wait on a bench outside because you have a half hour until it starts, you will be one of very few.  This is a great advantage to night classes.  Perfect temperature, pretty campus, quiet atmosphere to think or study, why wouldn't you enjoy that?  With this comes the occasional person that walks by.  They most likely will look at you if not stare at you as they walk by.  Awkward? Sometimes, unless it's a super attractive college male who stops to talk to you about something completely unimportant like whether or not it looks foggy outside. (I was sick, and let me tell ya, I felt a WHOLE lot better after that little conversation.)

> College boys are more likely to come out and say that they do some things only to get a girls attention.  In high school it was because it was "cool".  Now we finally get the truth... (This is the case in my Communications class anyway.. I swear, the only reason they do anything is to get a girl! Funny boys.)

> Plain and simple, some boys are creepy.  How do I give them the hint that I'm not interested?..

> Be careful about which cars you lust over in the parking lot.  They might just be your Institute Teacher's and then you might hear in a lesson that you shouldn't lust over things others have. (Slide down in your chair moment, yeah?)

On a more important note...

> You shouldn't be so quick to judge.  I didn' think think I was one to judge very much, but boy was I wrong.  It wasn't intentionally.  It's natural sometimes, but I've been wrong every time.  That's something I'm consciously working on.  Everyone has a story, a reason, a background, and so do I. 

> Institute was probably the best decision I've made so far.  I feel sad for the people who aren't taking it.  It is the perfect place to relieve stress, sadness, or to be happy at.  I have learned so much and have already grown spiritually in multiple ways, and it's only week four!  When people say it's Seminary on steroids, they aren't kidding!  It has helped me with so much already, and it's the one class I'm so excited for every week.

> To go along with the one above, prayers are answered.  They can come in all ways.  Just keep your faith in the Lord and all things will work out how they are supposed to.

 

College is great. :) This list will most likely be continued at some point in the future.