A Good Day...

I was sitting in a Stake Relief Society meeting several years ago in which we were blessed and lucky enough to have the General Relief Society President, sister Beck, present and speaking directly to us.  She opened the meeting up to questions from the audience and the microphone was given to an amazing girl whom I will never forget.  I didn't know who she was, nor had I ever seen her.  But as I glanced across the pew to see who was speaking, I noticed she was sitting in a wheelchair.  She mentioned that we all try to stay positive and have inspirational messages given about counting our blessings and being happy.  She began her question by acknowledging her efforts to maintain a positive attitude and appreciate her circumstances...

"But what do you do when you're having a bad day?"

I was expecting the regular response of turning it around and thinking about someone else, doing service, praying, reading your scriptures, etc.  The normal answers we generally get with this question.  Sister Beck instead paused, smiled, and said: 

"What do you do with a bad day?  Hmmm... What do you do with a bad day?  Sometimes, you just have bad days, haha, sometimes you just have to write that day off and start again tomorrow." 

Then she opened her scriptures and shared some insight using the story of the Brother of Jared and his experience with leading his family into the wilderness, building the boats, and going through the process of prayer to provide lighting.  She focused her thoughts on what happened after everything was done, after they loaded the boats and set out to sea. 

 "Who knows how long they bobbed there, along the beach, wondering what would happen or if anything even would.  How was their faith tested at that point when they had done everything in their power to be obedient and it was now in the Lord's hands to get them where they needed to go?"

I loved this experience because, I felt impressed by this sister's openness and honesty in her ability to admit to an entire group of women she didn't know, that she had down days.  That she did her best to be grateful and obedient but sometimes things were hard or she felt overwhelmed.  I appreciated Sister Beck's response in admitting that some days (and I'm sure she had many difficult days due to her calling) just were bad and it was okay.  Sometimes you have to just write the bad day off, allow yourself to feel, and move on.  The scripture she shared also touched me and has changed my perspective on the story of the Brother of Jared and his family.

Enjoying a relaxing day watching conference with the kitty :)

Today, for me, has been a good day.  As I said, I want to celebrate the successes in life, and today has been one of those.  I was able to visit my patient for the volunteer work I'm trying to do, and it proved to be a very rewarding experience.  We chatted for a bit and began reading The Count of Monte Cristo.  It was fun to read aloud and have someone listen so intently.  I left feeling needed, warm, and light.  As if the small problems and concerns I'd been dealing with were now transformed from giant roadblocks, to small little nicks in the pavement.  They're still there and things I need to figure out, however they didn't feel insurmountable anymore.

I was able to spend time with my family and catching up with an old friend as well which always makes for a great day.  Conference was Spiritually uplifting and I learned a few things about myself today and how to get myself there.  I'm very grateful for my life and the experiences I have to learn and grow and Heavenly Father's forgiveness in allowing me to have "bad days" which make the good days even better and appreciated.  

Short-Term Win

I was sitting through a very loooong training session last week for work on “Leading Change” and a point was brought up to make sure you are celebrating the little successes or Short-term wins.  I liked this idea and want to incorporate it more into my personal life as well.  It seems like we spend a lot of time tearing ourselves down and reminding ourselves that we’re not good enough rather than appreciating the simple joys that make life so beautiful.  I love to look back and see the improvements I’ve made in my life and the ways I have grown and stretched. 

Things to celebrate this week:

My car has finally hit 100,000 miles!  While this event isn’t generally considered a success for most, I was so excited that I have managed to drive my car 100,000 miles, accident free and without any major need for repairs.  It has been an amazingly reliable vehicle and I’m happy to have made it this far J. 

I’ve enjoyed contemplating back on the trips and adventures I’ve taken which have added to the mileage. 

Family time- I was able to see my family this week and spend time catching up with them.  All of my nieces and nephew were there and I had the chance to spend quality time with each of them.  I’ve learned Alana (10) can destroy me in the game of Battleship.  I don’t know how she did it, but she managed to guess the locations of every single ship.  I even looked around to make sure she wasn’t getting help!  Ellie and Avery are now getting along… depending on their moods of course, but it was fun to watch them interact and remember what it was like to play with my sisters and cousins at that age.  And little Zeke is getting so big!  He doesn’t like to sit down but wants someone to constantly hold him so he can walk.  Haha, I enjoyed running him around the house while he giggled and smiled.

 

I was able to successfully turn on and use Callie’s stereo system so I could have some music as I get ready in the morning!  I had her orient me when we first moved on how to work the whole system and 15 remotes but this was my first opportunity to try it out all alone.  Yikes!  Result: A fun music-filled morning.