The dictionary definition of happiness says: Pleasure, contentment, satisfaction, cheerfulness, joy, glee, delight. It seems so simple yet in reality, is so hard to TRULY find. I am nowhere close to being an expert at these 'Motivation Mondays' and my real purpose and goal in these is to share my testimony on what I have personally experienced. I will never share anything fake or put on a facade. We are all human. Finding happiness hasn't always been easy for me. About 4-5 months ago was when I struggled to even comprehend what that word was. I thought it was nearly impossible. Being clinically diagnosed with depression was the hardest thing I had faced up until that point. Now, how can i talk about happiness when I myself was diagnosed with quite the opposite? I truly began to understand the meaning of the word when I let Christ into my life. I know the atonement works you guys. It is real. I am so grateful for it. No matter where you're at in life right now, it is still possible to find happiness. It can be different for everyone but what I found to help me was to count my blessings. Henry B. Eyring said the most powerful thing "You hold in your hands the happiness of more people than you can imagine." How true that is. I also love this quote below by Sister Hinckley. She was just the cutest little lady. I know that if you pray with all you have and truly pour your little heart out to ask how you can truly find happiness, He will tell you through the Holy Ghost. You just have to be open to the spirit and He will help you. I promise. Have a fab Monday and a fab upcoming week <3
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Apparently last Wednesday was the 20th anniversary of "The Family: A Proclamation to the world"! My favorite part of the whole thing is "IN THE PREMORTAL REALM, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally." It is amazing to me how big Heavenly Father's plan is. Yet each of us has a special part in it. I've been thinking a lot lately about families and why they are so important. Every family is different with different challenges, strengths, circumstances, etc. I guess this is the part where I let my guard down a little, right? Right. haha To give a little background, we have been a single parent family for my whole life. I've never known anything different. I have never really had a relationship with my dad and I don't really see that changing. Growing up, I thought that was normal. It never really occured to me how different we were from other families. But as I got older it suddenly hit me like a brick. Responsibilities got tougher, and so life got tougher. Not many would say this but I am so grateful. Every single thing that has happened up until this point in my life is a blessing. Maybe a blessing in disguise, but still a blessing nonetheless. You know that saying "God gives his toughest soldiers the toughest battles?" or something like that haha. Well my Mom always comes to mind when I hear that. I can't possibly even imagine what it's like for her but she still deals with us 3 crazy kids;) Anyways, where I'm going with this is that families are so important. Whether you have 2 or 1 parent(s) families are still ordained of God. I truly believe everything happens for a reason and we need to learn how to embrace it. It definitely won't be the easiest thing but will be the most worth it. Our family circumstances have brought us all the more closer. Sometimes in life happiness can be so hard to find. Especially amongst trials and other hard things we face. Heavenly father doesn't expect us to be perfect but he wants us to press on. I know that we weren't just sent here to have sorrow and learn how to deal with it. If you didn't watch the General Women's meeting last night, you should. It was great. Here is one of my favorite quotes I am so grateful that there are such things as families. I wouldn't trade mine for the world. My brothers and I Me and my cousins Left to Right: Grandparents, cousin Mal, me, Brother on his HS graduation, Oldest brother, cousin Bri, and auntie Jami Left to Right: Gramps, auntie Tracy, my mom, and Grammy basically some of the greatest people I know. My aunts and uncle, grandma in the middle and mom on the far right.
So how Motivation Monday works is... I choose a topic to add a few quotes and insights on. They typically won't be as long as normal blog posts. They will be more like a kick-start to your day at 2:30 p.m haha. I will try and get it done earlier!
If you know me well you would know i'm not one to share personal experiences and things like that but seeing how I made a blog I kind of have to! :) I'm willing and ready to let my guard down a little. There was a point in my life where I felt completely hopeless. I felt like my life was going in a downwards spiral and there was nothing I could do about it. The thing was, it wasn't because of sin. Some trials can be, but mine was not. I had no clue what to do. There was plenty of sleepless nights, countless tears, countless priesthood blessings in a single month and hundreds of prayers. I find in life that we have a lot of crossroads. Mine was whether or not I would choose to come closer to my Savior and Heavenly Father during this trial, or to choose to be mad at God. I chose the first one. A scripture comes to mind in Joshua 24:15 "Choose you this day whom ye will serve." I had to learn a lot of patience. I mean a lot. One day in particular I became super frustrated. I was getting impatient and a lot of anger was built up. Then I ran onto a quote by Robert D. Hales "Tests and Trials are given to all of us. These mortal challenges allow us and our Heavenly Father to see whether we will exercise our agency to follow His son." That was a turning point for me. I noticed and realized as I came closer to Them my burden was lifted. It wasn't taken right away but I had the comfort and peace I so desperately needed because I learned how to trust my Heavenly Father. I promise you as you do the things you know you should... follow the prophet, read your scriptures, say your prayers ,etc. It will get better. Those primary answers are said and stressed a lot. But they are there for a reason. Trust God. You will be happy. Have a wonderful Monday and a wonderful week. Ness For my 1st blog post and since it being Sunday I thought this would be the perfect opportunity. I've been thinking about the idea of the Sabbath a lot lately. In Russell M. Nelson's talk he said "What sign do we show to God?" What exactly does he mean by that? To me it means showing God in our thoughts and actions that we remember Him and are willing to do the things he asks of us. The Sabbath is day and night experience for me.
I remember one Sunday a couple weeks ago where I had done none of the things I knew I should be doing. In my mind I decided that day that I would just sit back and relax to have a day of "rest". That week had been stressful and the last thing I wanted to do was to put in effort. The things I did that day had no meaning and purpose and I spent a lot of time on social media twiddling my thumbs. That Sunday night as I went to bed I felt kind of empty. Why was I feeling that way? I realized it was because of the way I decided to spend my Sabbath. I felt empty when that was a time when I needed the spiritual feast the most. I'm not saying we should all be perfect and do everything in a specific way because that is not what Heavenly Father would expect of us. He wants us to try our best. Just because we scroll through instagram for a couple minutes doesn't mean we have sinned. I think we all realize that. I like the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 59: 9-10 it says "And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day. For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High;" I love that the Sabbath is a day that is different from any other in the week. It is when we can strengthen our faith and our testimony. It is a day that we can go to church for 3 hours out of the day and hear others testimonies. I find that I strengthen mine the most when I hear about others. I used to only focus on the "cannots" of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is so much more than the "cannots". I like what D. Todd Christofferson said "Take where you are, and build from there." I feel like Sunday is a day for me to start my week off right. I'm so grateful that we have a day called Sunday. It is a day where I can focus on my Savior and the ultimate sacrifice he made for us. This is the day where my testimony is most strengthened. The Sabbath truly is a delight. |
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Ponderize Of The Week:
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." - James 1:5-6 Quote Of The Week:
"Give it to God and go to sleep." - Unknown |