I simply remember my favorite things

Friday, I was introduced to The Book of Awesome. Essentially it is a book filled with small things that sometimes we don't even realize make us happy. When my roommates and I started talking about it they came up with a few more things to add to the list. Finding happiness in small things is so important to have continued joy in everyday life. Here are few of my small joys I had on my list:

Frost on windows

The sound the leaves make in the wind

The way everything looks when the sun is going down

 

Old buildings with lots of detail

Getting mail

- Sneezing     - Falling asleep with wet hair   - Jumping out to scare someone at just the right moment

 Finally getting that part in a piece of music you've been working on

- Communicating a joke without using words   - Waking up from a bad dream  -Walking over small bridges

Fall

- Spilling something everywhere, but not getting any of it on you - When the 'walk' sign comes on just when you come to the intersection

The smell of fresh baked bread

 A reason to dress up

- When a good looking stranger smiles at you - Listening to the rain as you go to sleep in a warm bed

 playing the perfect April fool's day joke

- Remembering the response to a question you couldn't answer just before you hand in your test       - Clothes that still have the price tag attached, hanging in your closet       -Your favorite song starts to play when you just get into the car

When someone leaves a note for you

 

Pictures that make you laugh every time you look at them

Flowers after rain

Finding the perfect shade of lipstick

Having something happen you didn't even know was possible

Family

Courage to have faith

      Sometimes life throws you curve balls. And it seems I've caught a few of them lately. One night while getting ready for bed, remembering everything that had happened that day, I had a moments of hopelessness and fear. I couldn't tell you why I did it, but I reached out for a rock that I keep on my headboard. What I can tell you is I don't believe in coincidences.

          I had painted it for a girls camp the summer I left home. The red maple leaf was a reminder of all the places I've moved to and that I was going to do it again, but on my own this time. On the back was 'Courage'  because I knew there was a lot I had to do to get where I wanted to be and it wasn't going to be easy.

But courage isn't being strong when it's easy or convenient, it's taking action in the face of fear, disappointment, and hopelessness. When I felt like I had failed at my goal and wasted so much time dreaming I took hope from something so small and simple. I'm learning more and more that fear is the opposite of faith. 

And it sure takes courage to have faith nowadays.

"And while I strive through grief and pain His voice is heard 'Ye shall obtain' " 

Bruce R McConkie 

House #1

It has been a life long dream of mine to find house #1. In theory there should be one right? You have to start numbering houses somewhere and one Just seems like the logical place to start. In the years of searching I've been close. I've even found house #3. Town houses and duplexes always start with one but I wanted the real deal. The house where the counting started from. Well it seems to me that what you want most comes when you've stopped waiting for it.

Yesterday on a little adventure my cousin and I decided to drive by her old place. A few blocks before we got there I saw it. It was beautiful, it called to me and I screamed!! I made my confused driver turn around, almost completing an illegal U-turn in front of the cops, drive back and stop. Who knew that she'd been living so close to my dream for so long. I've finally done it. One more thing crossed off the bucket list. I found house #1.

Puddle Searching

These past few weeks Mother Nature has been playing some funny tricks on us. First she sent a dump of snow, several actually. Then she treated us with balmy 1°C weather. Although it would seem nice to have temperatures on the positive side of the thermometer, after the excessive amounts of snow we got, there were slush ponds everywhere. Most people stared at the icy mud filled mess and scrunched up their noses. I had a similar thought process looking down from my 5th floor apartment at the uninviting lakes. But as I took a stroll through the melting world I couldn't help but love those darling puddles. The way their quaking surfaces saw the world was awe inspiring.Who knew that cratered sidewalks and melted snow could make you feel like Alice and the looking glass? Everything was so pretty and magical. When the wind blew the baron trees danced in the puddles. And little bits of sky made residence on the ground separated by the weaving bridges of concrete. I realized sometimes what I'm looking for just needs to be looked for a little harder before I find it. Today I found joy, and it was in a puddle.

Living for Today

"To worry about what is or may be coming can be debilitating and it can paralyze us and make us quit."

             Last week as I attended a CES broadcast, that evening's message hit home. Elder Christofferson spoke about taking care of things one day at a time and not worrying about the future. It sounded ideal, but also struck me as a little odd not to prepare for what's coming. As I listened, that wasn't what he was saying at all. He was speaking about a syndrome, one that has plagued my life since I can remember. It has probably occasioned yours too. You know the feeling when you lay down at night and anything but sugar plums are dancing through your head. All that you can think about is tomorrow. And not in that dreamy sense of possibility, but in clench-jawed, hand-wringing anticipation. 

        

             Elder Christofferson must have seen my sleepless nights because the analogy he then presented I felt applied directly to me. Manna was provided daily for the Israelites while travelling through the desert. They were instructed to gather only what they could eat in a day. They took on what they could for that day, worrying only about that day. Those who gathered more than this learned an unpleasant lesson.  Gathering manna for more than one day caused it to breed worms and stink. I've observed a similar lesson in my life.  When I stress and worry about the things beyond my control of this day, my life resembles something like the smelly, decaying manna. Today has priority over tomorrow. It is making a future for myself daily and doing what is right today that matters most.

"Thoughtful planning and preparation are key to a rewarding future, but we do not live in the future. It is day by day that we work out our plans for the future.  It is day by day that we accomplish our goals."

 Live for today, and make it beautiful.

Even the small day to day efforts...

...put together make something beautiful.

It is the accumulation of many days well lived...

...That adds up to a full life.

It is the day to day focus on the small and seemingly insignificant...

...that one day we see the grand design