Thursday, May 24, 2012

Nothing's Impossible

You know how I know?
I once saw a YouTube video of a cat and a bird..who are friends.

Friday, May 18, 2012

The Good Life

Read this if you want your life to be enriched: http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/the-divine-gift-of-gratitude?lang=eng&query=divine+gift+gratitude

I am so in love with this talk!!! I've heard it and read it before, but somehow right now it's just so emphatic to me. It was a talk given in 2010 by our amazing LDS prophet Thomas S. Monson. I don't think there's a way to read this talk and not be so incredibly happy and grateful for life in general.

There are definitely two ways you can look at life. You can focus on the negative and the things that you don't have -dwelling in the sadness you have because of the missing pieces. Or you can look at all the wonderful blessings that you have and be incredibly grateful for them and realize that nothing is entitled to us, so any gift we have is a truly a blessing. Just being alive with an opportunity to experience and to grow is a blessing.

I love the warning he gives us in this talk. He says "We never know how soon it will be too late." This is in reference to not appreciating and being grateful for the things we have while we do have them. Although it is eerie sounding I think it is so important that we realize the urgency of recognizing the blessings in our lives because it is all too true, we never know when they could be taken from us. It's so important that we not only realize the blessings and especially the people in our lives who are blessings, but that we also verbalize our gratitude and love for them. Not only verbalize to the important people in our lives how important they are to us and how grateful we are for them, but also verablize to God how grateful we are to Him for allowing them in our lives. The time is always now, we can't risk wishing we would've been more grateful for the things we had when we had them.

I like to think about what life would be like if we NEVER took anything for granted. If we loved every ounce of it and we were always aware of the great things we had. It's like looking at the relationships people have with each other during trials. When someone is diagnosed with cancer or something and they know their time is limited so they don't waste a seconnd of it and make sure that they treat their loved ones the best way possible. I can only imagine if we lived each day like that - making sure that the real important things were prioritized that way and that our love was always outwardly expressed.

The blessing of life is incredible! I can't even begin to count all the small and large things I have been blessed with and I'm sure if we all try to look for things to be grateful for rather than looking for the things that we are without then we will be able to really recognize and feel the beauty of our own lives. If we really count our many blessings, even (and especially) the small things - our entire outlook on life can change for the better. Life is beautiful and the more we can recognize it the happier we will be!