THIS IS LIFE!

THIS IS LIFE. Life is not work. Life is not my obligations. Life is people. Life is the moments I connect with people. Life is reading scriptures. Life is feeling joy. Life is sharing with friends. Life is laughing. Life is not hassles, frustrations, daily pettiness. Life is bigger than that. It is tears, it is struggles, it is growth. I am not defined by my work because my work is not me.

I like people! (who knew?)

I like people. I know, I know. This is a new development. But breaking up has made me need friends, and now I'm realizing that I really enjoy talking to people. Everyone has an interesting story. The trick is to get them to share it.  I used to be the one waiting out in the car because I didn't want to talk anymore; now I'm the last one out of the party. And I go home feeling like there were so many people I didn't get to talk to! Crazy, right?

slow growth (in a non-frustrating way)

I was going through some old notes from BYU-I devotionals the other day, and came across this quote from Elder Maxwell: "Patience is also measured by our frustration level." Amazing how I'm relearning this principle (or maybe learning it for the first time) eight years after hearing it. Perhaps there are some things about me that haven't changed very much.

quotes

Janice J. Harrup 12/11/2001: "This is the place to be more righteous than I ever have in my life."

Alma 26:5-7; D&C 93:1

Lynn Robins 2/12/2002: "Is this "a" one? Is this a man who will honor his priesthood and enough like me that we will be happy?"

2/26/2002 K. Fred Scousen: "Happiness doesn't depend on what we have, but what we're grateful for."

3/12/2002 Boyd K. Packer: "You could warm your hands by the fire of his faith."

3/19/2002 Wendy Watson: "Real excitement comes from obedience."

4/16/2002 Don C. Bird: "Don't run off to Tarshish when you have a responsibility in Ninevah."

9/17/2002 Elder Coford: "Don't let others set standards by which you are judged and found wanting"

9/22/2002 President Richard Smith - E. Maxwell "patience is also measured by our frustration level."

Don't rush things. Look at the moment we're in, and how that moment influences our lives. Don't lose track of the importance of the moment. It is a time of preparation that will help me achieve my goals.

11/12/2002 Jeannette Beckem: "Live so God can trust us"

11/16/2002 Fall Focus on Women - Dallin Oaks: "Taking sacrament has to do with the temple"

3/2/2003 CES fireside - Elder Staheli

Elder Faust: "It will often be for us to decide between having a good time and leading a good life."