The Decision to Follow...

Yes, Miss Gracious. I did just copy your post heading. I hope your OK with that, because I felt that there were no other titles that fit this post. Bear with me, everyone. 

So, like Gracious I had a pretty tough week. But I've learned a lot of really important lessons through it. Here's a few. :)

Really. Sitting there will not help you. At. All. I learned this week it actually makes you more anxious and overwhelmed. In church today we talked about saying 'No' to bad decisions and saying 'Yes' to good ones. Sometimes, I think it's harder for us to say 'Yes' maybe because of fear, or because of laziness, or... anything really! But one thing we decided is that we need to find the Courage to flick the light switch ourselves and find the way to God's light.

 
Only God can lead you through the Darkness and make something Great out of something difficult. But we have to LET Him. He can't do anything without our consent, without us reaching out our hands for Him to grab. I think that letting Him is the hardest step. Because we have to let go of all of our pride and just do it. Which is much easier said than done. But it is so much easier to get through life's awfulness if we just LET HIM  Grab our hand. 

Gracious, this one's for you. :) <3! Help and Happiness will come if we Trust God, and have FAITH in good things to come. We need to always remember that 'Christ never said it would be easy, He just promised it would be worth it.' And we'll all make it through. 

Love you all! Never forget to smile! :)

Quote!

 7 Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.

 8 But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in yourmind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shallfeel that it is right.

 9 But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which issacred save it be given you from me.

I liked this because it tells us how to make the right decisions. It's really helpful :).

Decide means to me to try to choose between one thing or another thing. (Preferably the right one :)) I think I can work on it this week by really focusing when making a decision.

Daily Decisions to Choose the Uncomfortable

Running a half marathon today reminded me of the importance of daily decisions. I wrote the following about the experience:

Happy Thanksgiving!
I ran 13.1 miles this morning. This was my third (and slowest) half marathon, but I wanted to share some things I learned through the somewhat painful process. Then anyone who reads this can learn what I learned and not have to run a half marathon! What a bargain :-)

Gratitude gives you energy
My favorite part of this race (besides running it with my husband) was the different signs along the way, expressing gratitude for different blessings. I honestly felt a burst of energy when I would remember my blessings as I ran. Gratitude connects you to God.

Relax and trust God
I learned this when I was training. I would set a goal to run as fast as I could to a certain spot, then walk, then pick another spot to run to. At one point I found I wasn't running all that fast and I would tense up and try to run faster. It hurt, but my speed didn't increase much. The I remembered, "Wait a minute, I know how to handle pain, I have had 7 babies! I just need to relax." I made myself relax, and I found I ran a lot faster and with less pain. I practiced this through the race.

It reminded me that while it is important to have a goal I am trying to reach, as I move toward it, I need to relax and trust God instead or relying on my own strength and efforts.

This morning I wrote an email to a friend about an issue I wanted to help her with. While I was running, I realized that in my efforts to help, I was a little worried and tense. I said some things I probably should have kept to myself in my desire to help her see what I perceived was the truth. During my run, I realized that even though my intent was to help, I would have been more helpful if I had only said those things I felt would help her want to seek truth from the real source of truth instead of being so blunt about my opinion. I was trying to follow the spirit, but I don't think the Spirit pushes thoughts on anyone without their consent. Maybe I wan't trusting God enough. I am not sure. But I do know I don't want to send emails anymore if I am in a state of worry.

Pay the price to be prepared
This may seem like the opposite of what I just talked about, but I think the two principles compliment each other nicely. I didn't train for this half marathon as well as I trained for the other two I ran. I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to finish. My time was 2:26. It was a lot better then I expected to get. But it was over 2 minutes slower - per mile - then the last half marathon I ran. For that one, nothing kept me home from going on a training run. I ran in cold, icy weather in the dark Baltimore streets. This time, I skipped runs if it was too cold or if I got too busy. It is okay - I had different priorities this time around. But it reminded me how each day I make decisions that determine how prepared I will be for the work God has for me to do.

When that work comes my way (as it does every day), I can be sort of prepared and unsure or I can be excited and well prepared. Preparation for a half marathon can be uncomfortable, inconvenient and not always fun. Especially when your house is so warm and outside is so cold! The decisions I make each day can be to do the comfortable and easy, but those won't help me reach my potential.

The Decision to Follow

This week has been... well... not necessarily amazing. :p

This week has been good, I suppose, but a lot of things this way just kind of haven't been going my way. It's been kind of hard.

But through these trials, Heavenly Father taught me something.

I see it as a dark tunnel I'm traveling through.




Heavenly Father has my hand, but sometimes I let go.



He always has his arm outstretched, but sometimes I choose to go my own way, because I have agency to choose to follow or not.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel that Heavenly Father sees shining brightly, but through my imperfectness, I can't see it.

Sometimes, I don't understand where I'm being led, and sometimes I just want to go my own way, because the natural man wants to be in charge. And of course, I am in charge, but I am never going to be able to get to that shining light at the end of the tunnel if I don't depend on Heavenly Father.

Right now it's just hard.

I do have a question, though, if someone could answer it for me.

How do we just depend on Heavenly Father all of the time? I mean, when things aren't going our way, when we have trials, when we aren't necessarily happy? Doesn't Heavenly Father want us to be happy? How do we stay with Him, and trust Him when we can't see the light?

I do have a testimony that he knows what's best for me, and that he'll lead me in the right way, but how to I stay with Him? How do I not ever let go of that always outstretched hand?

Please help me!

I love you all!

Love,
Gracious

Decisions.

I'm just gonna come out and say it,

I hate decisions.

 People tell me its because I'm a two or because it's the way I am but it doesn't make any difference to me. Decisions are hard, confusing, and stressful. I always get really worried when I have a decision that must be made. What if I choose the wrong thing? What if it doesn't work out? What then?

Some decisions are pretty obvious. Some are less so, but still fairly easy. Some are harder, take more work and concentration, I believe all decisions should be made with God's help. He knows best, right? He already knows what is going to happen!

So....

Since I hate making decisions some times the only thing I want to do is do nothing, to ignore it and hope it goes away. Maybe it is for this reason that my favorite quote was this one by Theodore Roosevelt: "In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing." It is comforting to know that even doing the wrong thing is better than doing nothing.

Often in young women's or primary I was told to 'make the decision now rather then later' what does that even mean? Obviously we can't make all decisions early in life but we can make some. Are some decisions more important then others? We made a pretty big one to come down to earth and gain a body to go through this mortal experience. Did we make decisions before that in heaven? Will we continue to make decisions after we die? I guess we will just have to wait and see :)

If decisions are so important to Heavenly Father then maybe I should learn to love them more... I guess its time to look up some scriptures :D

Good luck deciding! Click here for the link to my word study!
♥Color Girl♥

My life Goals and Purpose

I just wrote this to apply for an internship at the capitol. When I was done, I realized that it had quite a bit to do with decisions. So I'm posting it!

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There are many currents flowing through our lives. Each one striving to pull our attention after them. There is music, there are cliques, there’s the latest fashion, and always the ever looming quest for popularity. We find ourselves drifting aimlessly far too often. The hard truth is this; following the crowd will never make you better than the crowd. A deliberate, anchored life is the surest way to achieve greatness and success. That is the life I live. What happens to a boat without an anchor, a sail without wind, or ship without a rudder?

In the ship we call life, each of us has the ability to steer ourselves through the currents of life. Surely, there are currents, tides, and waves that will be in our favor. But floating aimlessly where the wind and water take us will only end in ruin. To echo the words of Thomas Carlyle  “A man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder.” Truly, becoming great requires great aspirations, and goals are the way to achieve those.

If goals are our rudders, then we must make and keep goals. Goals are the absolute key to success in our lives. Great, impactful people like Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs, Mahatma Gandhi, and so many others all made and followed through with great, impactful goals. These were the key to their success. It stands to reason that if we would also become great, that we must plan and make goals. We must live deliberately for greatness. This is the way to succeed

What is this “success?” By definition, it is the act of succeeding at something. What is this thing we are succeeding at? This, is the key to setting goals. Many people will make goals only to fall back into the flow because they are not purposeful in their goals. It is this same “purpose” that we must succeed in completing.

Each individual has their own purpose they approach in life. Some purposes are not well founded, and hence, do not provide the support needed to guide their ships through the sea of trends. My personal purpose has been a guiding force for me for several years. Guiding me through the currents around.

My purpose in life is to lead positive change in the world through politics. This is a lofty vision, but it gives me the direction I need to become great. My goals to achieve this vision are:

• Become an Intern in a major government entity, such as the Utah Governor's office, legislature, or other like entity.
• Attend LDS Business College and receive my associates in Paralegal Studies.
• Continue to BYU and receive my Bachelors in Political Science.
• Switch to J. Reuben Clark Law School and receive my MBA.
• Pursue a career as a Lawyer.
• Engage in the political arena as a public servant.

These goals demonstrate my plan to achieve the aforementioned purpose. It is through the achievement of these six steps that I can begin to become great. This is my rudder, and they are guiding my ship to new lands of greatness and wonder. I am living deliberately.

My Favorite Quotes about Decision! ;)

This is my favorite quote that I found about decision:

I love Dr. Seuss!!! :)

What is one or your favorite quotes on decision?

Love,

Gracious! :)

P.S. I'm sorry that I didn't have anything that hit me super hard this time! ;) Maybe as I go along the week, I'll find something! :D