I have been contemplating this blog post for quite some time now... since June to be exact. I have had such a hard time thinking about how to blend all my thoughts together. I have a bunch of posts written out in my drafts to prove it.
It wasn't until I spent a lot of time with my best friend this week or until I listened to General Conference that I knew exactly what I needed to write about.
There were two specific talks that really spoke to me this time around and these talks are the talks that helped refine and blend my thoughts together, and this is what my post will be based upon.
I think it is amazing how much our Heavenly father truly guides and blesses us.
He blesses us with EVERYTHING. Sometimes it is hard to see all the blessings that we are granted because the world fogs our vision. The world tells us that there is to much to be done, there is no time to worship God and to thank him for all that he is given us. I sometimes fall into this trap and then something happens that causes me to take a step back and look at the things that are going on around me and I can't help but thank God for all that I have, especially for my family and for my friends. My family and friends are who have helped me to become who I am today and they continually help me to see the potential in myself when I can't and to help me realize the person who God designed and intended me to be.
Our friends and family are there to believe in us at times when we don't even believe in ourselves.
I think that is the most remarkable things about the friendships we make.
Each and every friendship we create gives us more hope, and more determination to be better.
We can consistently be reminded that we can do it, and that the Lord is on our side,
NO MATTER WHAT!!
Sometimes it feels as if the whole world is against us and that our friends aren't who we thought they were, or that we have created some made up scenario in our head that isn't even true whatsoever; that causes us to believe that our friend aren't who we think they are, even though they are so much more then we know, there was just miscommunication.
Sometimes we wonder,
Am I a good enough person?
Do I deserve their friendship?
Am I acceptable in their eyes?
And when we wonder these things about our self worth and divinity, Satan tries to get at us by putting thoughts in our heads that lead us to believe that we aren't good enough, that we can't measure up, that we can't be a good enough friend for that person because we make mistakes of our own and we have said things that we shouldn't. He leads us to believe that we have no value because of things we are going through.
"Life is Hard" he says, "Just give up"
"You'll never be good enough, so why even try?"
"They don't accept you because your choices don't reflect theirs"
"I can't do all these things, because I have no worth."
These are lies!!! These are all thoughts from Satan, and we can over come these thoughts by being around people that uplift an edify us, by reading the word of the Lord, whether that is the Book of Mormon or Bible.
We can over come them by simply trying.
Gordon B. Hinkley said "All the Lord expects of us is to try, but you have to really try!"
These are the thoughts that Come from God:
"I never promised this life would be easy but I did promise that I would be by your side and guide you, so never give up. You are not alone."
"YOU ARE ENOUGH!"
"Sometimes the right things aren't always the easy things but it will be worth it in the end"
"You can do this because you have worth. You matter to me, you matter to your family, and you matter to your friends."
All we need to do to receive Heavenly hope and help is to ask.
How do we ask for this Heavenly hope and help?
THROUGH PRAYER.
If it has been a while since you have prayed and had a conversation with Heavenly father I plead with you to get on your knees and start praying to him, he will answer you and you will feel his Heavenly love surround you.
I Love this quote from Jeffery R. Holland that says
"However many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made..., I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is NOT possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ's Atonement shines."
Elder Cornish exclaims, "It will not work to justify ourselves in our sins by saying 'God knows it is just too hard for me, so he accepts me like I am.' Really trying means we keep at it as we fully come up to the Lords Standard."
In the world we live in today it is essential that we use the tools we have been given for spiritual survival.
Russell M Nelson describes life perfectly by declaring, "Life is filled with detours and dead ends, trials and challenges of every kind. Each of us has likely had times when distress, anguish, and despair almost consumed us. Yet we are here to have Joy? Yes! the answer is a resounding yes! But how is that possible? and what must we do to claim the joy Heavenly Father has in store for us?
To me, the answer is simple. we must focus our life on the things that matter. We must push Satan's awful words out of our mind. Joy comes from the savior. The savior assures us that our circumstances are temporary, they are "but a small moment" and will pass us by.
We can help ourselves feel joy and those around us feel joy by giving thanks to him and by keeping our covenants.
As our savior becomes more and more real to us and as we plead for his joy to be with us, our joy will be increase...If we focus on the joy that will come to us, or to those that we love, what can we endure that presently seems overwhelming, painful, scary, unfair, or simply impossible? (Russell M Nelson)
Our focus will motivate us to carry on. It will help us see the potential in seemingly impossible situations. The thing is, that everything is fixable and figure-out-able. Sometimes it just takes a little more figuring out. A little bit more attention and focus. If you give the things that you are struggling with a little bit more time, they will resolve, because these things are "of but a small moment."
We must avoid the the things that interrupt our joy.
What is interrupting your joy??
Think about it...
WRITE THEM DOWN
Have you had enough time to think about it and to write it down?
Go ahead and cut those things our of your life and don't let anything stop you.
Cut them out right now...
No seriously make a promise to yourself that you won't fall back into the things that keep you from joy, rip it up, throw it away and leave them out of your life for good.
Did it feel good to leave behind the things that don't bring you joy?
Good! Now, don't forget the feelings you have felt as you just made that decision.
"If we look to the world and follow its formulas for happiness, we will never know joy. The unrighteous may experience any number of emotions and sensations, but they will never experience joy! Joy is a gift for the faithful. it is the gift that comes from intentionally trying to live a righteous life, as taught by Jesus."
CHOOSE HAPPINESS AND JOY EVERYDAY!!!
It most definitely is a choice, so make your life better and decide right now that you will always choose the path that helps bring you joy.
"The Joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and EVERYTHING to do with the FOCUS of our lives." -Russell M. Nelson
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