I was reading some of my blog recently (like reading old journals, sometimes reading from previous experiences in my life provides valuable learning, perspective and gratitude for me) and I realized that so many of my posts are about the experiences I've had with health problems over the last few years. Much of my mortal spiritual tutorials have come through those experiences in these recent years. However, I want to just write briefly about some of the things I love most deeply in this life...things that bring me pure joy, things that delight my soul in every way and give vision to my life. If you don't like random ramblings about joyful things, I suggest you not read this. :)
I love summer. I love how green it is. I love the sunshine. I love the warmth. I love going running outside. I love summer sunsets and how the earth cools down and how good it feels to be outside in the evening when the day has been super hot. I love the places I get to go with the people I most love being with, and the food I get to eat. I love that everything is alive and growing, covering the earth with absolute beauty.
I love being a woman. I love the feelings of being a nurturer, comforter, and friend that come naturally for me. I love knowing that I am not only a woman, but that I am a daughter of a Heavenly Father and Mother who are perfect beings. I love that I can speak with my Father in Heaven through something as simple as prayer. I love that I have that access to Him anytime I want it, wherever I am. I love that I can feel Him just by taking a moment to be still. I love that I can know He is there, just by thinking about Him, and talking to Him. I love that marriage is part of my Father's divine Plan. I love the thought that I get to be a wife and a mother one day. Those are the two things that I have wanted beyond all else since I was just a tiny child. Most of the dreams of my whole life fall into these roles. I believe in love. True love. Happily ever after love. For time and all eternity love. The concept of forever, though it blows my mind, creates a deep sense of joy within my soul. I love that there is potential for creation within each person. And because of that amazing blessing, I rejoice in being clean and chaste, and in being around people who are clean and chaste. I love that my spirit is the creation of two people who were so clean, so pure, so righteous, that though once mortals like me, they became exalted beings who out of their love and their goodness created my eternal spirit. Such potential....to be a creator of spirits and to live in an exalted state with my eternal companion makes me want to be clean above all else. I love the vision that the Relief Society program provides for me. It inspires me to be my most charitable, most spiritually feminine self. I love that I get to be part of God's eternal family.
I love learning. I delight in productivity. I love "getting things done." I hope to make a difference in the world around me by the training I give my minds and my hands. Though I sometimes would rather focus on people than schoolwork, I love that I have the opportunity to attend a university and learn of secular things. As I learn of them, I feel that I grow closer to the Lord because all things testify of Him. So many of the things I learn in my schooling are reflections of God's laws....and of course it is so because He is the creator and ruler of this world.
I love singing. Singing is my favorite thing. Maybe second only to smiling. I just love singing. It makes me so happy and renews my soul. Plus, it is one of the ways I worship and praise the Lord, and express my delight in life and the world around me.
I love how the Holy Ghost cleans my spirit. I love that how immersing myself in things that bring the Spirit literally cleans out my mind, my heart and my spirit of all things not in alignment with the Lord. I love how the Spirit changes things. I love how something can look so big or bad or hard and how the Spirit can put it into an eternal perspective and give me patience or strength or hope or love, etc to deal with it. I love that each person has their own unique spiritual strengths and weaknesses and how our interactions with each other help us to grow. I love that growth and service are endless opportunities because of our Savior. I love that change and love and hope can always grow and improve within us. I love that the work of discipleship will always exist. There will always be work to do for my Savior.
One of my favorite quotes hangs on my door and I read it every day when I leave my room:
"YOUR PERSPECTIVE IS VITAL TO YOUR HAPPINESS. Some, blind to the bountiful opportunities around them, live lives of sadness and despair with brief moments of joy. Be alive to the abundant potential that surrounds you so that you live a life of peace and happiness with periods of challenging growth." -Elder Richard G. Scott
...And one more, just to share a goal that I am trying to work on (focusing on the good in myself and others)
"Do you want to affiliate with the Christ in people or the Adversary in people? Which ever one you choose, it is necessary for you to find those characteristics- either Christ's or the Adversary's - in each person you meet...and in, I might add, your self."
