The Secret To A Happy Life

So Tuesday was kinda jacked.  I was annoyed at work.  Irritable.  Finding fault with others.  Today I realize, "who am I to judge another when I walk imperfectly."  I need to mind my own business and do my best work.  Why do we get so outraged when we feel like we are being taken advantage of (or maybe it's just me)?  I mean, maybe I don't know the full story.  How do we (I) overcome that frustration?

Anyway, back to the story.  I was drained on Tuesday from a long day at work and my being frustrated depleted my energy even faster.  So I was tired.  So I ate dinner.  So I turned on my electric blanket and snuggled into my covers and fell asleep at around 8:30.

I awoke in the morning and felt SOOOO refreshed.  Today was a superb day.  Nothing got to me.  I let nothing faze me.  I was businessy, but fun.  I realized that the secret to my happy life is adequate-bordering-slightly-excessive SLEEP.

Is There Room Enough To Receive It All?

A few weeks ago I couldn't help but have the words of King Benjamin running through my head over and over again.  Like, oh-my-heavens-to-Betsy, I will never be able to repay God for all that he has given me.  All I can do is keep His commandments like He has asked, but then He will immediately bless me and I am once again indebted to him.

I thought about this as I returned home from my mission.  I set out as a missionary with the desire to give.  I refused to accept the idea that the mission could/would give me anything in return because I wanted to believe that being a missionary wasn't about me, it was about others.  The mission wasn't supposed to be a time to change myself, rather a time to help others change.  But I feel like as I let go and allowed myself to become a witness of Jesus Christ, I changed the most out of anyone I taught.  So the mission became not just about me helping OTHERS come unto Christ, but about how others helped ME come unto Christ.

This week was a pondering week.  I have had a LOT on my mind.  Thinking about relationships with people that mean a lot to me.  Thinking about how I can improve.  Thinking about the value I place on my relationship with God.  This week has been a struggle in many ways.  But this chapter in Mosiah kept floating through my head.  Even with the ups and downs of this week, I have grown closer to God.  I know where I stand with Him.  I trust Him...I'm trying to.  His opinion of me is the one I want to care the most about.  I CANNOT deny that the blessings being poured upon me are more than I even have room to receive.  And that's just talking about the blessings that I currently recognize.  As I reflect I'm sure I will see even more.  I wanted to focus on the disappointing and frustrating moments of my life this week but nothing could keep me down for very long because there's no where to hide from all of these blessings (God's love).

Sorry for the ramble.

20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the^athanks and ^bpraise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and ^cpreserved you, and has caused that ye should ^drejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—

 21 I say unto you that if ye should ^aserve him who has created you from the beginning, and is ^bpreserving you from day to day, by lending you ^cbreath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own ^dwill, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your^ewhole souls yet ye would be ^funprofitable servants.

 22 And behold, all that he ^arequires of you is to ^bkeep his commandments; and he has ^cpromised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth ^dvary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do ^ekeep his ^fcommandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

 23 And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.

 24 And secondly, he doth ^arequire that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately ^bbless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

Needed This Today...

"The purpose of mortality is to learn and to grow to be more like our Father, and it is often during the difficult times that we learn the most, as painful as the lessons may be."

—Thomas S. Monson, "God Be with You Till We Meet Again", Liahona and Ensign, November 2012