Famous and Influential

The story of how one girl's dreams were dashed:

The Reality of the Rock

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth is mighty winds, yea his shafts in the whirlwinds, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build, they cannot fall."

Worth and Purpose: You Deserve Someone Better?

“You deserve someone better”

I recently learned about a girl who ended a relationship with a boy because she felt she wasn’t worthy of his love, and feels that he deserves someone better. I don’t know the girl, her story, or any other real details, but my imagination, and the Spirit, filled the gaps, and I need to write this post for her and girls like her.

The Balance of Rebellion

Sometimes, rebellion is necessary. It is not my intention to say that one should blindly follow leaders or that rebellion is inherently evil. But let me be clear: The idea of rebellion is not new to the world today. All through the ages, people have been rebelling and people will continue to rebel, and think that they are the only ones rebelling.Often, generations are marked by what they rebel against. As I sit and think about this, I see it everywhere. It scares me to see how prevalent it is in our literature, media, and natural tendencies, prompting us to devalue the 'traditions of our fathers' and that the truths we've been taught aren't good enough for us.

Agency Promise

I keep talking, or at least thinking, about how much I want to write a post on Agency.

I have lofty aspirations for this post, and with that comes a lot of intimidation. Adding to that intimidation, I have read so many good arguments, for and against agency, in my psychology and philosophy courses, that I don't know quite where to start. One day, I want to write one, a great piece, too. I would want it to be content that people want to pass around because they can feel the truth of it, both in their hearts, and in their minds. I want myself and others to love and remember this topic, for I have glimpsed its value. Try as I might though, I forget about and devalue it all too often.

And as I'm reading about it, I am finding is that agency doesn’t want to be entirely pinned down, no matter who is writing about it. There are just so many facets and so much depth; it is like describing, love, the ocean, the taste of salt, humor, or what it means to be human

So, I want you to know that I have started one. What's more: I want it to be short. That's probably the hardest part as I'm rather wordy. So this teaser serves as more of an accountability check for me.I will have posted my promised take on agency by the night of October 31, 2012, assuming all goes according to my plan.

In the meantime, if you want, I would love to hear your perspective on agency, either in the comments or any other way you can get a hold of me. I don't promise to use them, but I do promise to consider them and try to fit them in, but like I said, I am trying to be brief.

It's a Miracle!

There are 4 miracles swirling around my mind today that I want to write about. I just got back from institute and as such I have a lot on my mind. First, though not one of my four miracles, is that I remembered and applied how I learn. That is by writing and taking notes. The past few weeks I’ve gone to institute but neglected to take notes, and as such, I neglected to gain my usual amount of spiritual strength. Today was different, and this blog post is a result.

Shut-down Touch-down

On Saturday, my body decided it had had enough, and shut down.

Your Way

So, lately I've been focusing on a few things. Since my 'liberation' from school last December, I've had a lot more free time, but not a lot of funds to do anything drastic :)

One thing that I've been thinking about is trying to eat healthier. As I've been thinking a lot, I've realized some things are just not going to happen. I had to figure out what I was willing to change and what my goals were.

This is not going to happen. But: I recently ate a little squash and didn't die, that's progress right?

I've found it incredibly hard to cook for just myself. I'm have a hard time when it's just for me, to put in basically any effort. A full year ago I was in a dinner group. We had dinner together about 4-5 times a week. The rest of the days we were to fend for ourselves. Since there were so many of us, we only had to cook once every 3 weeks. It was fabulous. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy cooking, but I loved not needing to most of the time. It meant that I got a real meal most days, it meant I was social and had friends, I was saving money, and these meals were not only delicious but fairly healthy.

Now I am living on my own in a faraway land (...10 minutes from where I used to live, and I have two roommates, so neither is true...). I've discovered - and remembered - some things: I don't really like the smell of kimchi (one of my roommates is Korean), but I do enjoy cleaning, making my apartment a home, hanging out with friends {old and new}, love reading, my job is pretty great, and that I want to - and can in my own way - make a noticeable difference for good. Sometimes I feel a little lost/weak in the new chapter, especially when some key pieces don't quite make sense right now. Yet, I know in whom I trust, and I can see His hand shaping my life, now and eternally. I gotta say, He is doing a fabulous job, my life is so blessed and I am so loved. Yes, I have a lot to look forward to, and a great foundation of opportunities to work with and learn from.

My friend in my new ward was talking about how he hates writing in a journal, but recognizes the value. Where journal writing is his goal, he can set up ways to get there, he just needs to find a way that works for him. I had one friend mention how she struggled with daily scripture reading until she found a way that worked for her, audio playback on her iPhone.

In life, we are faced with these types of challenges all the time. We don't want to deviate from the truth, and yet we're not perfect yet and it can be very destructive to expect that (though we should not plan to fail). For me, I know I could buy healthy food and really hope that I'd eat it. I know I won't though. Or, at least it would go bad before I could convince myself to eat it. Instead, I surfed health food blogs and what not, and looked for things I was already doing. Then, I looked for little ways to make it healthier, and feel enabled to make and keep making small changes. One day, I won't just be cooking for myself. And, I will have found a sustainable way to keep doing what is right.

There are ways we can improve, and it doesn't have to be major changes, just small ones day by day. My goal in life is, as many readers know, is to keep moving forward every day. I figure, if life is a marathon, and I can only manage to get an inch per day, at least I am making progress. Now, life and progress is measured on many different planes, so it can be hard to know what to work on. Often it feels like spinning plates.

Find a way to continuously improve, that works for you. Find your way. I'll give you a hint: prayer and scripture study, and talking with good people, will really help.

Dear Future Husband

Dear Future Husband,

My friend writes these on her blog, and it looked like fun, but she's marrying hers in a couple days, so it's a little different for us. Some days are hard, others, like today, have left me thinking about you (not in a sad/helpless sort, but wondering what you're doing, what challenges you're facing, etc.).

I want to share that when I struggle, I do my best to turn to God as quickly as possible and have taken the commandment to pray always as literally as I can remember.

He is our Father in Heaven and He loves us so much that He has prepared a way for us to share eternity together. He has provided a way for me to find strength until we find each other, and even after. Because, Future Husband, I know you're great, but there are some hurts that even you cannot take away just by being your awesome self, and hurts for you that I cannot take away or lessen. We need to have this relationship with Him first and foremost, so that we can truly be strong, equal partners in our eternal life together.

I'm not sure how long it will be till we find our way to each other, but I trust in His timing, and will keep listening and following where He leads. Even on the very hard days, I feel Him close by, guiding me onward and upward. I imagine that you are working to be the best you can be, and that's what makes you so great. Somehow it will all work out, even when it doesn't seem possible. I've heard that God loves showing us that with Him, all things are possible to him/her that believes in Him. You know this, of course. I just need to remind me of that too.

We have a lot to learn, you and I, and we won't learn it all before we find each other {thank goodness, that would be a long wait...}. We will live, learn, and share in this grand adventure of life. There will be crazy times that we cannot comprehend right now, the pain will be seemingly impossible to bear. But! We'll have each other, and most of all, we'll have God, the very Eternal Father, helping us all along the way.

So, I will wait in the sense that I haven't forgotten you, but go on, in the sense that I will keep doing all I can to draw nearer to God and living life as He would have me do.

Love always,
C.

Deliberate

I grew up dancing, others grew up playing sports, writing, or just in general learning in their context. The next question I will ask rhetorically is rather simple and obvious, yet I ask it anyway. Does excellence come easily? Naturally, my dancing ability required no extra work :) . And it that's true, all the professional sports players would never need to practice a day in their lives. And being a genius is just genetic.

I don't mean to lessen the reality of talent or intelligence. Practice makes permanent, that's for sure. However, there are countless examples of people who found what they were good at and perfected it. It was because they found a way to consciously and continually improve. It starts with being deliberate, with paying attention.

I have two basic styles for writing on this blog. The first is basically a brain dump, or rush write. You can tell when I write this way, my thoughts don't always connect because I'm mainly just trying to get all my ideas down on 'paper.'

The second type is the kind where I have thought about the topic enough to plan what I'm going to say and how I'm going to say it. I usually start with a rough outline, or at least a list of points I want to make, and I rewrite my ideas until I am satisfied with how they come across. Sometimes after I post one, I will go back days later and continue rewriting it. Others, like this post start with a brain dump and then hopefully work their way into a decent post.

Naturally, all my posts could use a great deal more editing. My point is that things of quality take work and diligent efforts to plan, execute, analyze, and revise.

Another example: My job, in part, is "sales support." I'm somewhere between a baby-sitter and a manager. Lately, I've been working with our sales guy and trying to help him be more deliberate in his efforts. Not sales-y, or "pitchy," but helping him be sincere and competent. At work, we have the opportunity to learn and use a great continuous training system.

However, our coaches only come once a week. Then we have the tendency to forget, and so remarkably, we haven't really improved. Is it the system's fault? No. Are we working at the right things? I'd say we're at least half-way there, we just need to align our priorities again. Because of this, we are just at a temporary impasse until we allow and work towards change. Imagine, in the "continuous improvement" cycle - planning, doing, reviewing, adjusting - that over time, the graph moves upward, in little steps. This is, in my mind, how we can achieve the best 'results' as we learn and grow.

As we go throughout life, let us remember that conscious, deliberate actions, can help us improve. When we focus on building up the small and simple things, and remembering our goals, we can really excel.

You’re not a hamster! Guest Post #3

If you’re a hamster, your day, every day, is something like:

• Wake up
• Feel hungry, search for food, eat…
• Feel thirsty, search for something to drink, drink…
•  All else taken care of, Find the wheel, get in and run… and run…
• Uh oh, it’s that time! Relieve yourself…
• Repeat previous steps over and over until you fall asleep.

And of course, you repeat this each day. A really wild day might find you changing the order; Woohoo!?

Now hamsters are perpetual loner’s and don’t do much with others; we’re different and interact with others all the time. There’s a little known addition to the “law of conservation of energy”** that states it doesn’t apply to hamster wheels. People don’t understand this, and ask many questions about it, but if you watch the hamster as he moves along (or she, it applies to female hamsters too!), the hamster and wheel just slow down. 

Most people reading this are fairly certain they’re not a hamster (and those who aren’t better solve those problems first). But with most people, when they wake up their steps are really different:

1.       If hungry, search for food, eat…

2.       If thirsty, search for something to drink, drink…

3.       Find some clean clothes to wear, hopefully they match… wear them.

4.       All else taken care of, Go to work, or school… (some really wild people are doing both!?)

5.       Relieve yourself as needed, where appropriate….

6.       Repeating previous steps until you fall asleep.

And repeat these steps each day; obviously that clothing step is huge! If you ask several people what they’ve been doing lately, you’re going to run into: “Same thing, different day…”; those people might as well be hamsters!  What you need to realize is it’s those differences that really matter. Every function you do, even good or great things can be ‘hamster-wheeled’ (yes, I’m using it as a verb now! You’ll have to get out of your hamster-wheel to see if it’s in the dictionary?) Look at concepts like prayer, or telling someone you love, ‘you love them’; Hamster-wheeling them (saying/doing the exact same thing, the same way over and over reduces their effect). At some point, the process will not feel like it has the same value it once did. Picture an employee walking in each day telling their boss: “This is the best job I’ve ever had!” (at first, the boss smiles and likes hearing it – but after it’s been Hamster-wheeled… the boss will try to avoid talking to this employee)

I know there are some determined hamsters out there that are going to point at the great things they achieve by establishing a good habit, and repeating it until it’s ingrained in their daily routine. I’m not arguing against that (adding new processes/functions is not hamster-ish) and we have to get off ‘our wheel’ to start those habits. But if we don’t review them, and ‘shake it up’ a bit… the monotony will slow down our wheel. Special events, vacations or even changing up the order of what you do each day, will be beneficial.

Just remember… you’re not a hamster!  Get off that wheel!


Written by Todd, what do you guys think? Are we hamsters, dancers, or human?