Choose To Be Grateful

Has it really been this long! I have been a slacker. I will blame it on the busy holidays :)

I have been thinking about a new post for a couple weeks now and what keeps coming into my mind is the need to be grateful. This Christmas season has allowed me to reflect on the many things in my life that I NEED to be grateful for. I have had some rough days lately. A lot of up and down. I have been searching for peace. I have found that when I ponder on all of the things I am grateful for I feel the most peace. I sometimes forget that God wants me to feel peace and happiness and most of the stress and sorrow I feel is because of my lack of gratitude. I allow negative and sad thoughts to control my mind and neglect the positive and grateful thoughts. I believe that this is key to our peace and happiness.

A lot of my struggles come from my own mind. The battle against ourselves always seems to be the most exhausting and stressful. My struggle with myself comes from my past. I have made some bad decisions and from time to time I still beat myself up. I read a quote from Elder Faust that has really helped: "All of us have made wrong turns along the way. I believe the kind and merciful God, whose children we are, will judge us lightly as He can for the wrongs we have done and give us the maximum blessing for the good we do. Alma's sublime utterance in Alma 9:26 seems to be an affirmation of this." I don't believe this is saying that if we make mistakes we won't have consequences or trials. But I do believe that God, who is our Heavenly Father, wants us to forgive ourselves and bless us as we recognize our mistakes and change. He loves us with an eternal love which allows him to forgive, be merciful, and bless us even when we go astray. He waits, every day, for us to come to Him.

I am grateful for a new year and new opportunities. I see so many things in my life that I need to do better. One of them is to be more grateful, and share that gratefulness with others. Even with the mistakes I have made I am alive, healthy, have the necessities of life, 2 amazing children, amazing friends and family, and a stronger relationship with my Savior. I guess I am living proof that God loves ALL of us. Even when we make wrong turns.

I know this to be true.

Progression

I have been thinking a lot about progress and personal worth lately. Today I came across this quote that that talks about our progression and God. "For He regards men not as they are merely, but as they shall be...as they are now growing, or capable of growing, toward that image after which He made them that they might grow to it. Therefore a thousand stages, each in itself all but valueless, are of INESTIMABLE WORTH as the necessary and connected gradations of an infinite progress."

We all go through different stages and trials in life, all of which help us to grow and become better. We will not, in this life, fully understand the necessity of certain trials and stages of life. The best solution is to learn from them and improve. Love life and embrace it. No matter how hard it can be at times.