Truly Blessed

Today I can honestly say that I feel truly blessed.  These past 2 years have been very challenging and yet very rewarding.  My trial has been one of heartache, despair, love, and overwhelming joy.  It has been proof to me that although we have our trials and mistakes, God loves us all and wants us all to be happy.

On July 6th, 2012 I will marry a beautiful and loving woman.  In all honesty I never thought I would be able to meet such a wonderful person.  I have been given a second chance and I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with a sweet, caring woman in my life.  I know that we have been placed in each others lives for a reason.  I know that as we begin our journey together we will be met with challenges...but I know that with these challenges we will be able to grow and overcome through the atonement of our Savior.  I can truly say that I am a happy, blessed person who has literally been given a second chance in life because of my Savior and Redeemer.  I owe my life to him.

I want every person to believe and know that no matter what trial they are facing at this moment, there is help.  Our Heavenly Father loves each of us and there is nothing in your life he can't heal.  Through this blog I have tried to convey the feeling that we ALL have trials and that we ALL can receive help through the atonement.  We are all capable of change, even difficult change, if we allow the help God provides to take affect in our lives. If we have faith, work hard, and trust in God, we can overcome anything!

I look forward to continuing this blog as I know that more trials and experiences will come.  I hope that my experience can help others that are struggling with any sort of trial and that they may know there is hope, happiness, and peace through the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Follow Your Heart

A very good friend told me today that too many times we follow our mind instead of our hearts.  Sure there are times that we just need to use our minds and follow logic.  But when it comes to spiritual decisions, we need to focus more on the heart.

Our minds are very powerful.  We can sometimes allow our thoughts to control our moods, our decisions, and our actions.  And many times we can make decisions based on irrational thoughts or fear.  There is also another key component to this: Satan.  He desires for us to follow him so badly that I believe he can affect our thoughts.    No I do not believe that he can control our thoughts, but I do believe that he can influence them.  The point I'm getting at is that we can talk ourselves out of anything! If we allow our thoughts to spiral out of control we can end up making wrong decisions or rejecting something that is right.  I have struggled for many years with a troubled mind.  I have on many occasions allowed my thoughts to control and consume me.  I have allowed these thoughts to produce fear and that fear has lead to difficult situations.

For many of us it may be hard to find the balance between what our mind is saying and what our hearts are saying.  I believe that the greatest way to overcome a troubled mind is to pray.  As we sincerely pray, we will begin to listen to our hearts.  Prayer can help to ease our minds and help us to focus on what is really important.  I know that our Heavenly Father loves us and he is the one that gave us our incredibly powerful minds.  So who better to help us than him.  We can be assured that our Heavenly Father is listening and will help us.  We cannot allow negative, fearful, pessimistic, and evil thoughts to control our lives.  We must be able to filter through those thoughts so that we can focus on how we truly feel, on what our hearts are saying.  If we truly follow our heart, it will not fail us.  Especially if we allow our Heavenly Father to be a part of our decisions, a part of everything in our lives.

This is a difficult balance to find.  I know that it can be frustrating.  I know that as we include prayer in our lives and decisions, we will better be able to follow our heart and do what is right.  And the jumbled mess that is our mind sometimes, will become clear.  We can cast away fear and move forward with faith.  Don't make your mind your enemy, rather make it an ally with your Heavenly Father and your heart.

Don't Look Back

Once again it has been way too long since I have posted on my blog. I made a resolution to do better and I have failed for the past 2 months. So it is time rededicate myself! Thankfully, life has been very good to me while I have been away and I continue to be grateful for what I learn everyday through my trials.

I have written before about the importance of staying focused on the present. Although it is important that we learn from the past it is also important that we don't stay focused on the past. In my current situation, it would be very detrimental to my progression if I kept looking back. My life has changed dramatically over the past 18 months and yes, some very poor decisions in my past have left me with consequences. But, just because I made a mistake doesn't mean I'M a mistake. I cannot allow my mind to linger on thoughts from my past mistakes. I am a new person with new opportunities. As we go through trials and face them head on, we will begin to change. If we allow ourselves to change we will no longer need to focus on the past. Our futures are bright and filled with hope. Our Heavenly Father has provided a way for us to return to him and it is through repentance. Repentance helps to heal pain, but most of all it helps us to rid ourselves of our past mistakes.

God has too much in store for us to be lingering in the past and focusing on our mistakes. He wants us to come to him and be clean. We don't need to dwell on our past to find this. Just don't look back and look to the Savior instead.

Prove It To Yourself

As you struggle through trials and hardships you may have the tendency to worry too much about what other people think. I have wanted so badly for people to accept me for who I am now and not the man that I was. This struggle can be very draining. I believe it is a noble desire to show others that you are a different person, especially those you have hurt. But when it comes down to it, the one you need to prove it to the most is YOU. True happiness and peace comes when you can view yourself as a new person, loved by God, who has forgiven himself. I struggle with this still as the challenges of life and my situation are still affecting my life. I still have days where I beat myself up over my past. My future is bright yes, but my past can still come back and haunt me. This is why my acceptance of myself for who I am is so important.

No one besides yourself and God know your true desires and where you heart is. Other people cannot control or decide for you how you should feel or who you are as a person. Yes, there are things I need to prove to people in my life. I accept the challenge. But I cannot let that overwhelm me. I have learned through this experience that EVERYONE is struggling with something. Big or small, heavy or light. We ALL have struggles, addictions, trials, etc. It is important for us to not pass judgement, lend a helping hand, and try and lift others. But in order to do that as effectively as possible, we need to be comfortable in our skin and know that we are good people.

Prove it to yourself first. Be the best YOU that you can be and your outlook on life will be brighter and more hopeful. As you do that, you will better be able to serve others. Block out the negativity. Do not let others tear you down. Some people won't believe you or trust you. Some people may feel the need to try and make things harder for you. Keep your head up and press forward with confidence in YOURSELF. God believes in you and will assist you.

Courage

I have been slower with my blog posts lately and I have made a new commitment to post every week again! A quick thought for today is to be courageous. If we want to make major changes in our lives we need to have courage. Courage comes from a deep desire to change. Courage will help us withstand the trials and difficulties that the process of change will bring to us. As we begin changing we will soon see how strong we really are and our courage will grow.

We need to face life's battles with courage. Be brave in the face of adversity. Stand strong when it is so easy to fall down. Keep your head held high and your feet firmly planted. Courage to follow the Savior will lead to NEW you.

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.