How to Rise Above Discouragement

In the middle of the night, I awoke feeling overwhelmed with discouragement. In the dark, it is easy to feel hopeless. The sunshine does offer the symbolic light and without it, it can feel so depressing.

It is sometimes easy; okay, it is just downright easy and natural to want to blame other people for that discouragement.  The only power I have to overcome those dark feelings is to quit blaming other people and take the necessary accountability to put the responsibility in my court. I start to feel renewed possibilities and hope as I see what I can change and what I can do to make my life better.

I have said this over and over again. When I focus on and blame other people or circumstances for my unhappiness, I give away my power. I can't repent for someone's sins but I can proactively deal with my own. And if the truth be known, sometimes they aren't really sins, just mistakes that provide the learning experiences that I need to grow.  It is only then that the light starts to shine again and I feel renewed hope.

The Power of Music

I felt something incredibly powerful and inspiring as I watched in a conference a group of 8-12 girls start to sing a song after hearing someone hum just a few notes of the song.

Some people say that churches brainwash their members. But I say, there is enough ugliness that gets in our head and thoughts that a good brain washing is helpful. I am grateful for songs taught at church at such a young age that can be inside a child's brain in order to guide and give purpose. I say, SING BABY SING.

If the words are spoken enough and especially put to music then more people will be influenced and will be walking in the light of His love and would be living the second line of that song, which is "teach me to pray to my Father above." Wouldn't that be a wonderful world to live in?

Where Does Your Motivation Come From?

If you struggle with worrying about what other people think of you, consider this. Most of our upbringing was based on pleasing other people. We were often told, "What would other people think?" In school, our performance was based on the assessment of others. We were somewhat manipulated by punishment and rewards, which caused us to be dependent on the evaluation of  and competition with others.

If punishment was our form of motivation, then we learned to be prompted by fear. If there was some sort of reward attached, we disconnected with the present moment and our own feelings and learned to focus on the expected benefit in the future. And especially if we were always anticipating someone's approval, then we frantically looked outside ourselves and were always at someone's mercy.

In this way we gave away our power to feel and enjoy the moment to a trophy, a grade, or someone's control. I say, take back your own power. Learn to be your own best authority on what makes you feel connected to your true self and what God created you to be and to what brings you joy and peace.  Look within because God is within you and you can know what you are right with Him and thus right with yourself. Notice what you feel. Feelings of peace and joy let us know we are in the right place. Feelings of elevated stress or anxiety signify we are off course. We can always look to others to be inspired and somewhat directed, but the ultimate goal is to be motivated from within and directed by healthy emotions.

Organize to find Peace

I woke up this morning to a disorganized office. Peace is not found in chaos. I know that establishing order is the first step in peace and creativity. That is why the first day in  the creation of the world was to organize. Organizing isn't the end all. It is just the means to a greater, more purposeful end. Begin with the end in mind but begin by organizing and then in that organized state, there is more peace and in that state of peace, there is more creativity.

Life is Good

Life is what I make it. When I focus on what is wonderful; more wonder shows up. When I focus on what I am grateful for; more to be grateful shows up. When I focus on what I love, more to love shows up. When I focus on my opportunities; more that is possible shows up.

Everyday the opportunity to choose is placed before me. The opportunity to choose between the bitter or the sweet. The opportunity to choose between the ugly or the beautiful. The opportunity to choose between love or hate. Everything is a mindset. Even the bitter contains sweetness, even what is ugly can be seen as beautiful, and even what we think we hate, we can find something to love about it.

When I declare Life is Good, it becomes such because I have new eyes.

Faith or Works?

"The most significant discovery of the human potential movement is that you can change your beliefs through your actions as readily as you can change you actions through your beliefs." I actually don't know who to give credit for this quote but it helped me realize why our works are so important. No, our works cannot save us; only Christ's grace through His atonement can. But our works help increase our belief and ultimate our faith in Him, and then our increased faith can motivate our good works even further thus drawing us closer to Him. It is a beautiful cycle.

Painful Lessons--Take Good Notes

I have learned that life is a great teacher and the painful things will capture our greatest attention and teach us the most. I say; take good notes.

Once when I felt abandoned and rejected, I decided to start a small journal and record the  positive thoughts and insights I was having at that very moment. I decided to ignore anything anyone else was doing or especially not doing for me, and instead I looked deep within and prayed that I would be taught what I needed to learn and do. It was one of the most valuable experiences of my life, and I discovered the way to feel joy and peace; especially when life is difficult.

I learned that my Heavenly Father is mindful of me and loves me enough to teach me.
I learned that there is so much to learn.
I learned to focus on positive change.
I learned that there is reason to have hope and be optimistic.
I learned that I have tendencies and sins that I needed to repent of.
I learned that the painful admission of sin was incredibly freeing.
I learned more gratitude for the gift of repentance through the Atonement.
I learned that my thoughts and focus can change the course of my live.
I learned to keep my focus on the only person I can control--me.

So again, I say take good notes. God is continually speaking to us.