Beauty? Magazines

Last night I went grocery shopping.  As I stood in line to check out, I was reading the headlines on the various magazines on display.  The news magazines all had headlines about the recent Kim Cardashian incident (as if we all held our breath waiting to find out...).  The magazines that used to hold tips about housekeeping and cooking all held tips about weight loss.  Every single one promised fast results.  One even said you could lose nine pounds in two days.  (Wouldn't that do serious damage?)

What a sad commentary on our society.  Why are we all so focused on what we look like?  Yes, most of us wish we could lose weight.  Most of us could probably stand to lose a few pounds to be healthier, too.  But why the obsession with how we look?  Does it really matter what size clothes we wear?  Do we really look at others and automatically think about their weight?  No. So why do we assume others do that with us?

But even if they did, why does it matter what other people think about us?  I've always wondered why other people's opinions are so important to us.  The only opinion that should matter to us is our own.  If we are doing our best with things, why can't we just be happy about that?

Just something to think about.  The Lord looketh on the heart.  We should too.  If we are doing our best spiritually and morally, our appearance shouldn't be our top priority.  We need to be neat and comely.  The Lord didn't request supermodels. :)

Just Like You Asked!!!

Yesterday I put some noodles in water to boil and then realized I needed to run an errand really fast.  I asked my husband to stir the noodles a couple times while I was gone.  He said he would.  A few minutes later I left.  He was waiting for me to yell down the stairs that I was leaving.  We aren't sure if I forgot to yell down or if he just didn't hear me.  In any case, when I came home, he was laughing.  The noodles hadn't gotten stirred because he hadn't realized I'd left yet and so hadn't stirred them.  He was just putting a new pot of noodles on when I got home.  He laughed and told me what happened.

Then my three year old came in.  She was so excited to tell me.  "Daddy didn't stir the noodles, just like you asked!"  Keep in mind her tone. She wasn't trying to tattle, though that's what it ended up being.  She was so excited to tell me.  Her tone was more of a "YEA DADDY!" than anything.  She thought it was so neat.

What a good lesson in attitude. Why can't we all be like little kids and be excited about small things.  It's too bad that as adults it tends to take big things to get us excited about life.  The world would have far fewer struggles with depression and anger if we all got excited about the little things as well as the big things.

The Garbage Can

So a couple months ago I was clearing out our back yard.  We had piles of debris that needed cleaning up, and I was filling our garbage cans with it.  Then when the can was dumped, I could do another load.  One day I knew the garbage truck was coming, so I filled a can.  After the truck emptied it, I hurried and filled it again with the intent to wheel it across the street to be dumped again, thus getting two loads done in one day.  The pile I had filled the can with this second time looked to be leaves and sticks.  As I started pulling the can up the hill, I soon realized it was mostly dirt, and that it was FAR too heavy for me to pull up the hill on my own.  Determined to succeed without having to wait for my husband, losing the opportunity for the extra garbage truck dump, I continued pulling up the hill.  At one point, I slipped and fell, pulling the heavy can down on my leg.  After several minutes I managed to free myself.  I again began to pull it up the hill.  Again I fell and pulled the can on my leg.  Several minutes of pain and I was free again.  A third time I started this process, pulling the can and then falling with the can on my leg.  I was still only halfway up the hill.  Finally, I realized I would NEVER be able to pull the can up the hill on my own.  I walked next door and found a neighbor who worked from home.  He came and assisted me.  With his help, we got the can up the hill and across the street quite easily.  I was able to have the extra load emptied as I had hoped.

Isn't it funny how we seem incapable of asking for help, even when we know full well we aren't capable of completing a task on our own?  And isn't it funny that when WE have to ask for help, we feel like everyone is judging us and will think badly of us, but when we someone asks US for help, we don't even notice?

Just a thought. :)

Those Blankets Don't Work!

A few weeks ago, my little girl fell out of bed during the night.  She was crying when I went in to 'rescue' her.  I picked her up to cuddle her so I could calm her down enough to tell me what happened.  When she was able to talk between sobs, she pointed to the blankets she'd been wrapped up in that were now on the floor.  "Those blankets don't work!" she cried to me.

Her comment made me laugh.  Everyone I told laughed because it was cute.  She fell out of the bed and thought it was because the blankets didn't work.  Then I started thinking about it.  How often do we blame things or people other than ourselves when things go wrong?  She fell out of the bed because she had rolled too close to the side.  It had nothing to do with the blankets.  In life, how often do we reap the consequences of our own choices and then blame others or things or situations when in reality it is our own fault?

When I was a teacher, I had a student who got in trouble for breaking a serious rule.  He was expelled as a result of his action.  I saw him a year later, still not graduated from high school - even though all his friends had graduated by then.  He was still angry about having been kicked out of the school.  He blamed the teacher who had turned him in to the principal.  He thought she was just out to get him.  He blamed the students who were with him.  He blamed the principal for not being sensitive to his situation.  He blamed everyone and everything except the one place where the blame actually lay- with himself.  HE broke the rule and then had to reap the consequences.

Just a thought.  It would be a happier world if we could all just accept responsibility and place blame in ourselves when it deserves to be there.  How many wars could we avoid if everyone did that?  How much crime would be dissolved if there was no need for revenge because people accept responsibility for their own actions?  How many of us would have more friends if we did this?

My goal is to accept blame when I am guilty and to forgive others when the blame is theirs.  I challenge everyone to do the same.

The Beginning

I started thinking that I should try blogging, as everyone seems to love it.  I didn't know if my life was interesting enough to make it worth it, but we'll give it a shot anyway.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (often known as Mormon).  A lot of people do not understand our beliefs.  There is a lot of media out there about the church that tries to explain our beliefs, but much of it is false.  Let me try to explain the basics of our religion.  We believe in Jesus Christ.  He is the Savior of all mankind.  He came here to the earth to show us how to live.  Then he suffered for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane and died on the cross.  Three days later he rose again.  This is the foundation for our church.  Let it be known that we are Christian.  We also believe in the Book of Mormon.  This book is similar to the bible.  It is the teachings of the Savior to the people on the American continent, just as the bible is His teachings to the people in the Old World.  We believe in the Book of Mormon because it verifies the teachings in the bible.  It gives us a second witness to the spiritual guidance and the guidelines taught in the bible.  Joseph Smith was the first prophet in modern times.  Contrary to popular belief, we do not worship Joseph Smith. :)  We honor him just as we honor our current prophet, Thomas S. Monson.

I know this religion to be correct.  If anyone has any questions about our faith, I challenge him/her to read the Book of Mormon.

I hope to be able to share my thoughts about life in a way that will help people understand me as well as my faith.