Inside the Box

I call this my "treasure box" that my daughter Mary made in a summer art class when she was 9 yrs old.

Mary had spent hours making this small ceramic box which is about 4x4x4in. On the day she brought it home, I knew this box would always be a special symbol to me of Mary's character because of a little incident that happened. The box was on the front seat of the car as we drove home and her little brother, Nathan, wanted to help carry it in the house for her. As he tried to pick it up, the lid slipped and a corner cracked off. Nathan felt so bad and started to cry, but to my surprise, Mary's first response was, "Nathan, I know you didn't mean to do that. It's ok, we can try to fix it."

I have often wondered what makes us react to life's challenges in a good way or bad way. How do we have control over our actions and reactions? I know that it all begins in our thoughts. I see this box as a creation of Mary's character that she molded, shaped and put inside it her own qualities of tenderness, unconditional love, compassion, and kindness. When she reacted to her bother, her true self came out: tender, loving, compassionate, and kind words and actions. She showed me that "people are more important than things". We glued the lid back together and it sits on our shelf as a reminder of these principles I learned from her example that day. 

So what do I have in "my box"? How do I fill "my box" with the right characteristics that are who I am and what I am trying to become? 

 I am a happy and healthy person that loves to help people. I fill my box daily with healthy habits that I can pull out when the unexpected happens. I take a few minutes each morning to visualize what my happy and healthy life looks like that day. I visualize the emotions I will feel as a I exercise, eat regularly, drink lots of water. I visualize how I will notice people around me and recognize their needs and take the time to develop relationships with people. I also recognize I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and has a plan for me daily. I humble myself and pray for His blessing and guidance that I will find those He needs me to serve. 

When we feel a discomfort or uneasiness about something, I refer to it as a "cognitive dissonance". This tells us our expectations of ourself are not aligned with our actions. When our actions are aligned with our thoughts, we can feel peace and happiness. 

These are daily steps I take to reach my full potential for a Happy and Healthy life.

"One Day More"

Summer 2014 flew by so fast!! Every day I told myself it is "ONE DAY MORE" with my family as we anticipated sending off Ben on a 2 year mission to Lyon, France. I have no regrets and I lived every day to the fullest. There are no "last times" because we will be together again and I look forward to the growth and wisdom that will come to me and to each of my family members as we love and support Ben on his mission.

This summer, I learned a lesson I needed....  "One Day More" is to find gratitude and joy in the moment and it begins in my thoughts before my actions. When I would think of our days as "the last time we will....", I would get so sad, depressed and almost panicky that it had to be perfect. It felt heavy to carry. But one day the words to a song from Les Miserables kept coming to my mind... "One Day More", and I loved it!! "ONE DAY MORE" to live my life to the fullest, to enjoy being in the presence of my loved ones, to smell, to see, to touch, to taste, to feel happy and joyful about our eternal family!!!

Now that Ben is gone, I embrace "One Day More" in a new way: of spiritual growth, of new experiences, of spending time with my children who live at home, of working through the aches and pains of separation for a time, of letting go of my children as they enter independence, and of gratitude for being a wife and a mother!!

Celebrate today and everything that goes along with it because one day it will only be a memory!!