Eyes Opened

Today in a combined Relief Society and Elder's Quorum we talked about Virtue. We didn't talk about it in a way most would assume, chastity, but instead we talked about it in another manner. We talked about how virtue can be power. We also talked about the different virtues. Near the end of the lesson we were asked to talk to our neighbors about how we think we can live more virtuously. Many things came up such as patience, and loving others, but two of the things that came up and stood out to me was courage and truly living. With courage we talked about how we have to have courage to stand for truth and righteousness. We have to be willing to stand alone in a crowd; be willing to say no. Personally this is one I struggle with. Though it may not always seem like it, being my own person has always been a trial for me. I find it difficult to decide even simple things about myself. I like pink and I love having long hair. Those things I do know. Ask me my favorite food and I no longer know. I used to say Mac N' Cheese and then I would say Fruit Snacks. A month or so ago someone asked if that really was my favorite food. If I was given a choice would I really prefer that over everything else. I realized I wouldn't and that I had no idea what my favorite food was. Today I am still trying to figure that out. When it comes to music there are certain people I know I like, but others I tend to just agree with whoever I am talking to. I don't want to disagree and in honesty I don't know what I think. Because of this struggle I don't always like to go against the crowd. I realized that I need to have more courage to walk away when I shouldn't be in certain situations. If walking away upsets the people I thought were friends, then they weren't real friends. The only person I should worry about judging me is the Lord, and He would be more proud if I walked away from a bad situation rather than stay. Maybe start to ask yourself, who are you more afraid of judging you? The Lord or your peers? If it's your peers, next time your faced with a situation where you should walk away, take 20 seconds of courage and do just that. Walk away. I promise you will feel better about yourself. You will know that you did the right thing.

When we say living life so many different interpretations can come about. The one I want to focus on is not going through life like a drone. In class, this guy pointed out that so many people are alive, but not really living. As a people we have gotten so used to our daily schedules that we just go through the day and don't really pay attention to what is going on around us. We have our eyes open, but aren't looking around. How many people do we pass that we could smile or say hello to? How many people do we walk past that could use our help? Do we really pay attention to what is around us? How many times have we walked outside, yet how many times have we paid attention to just how beautiful and magnificent this world is? We need to start living and paying attention. If we did this we would be able to see each other for who we all are. We could look deeper and get to know more about each other. We wouldn't just stick to the outside because that's just getting by. We can start to pay attention to the way we act. Have you ever taken a day and paid attention, and I mean really paid attention, to the words you say? I did this this past week and was actually sad at the results. I realized truly how much sarcasm I used in my life and realized that was an awful way to communicate with people. I noticed that certain conversations with people were almost all in sarcasm. That is not communicating. Personally I think we as a world are so busy judging others that we don't take time to critique ourselves. This doesn't mean we should beat ourselves down and hate on ourselves, it means that we should be aware of what we need to improve on and instead of ignoring those things actually starting to wake up and work on those things. No one on this Earth is perfect and everyone has something that can be working on. I know I'm not perfect and I will continue to try and work on those flaws that I have. I challenge you to do the same. 
I hope that wasn't too confusing. I guess sometime my thoughts can be random and jumbled. That's probably something I should work on. Well, life is grand. I had started to focus on the negative, but I am turning that around. Wake up and see the world around you. Start to notice the things going on around you. 
Just some updates: I only have a month left this semester and I did apply to become an RA this coming semester. I don't know if it'll work out or not, but I'm leaving that to Lord. If it's suppose to happen it will. I miss everyone back home. I miss seeing your smiling faces and your warm hugs. I hope life is well. And to all those braving the cold winter right now, stay strong, you can get through this. Again, I'll try to write more. Until next time.
Much love, 
MJ

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