Two days ago I went to visit my new friend Alma. She is a great-grandmother who lives in a nursing home. We really bonded last weekend when I drove her to church and had to get her and her wheelchair into my car. She is a gem.
When I went to see her this week we discussed a talk from General Conference by President Uchtdorf that really struck me both initially and re-reading it. He talked about how so often we only enjoy experiences in the retrospect and how we must instead enjoy them as they happen. I LOVE this. I love this part, too:
"We
shouldn’t wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to
discover that happiness was already available—all the time! Life is not
meant to be appreciated only in retrospect. 'This is the day which the
Lord hath made … ,' the Psalmist wrote. 'Rejoice and be glad in it.'"
So Alma and I talked about this and I was so severely struck by this concept and how it applied to me in that moment. How life had given me so many blessings, including this new friendship.
Just hours before I went to visit her I was thinking about how Fall 2010 really seemed like the golden days of my time in DC, and how everything since then had not been as fun and exciting and happy. And then I taught Alma and we rejoiced in this great message and I realized my life is extraordinary and I could never have adequate time to give thanks for all of life's blessings. Grateful for a renewed understanding that I need to enjoy my life today, always recognizing my many blessings and the source of them all. "Humility and gratitude are truly the twin characteristics of happiness." - Richard C. Edgley
I feel it is fitting to end with my favorite quote from my favorite book by the most brilliant author. Nothing in all of literature has ever struck me like this. I am grateful for Tolstoy:
'People speak of misfortunes...,' remarked Pierre, 'but if at this
moment I were asked: "Would you rather be what you were before you were
taken prisoner, or go through this all again?" then for heaven's sake
let me again have captivity and horse flesh! We imagine that when we are
thrown out of our usual ruts all is lost, but it is only then that what
is new begins. While there is life there is happiness.'
LOVE this, Rachel! I listened to Pres. Uchtdorf's talk four times in one day, scribbling notes to myself all over my house. It's so easy to say, "When this happens, then I'll be happy...". forgetting that we are immeasurably blessed and lucky where we are, and that things don't have to be perfect to be happily enjoyed. Glad we learned the same lesson! Now come visit me! Today!
ReplyDeleteHi, my name is Kristyn, and you probably don't remember me, but I met you forever ago in Provo when I was hanging out with Jeff Hallstrom and dating Jordan Muhlestein. This is kind of embarrassing to write, because this is so not like me, but anyway, I found your blog through Ali's a long time back and thought you were funny and so I kept reading. And it's posts like this one and your more recent one that keep me coming back. I love how you have humor, spirituality, and depth all wound into your blog. Seriously, it's the best. I just wanted to write a comment and say thanks for blogging - especially this kind of post. You're my hero! I hope one day to have awesome blog posts like these too! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a good thing to read in the middle of the night. That is all. Loves!
ReplyDelete