A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I was tired. Tonight I'm completely wasted. I mean too tired to sleep wasted ... well, check that, I'll be able to sleep, just can't get there for a while. So in my tiredness, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the enormity of the work we still have to do. I'm trying instead to take joy in many positive small and big things that added together make things pretty darn good.
The fact that I'm sitting here in our new home with my wireless internet finally working is a nice small thing. The fact that Dan and Jason helped for hours last night to move all the big furniture in our house in one very big truckload is actually a very big thing for which I'm extremely grateful. The fact that Hailey spent hours at our home today and many other days, unpacking, sorting, and making it feel more like a home is also a ginormous thing. The fact that the kids are mostly asleep in their new beds in their new rooms in the new house is a great thing. The fact that nobody got hurt, nothing got damaged (that we know of), that we got the Uhaul turned in on time (despite them trying to charge us more than $47,000 for mileage - seriously)...those are all good things. It turns out there are a lot of things to be happy about, I'm just too tired to think of any more. I'll check in again soon...
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Pres. Thomas S. Monson, Oct 2008
"This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now.
... Professor Harold Hill, one of the principal characters in [The Music Man], voices a caution that I share with you. Says he, “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays.”
f you have children who are grown and gone, in all likelihood you have occasionally felt pangs of loss and the recognition that you didn’t appreciate that time of life as much as you should have. Of course, there is no going back, but only forward. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future.
Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.”3 We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.
Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say “I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It’s so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they’re gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of “what if” and “if only.” Said author Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.”
In the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, Church member Jay Hess, an airman, was shot down over North Vietnam. For two years his family had no idea whether he was dead or alive. His captors in Hanoi eventually allowed him to write home but limited his message to less than 25 words. What would you and I say to our families if we were in the same situation—not having seen them for over two years and not knowing if we would ever see them again? Wanting to provide something his family could recognize as having come from him and also wanting to give them valuable counsel, Brother Hess wrote—and I quote: “These things are important: temple marriage, mission, college. Press on, set goals, write history, take pictures twice a year.”
Said one well-known author: “Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend . . . when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”
Said the Lord in a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, “In nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things.”10 May we be found among those who give our thanks to our Heavenly Father. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.
Brothers and sisters, my sincere prayer is that we may adapt to the changes in our lives, that we may realize what is most important, that we may express our gratitude always and thus find joy in the journey."
Blogger Template: Minima Black (Douglas Bowman) | 3-column - width 960px (Thur Broeders)
3 comments:
Glad to hear that you survived the roughin it trip.
I personally think though that you should have just paid the $47,000 UHAUL bill and chalk it up as a lesson learned about the cost of moving.
Good to hear that things are moving along though with the move. Good luck.
So glad to hear you are all settled in! I'll have to stop by and see your new digs! Gees - how will you guys wake up each morning without hearing the semi trucks driving five feet from your house at dawn?! And life won't be the same without getting blocked in by that DANG vitamin store delivery truck each day. I have to say, though, I loved living in that little house - lots of memories of our first three years with our babies. Hope you enjoyed it, too - at least the price was right!
We were really lucky to live there, and thanks to the virtues of a very handy sound machine in our bedroom, the delivery trucks didn't bother us at all. We are sort of in awe at all the space we have now though...
Post a Comment