In the grab lab the other day, one of my friends got a phone call. When it was over, he turned to us with a big smile and announced that his five year old daughter had just gotten into the Cookie Club. I guess in her class, the teacher has a special list of challenge spelling words. Kids who master it become members of the Cookie Club-and probably, receive some cookies as their reward. My friend's daughter had tried before to pass the spelling test, and she had failed. This broke her heart, especially when the kids who did pass bragged about their achievement in class. But my friend and his wife worked hard with their daughter, practicing the words again and again. When the morning came for her to take the test for a second time, she woke up feeling sick because she was so nervous.
But she did it! She passed! She was so proud to call her daddy.
The story made me smile. I remembered myself as a child. We didn't have a Cookie Club but I remember stressing out about similar things. Things that now, in the grand scheme of my life, were small and insignificant, but at the time they were my whole life. Sometimes a challenge like a spelling test seemed insurmountable. Looking back though, I can see I didn't need to be so worried.
I realized... some things haven't changed. :) The challenges that I am facing now are more intense than those I faced in elementary school, true. I'm in a time of life when I have big decisions to make, some of which will have eternal consequences, and some of which will impact me for the rest of my mortal life. But ultimately, this time too, shall pass. My parents are always telling me I shouldn't be so worried about figuring out my life-it all works out. Everything comes together. Things work out as they are supposed to. If you're doing your best, the Lord takes care of the rest. You get to where you need to be.
All these concerns I am facing right now are just a part of the college life. Before I know it, they will be over and done. Life is short-I should just relax and enjoy the ride!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Don't Worry, Be Happy!
Here at BYU, there is a pretty cool website--http://theboard.byu.edu. Here you can ask anonymous questions, and a team of highly trained volunteers respond, usually in exactly 100 hours. I'll admit I've asked them a few things in my day, and I am always pleased with their answers. Every once in a while, I think about applying to become a Board writer, but then I'm not sure that I'd ever have the time! We'll see what happens.
Anyways, sometimes when I need a break in the grad lab, I go on the website and hit the "I'm board" button and just read through random questions pulled up from the past. ... Haha, come to think of it, that's not how I found the question I'm about to quote. It was posted yesterday, and so I read it in my daily board readings... But anyway, you can find it here: http://theboard.byu.edu/questions/61696/ The question is interesting, but irrevelent to the point I want to make. One line in the response particularly stood out to me: "In my experience it doesn't do much good to dream about how things could be. It's better instead to focus on how good things are."
This line really resonated with me. I am a dreamer by nature, which comes in handy sometimes, like when I am trying to finish that novel I started when I was 12. :) But other times, it can be a bad thing. It is too easy to dream about how my life will be someday when things are better. When my sister is healthy again, when I finally find a boyfriend, when I get married, whatever. Sometimes I get so caught up in dreaming of how things might be that I forget to look around and enjoy the life I am living now! This is a habit I need to overcome. No matter what stage I reach in life, there will always be something more than I need to accomplish, some other goal that I yearn after. That's fine, but I need to learn NOW to be happy in the moment. If I'm always waiting for X or Y to happen so I can be happy, I will always be waiting... not happy.
So, new goal. I need to stop and smell the roses. I'm living in what some people call the best years of my life. While I'm not sure that's true exactly, it IS true that I have a lot of unique opportunities right now that I won't have again. I need to relax and enjoy 'em! You're only young once!
Anyways, sometimes when I need a break in the grad lab, I go on the website and hit the "I'm board" button and just read through random questions pulled up from the past. ... Haha, come to think of it, that's not how I found the question I'm about to quote. It was posted yesterday, and so I read it in my daily board readings... But anyway, you can find it here: http://theboard.byu.edu/questions/61696/ The question is interesting, but irrevelent to the point I want to make. One line in the response particularly stood out to me: "In my experience it doesn't do much good to dream about how things could be. It's better instead to focus on how good things are."
This line really resonated with me. I am a dreamer by nature, which comes in handy sometimes, like when I am trying to finish that novel I started when I was 12. :) But other times, it can be a bad thing. It is too easy to dream about how my life will be someday when things are better. When my sister is healthy again, when I finally find a boyfriend, when I get married, whatever. Sometimes I get so caught up in dreaming of how things might be that I forget to look around and enjoy the life I am living now! This is a habit I need to overcome. No matter what stage I reach in life, there will always be something more than I need to accomplish, some other goal that I yearn after. That's fine, but I need to learn NOW to be happy in the moment. If I'm always waiting for X or Y to happen so I can be happy, I will always be waiting... not happy.
So, new goal. I need to stop and smell the roses. I'm living in what some people call the best years of my life. While I'm not sure that's true exactly, it IS true that I have a lot of unique opportunities right now that I won't have again. I need to relax and enjoy 'em! You're only young once!
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