You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise
Anyways, here are a few of the lessons I learned from her (or you can skip to what's happening in my life after all these quotes):
"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.
"I also like people who love themselves. I don't trust people who don't love themselves and tell me "I love you." No. If they don't love themselves, not, uh-uh. There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt."
"In the course of staying alive, I always love to hear people laugh. I never trust people who don't laugh or who act as if they put airplane glue on the back of their hands and stuck them to their forehead. No. No. They have not come to stay and to make a difference and to be a rainbow in somebody's cloud. So I like to hear people laugh. "
"I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow."
"I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights."
"I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance."
"I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back."
I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one."
"I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back."
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
"The truth is, each of us has the incredible ability, not just as members of organizations, not just as members of families or people with positions high and mighty, but each one of us has the chance to be a rainbow in somebody's cloud. It's amazing."
While all of these are incredible, I want to focus on her last idea, that we each have a chance to be a rainbow in somebody's cloud. It reminds me of the first time I learned about the enabling power of the atonement and how it struck me so much when in my Marriage Prep class last year. If I have the chance to make up a loss in someone's life, shouldn't I do it? After thinking about this heavily (there goes my "T" in my INTJ personality!), I have decided to make this one of my new goals. I am going to be a rainbow in someone's cloud EVERY day. This might be challenging, but I think it will be way beneficial.
Anyways, I have decided to start a tender mercies journal which was inspired by this quote:
“Ask yourself, 'How did God bless me today?' If you do that long enough and with faith, you will find yourself remembering blessings. And sometimes, you will have gifts brought to your mind which you failed to notice during the day, but which you will then know were a touch of God’s hand in your life." – President Henry B. Eyring
Today's tender mercy stems from my lack of planning. I work every morning from 8-12, so I pack my backpack with everything I need at 7 in the morning. I have zumba (which as a side tangent, I ABSOLUTELY love. It is seriously my favorite form of exercise because a. it involves music b. it is dancing and therefore does not feel like working out and c. there are a lot of movements that are reminiscent of kickboxing) and I forgot my pants! Luckily for me, one of my co-workers offered to swap me pants for the day! How nice is that? It seriously made my whole day!
Life is good my friends. Last night I had a reunion with my V5 girls and I just love them! It was so nice catching up with them and just laughing! They're the best!
The weekend involved mostly watching season three of Gilmore Girls (the Jess years!) and lots of food. Marisa, Linds and I ended up going to The Chocolate and got cazookies as sort of a welcome back to BYU. They were possibly more delicious than I have ever tasted.
I got to attend the first devotional (by President and Sister Samuelson) with Daniel Scott Carney and Michal! It was a weird moment when I realized that Danny was old enough to be here because it made me realize I have been in college for 3 years. Yikes! It was good to see him though.
One last random tangent and then I swear I will be finished. Recently I just realized how much I love my parents. They are my best friends. The other day some girls in our ward talked about how their dads were seldom home because he was working. I felt so sad for these girls! My dad was home, ready to hear about our days, every day around 5:30. I never realized how much I valued this until I didn't have it anymore. My dad ALWAYS knows exactly what to say. Always. Almost all my quotes that make me feel better are from him when I have a sad moment. My mom is also my rock. I can cry, I can be frustrated or I can crack laugh and she puts up with every emotion. She is the Lorelai to my Rory! :) She is honestly the best mother I could have ever received. I am so excited that I get to have my parents for eternity!
I LOVE MY LIFE! If you read this, congratulations. Also, if you think I am a freak because of how obsessed I became with Maya Angelou, so be it! Anyways, I am excited because tonight one of my good friends, Race, will be trying out for Divine Comedy and I get to see him! Good luck! Til next time...
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