Joy in the Journey

Finding joy in the journey, or enjoying the moment, has been hard for me lately.  I am constantly worried about the future and what tomorrow brings.  This is something that I want to change.  In the October 2008 General Conference, Pres. Monson gave a talk on this exact topic; Finding Joy in the Journey.  This talk is amazing and has really opened my eyes to certain things I need to do in my life to accept change and find joy in the journey.  

In the talk, President Monson States:

"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 nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now."  

That last line hit me hard. " I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now."  That is what I am doing right now, I am planning for that "illusive and nonexistent future" when I will get to do all the things I want to do.  Well, that time is NOW!  If I do not do that things I want to now, and make the changes I need to in my life, I never will. 

He also talks about how we need to remember to always say I love you and give those hugs we often forget.  When those people are gone, we will regret those moments we did not take advantage of in sharing our love.  

"Let us relish as we live it, find joy in the journey and share our love with friends and family.  One day each of us will run out of tomorrows."  

This is my new mantra!  If we do not enjoy the moments now, we never will!  

The last thing he talks about, which is another of my goals later in the year, is gratitude.  Being grateful is very important in learning to find joy in the journey.  If we are not grateful for the things we have, there is no way we can enjoy the here and now.  

I hope to being enjoying the little things in life, and finding joy in the journey- NOW! 

Hope

Through my personal scripture study, I have been studying a lot of things on the topic of happiness and hope. An article from the September Ensign really stood out to me; The Healing Balm Of Hope by Vaughn E Worthen. The article was all about how hope leads to happiness.

"Hope develops in the crucible of experience if the right ingredients are present. Those ingredients include the following: faith in God; righteous living; positive expectations; living with purpose; setting and working toward goals; initiating and sustaining personal effort; bridling thoughts, emotions, and behaviors; a willingness to tackle challenges; and competence in creating healthy relationships. (Sept. 2013 Ensign, The Healing Balm of Hope, By Vaughn E. Worthen)."

These values of hope are huge in developing happiness. There are several of these values that I have been working on in my personal life. Obviously setting and working toward goals; that is what I am doing with this project. The Lord wants us to grow and the only way to do this is to push us and make us grow through things that might make us uncomfortable. 

Another of the values that I have been working on is bridling thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. I am a very emotional person and learning to bridle these is very difficult. The hardest thing is learning to control my anger/irritability. The only thing I have found that works is take a deep breath and say a prayer. These feeling do not come from the Lord and asking for this helps eliminates these feelings. 

Creating healthy relationships is also key. Gretchen Rubin, in her second month, focused on her marriage. One thing she worked on was not expecting praise or appreciation from her husband, then when he did show appreciation for the things she does, she was much happier. If we expect those we love to appreciate what we do, then we take advantage of their appreciation. We need to show appreciation instead of expecting appreciation!

One final thought from the article states: "Research demonstrates that hopeful individuals make healthier lifestyle choices, recover from illness and injury more effectively, and experience increased life expectancies. They manifest less depression and anxiety, find greater purpose in life, and experience improved mental health and increased life satisfaction. They persevere when barriers arise, are more effective problem solvers, and adapt when circumstances warrant it. They are successful in finding benefits from adversity. They enjoy more positive relationships and seek and receive social support. Hopeful students experience enhanced academic success. (Sept. 2013 Ensign, The Healing Balm of Hope, By Vaughn E. Worthen)."

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/09/the-healing-balm-of-hope?lang=eng

Hard Things

This is a motto I use in my classroom all the time. If first graders can do hard things, I can too!

Defining the word diet

About a year ago, my husband Jeff was applying for summer internships through his school BYU.  He applied to one in Seattle, which is where he served his LDS mission and was excited to see that living in Seattle for the summer was an option.  A few months later, he heard from Boeing and was offered an internship.  We accepted and were able to go to Seattle this past summer.  While we were living there, we discovered some things about the way we eat.

We lived with a family who are very health conscious.  Their entire backyard is a garden.  They grow everything they possibly can; blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, collard greens, squash, any herb you can think of and much more!  They introduced us to a whole new way of eating.

Google defines "diet" as the kind of food a person, animal or community habitually eats.   My husband and I were on a diet that was making us fat and sick.   We were eating pasta, chicken, ground beef, ice cream, candy, lots and lots of milk as well as bread and some more sugar.  This summer we decided to make some major changes in the way we eat.  We did some extensive research (including watching a bunch of documentaries on Netflix; Hungry for Change, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead are just a few examples).  The conclusion of our research was that we needed to buy a nice, fancy blender.  We saved our pennies for about 4 months and in August (for my birthday!) we bought a Vitamix blender.   To say we LOVE it is an understatement.  We have used it for about a month now and have used it 3-4 times a day.

Buying a blender has increased our vegetable and fruit intake by 10-fold.  Our favorite smoothie recipe is:
Frozen pineapple
A whole orange (peeled)
Organic apple juice
2 handfuls of spinach or kale
about 6 ice cubes
a teaspoon of flax seed

We drink this every morning!  After about 3 days of drinking this smoothie in the morning, my husband said he was feeling more alive and had more energy!  I completely agree with him!  Starting the morning with this nutrient filled smoothie gives us a boost and helps us make smart food choices for the rest of the day.

Check out the Vitamix at www.vitamix.com.

The book that started it all...

One afternoon, while thumbing through the book section at Costco, I found a book that looked interesting to me.  This is nothing new, I am always finding books that I buy, but never end up reading.  This one was something I thought I would actually read though.  I have been thinking a lot lately about my personal happiness and I was hoping this book would help me set goals and become "happier" (whatever that means).  I started the book as soon as I got home, and instantly fell in love.

After reading the first two chapter I started on a list of my own twelve commandments, which were going to be the basis of my twelve resolutions.  (Check those out on the right-hand side of my blog.)  Because I am LDS, a lot of my goals are based on gospel principles, unlike Gretchen in the book.

Loosely based on my twelve commandments, here are my resolutions for the next four months.  I will post the rest as I get closer to those months.

• September:  The Basics
• Exercise
• Diet (the real meaning of the word, eating healthy)
• Daily scripture study and prayer (aka "quiet time")
• Enjoy the moment
• October:  Inner peace, thoughts 
• Stop complaining
• Journal writing
• Say thank you and I love you to my husband everyday
• Enjoy my marriage MORE (I do enjoy my marriage, but find joy in the little things!)
• November:  Service
• One act of service a day
• Write at least one thing I am grateful for everyday
• December: Creating and order
• Learn a new craft
• Make things from my Pinterest boards
• De-clutter

If you are interested in your own happiness project, check out www.happiness-project.com!  This blog will be a place for me to journal about my journey to happiness.  It will also be a place where I will post inspirational quotes and stories about others finding happiness.