"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. amen."
That's the serenity prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr. I like it, especially the first part. I've thought a lot about these phrases over the last few months. What things do I worry about? What, of those things, can I do anything about? What, of those things, can I do anything about right now? If I can do something, then I practice doing it, and if I can't, I practice letting it go. 1 a.m. is a good time for this because there is nothing I can do at 1 a.m. about anything yet I lay awake worrying about things. My therapist and I worked on relaxation this week. She lent me some meditation cd's and I've gotta say I really like them. There is one, oh my goodness, that is the sounds of a storm in the distance. I imagine green, rolling hills with dark clouds and thunder echoing from hill to hill. So I've been practicing listening to them as I go to sleep and it really helps me stop worrying about things. She also talked me into buying a teddy bear. Yeah yeah, laugh it up. He's a cute little bear and he does a remarkable job of reminding me that it's ok to let go of things and just sleep at night. I haven't, as of yet, found a good way to get myself to get OUT of bed in the mornings though so if anyone has any good suggestions for that, let me know.
How has everyone been doing on their practicing? Found anything yet? It really is remarkable how much can be done. I set up home teaching appointments this month and wasn't even afraid to call, well, not as much as usual. A couple weeks ago I noticed something, I don't think I'm depressed any more. It's been 11 years since I've felt so good about life and everything. That's a dang long time. Granted, I still have moments... but moments compared to days... weeks.... months..? I'll take it. I owe it to the Lord and the faith and prayers of you all, honestly. I could never thank any of you enough.
Till next time.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Week 1
Well, week one in the EQ presidency has been pretty good so far. I haven't been released from my old calling, (sacrament coordinator) mostly because we're the ones that are supposed to find a replacement for me.. and we haven't done it yet. But I don't mind so much. We did have a couple meetings this week, first with the bishop, and then with the old EQ presidency. Both were really good meetings.
:O so I can't believe I've never written about my theory of practicing on here. At least, if I have I don't know where it is and it hasn't been for the last month or so. Anyways, so I've discovered that "practicing" things is so much easier to do than "doing" things. For example, if I practice doing my home-teaching or making the phone calls etc. then it becomes so much easier to do. I don't know why that is or would be. Just kidding, I know exactly why that is. First (although there is no second), if I'm practicing something, like calling people, then I CAN'T fail. Think about it. If you practice the guitar, can you fail.. or just get better? If you practice free-throws can you fail, or just get more consistent? Do you see the paradigm shift? So now I practice EVERYTHING, well, not everything, I already eat pretty well, and can tie my shoes without thinking about it, BUT I practice the things that are hard for me.... like talking to people or calling people... I practice not giving in to things I shouldn't give in to (including eating out and drinking caffeine) I practice caring about people and thinking about people and reading my scriptures in the morning and going to bed at a reasonable hour at night and on and on and on. My challenge to each of you is to take this week and practice something, something you've wanted to learn how to do but can't MAKE yourself do. And let us all know how it goes, what you worked on, how it felt to practice vs. doing. I think you'll find some incredible insights to things you've maybe been afraid of trying. I know I did. But don't take my word for it. ba dun dun!
:O so I can't believe I've never written about my theory of practicing on here. At least, if I have I don't know where it is and it hasn't been for the last month or so. Anyways, so I've discovered that "practicing" things is so much easier to do than "doing" things. For example, if I practice doing my home-teaching or making the phone calls etc. then it becomes so much easier to do. I don't know why that is or would be. Just kidding, I know exactly why that is. First (although there is no second), if I'm practicing something, like calling people, then I CAN'T fail. Think about it. If you practice the guitar, can you fail.. or just get better? If you practice free-throws can you fail, or just get more consistent? Do you see the paradigm shift? So now I practice EVERYTHING, well, not everything, I already eat pretty well, and can tie my shoes without thinking about it, BUT I practice the things that are hard for me.... like talking to people or calling people... I practice not giving in to things I shouldn't give in to (including eating out and drinking caffeine) I practice caring about people and thinking about people and reading my scriptures in the morning and going to bed at a reasonable hour at night and on and on and on. My challenge to each of you is to take this week and practice something, something you've wanted to learn how to do but can't MAKE yourself do. And let us all know how it goes, what you worked on, how it felt to practice vs. doing. I think you'll find some incredible insights to things you've maybe been afraid of trying. I know I did. But don't take my word for it. ba dun dun!
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