"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that ha’s been robbed. The fact is that most putts don'’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey, filled with delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas, and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."”
Gordon B. Hinckley
Gordon B. Hinckley
I am grateful to take notice of the many moments in my life that are beautiful and unforgetable. I loved the idea (that I recently read in another's blog...sorry, I can't remember exactly where but its one of you that I love to read) that certain moments of life are seared into our memory. We may remember subtle details of seemingly unimportant moments and we will remember undoubtedly how we felt at that particular moment. My life has been filled with them...especially my adult life.
One of the most stark that stand out in my mind happened when I was newly graduated from college and living in Annapolis, Maryland...waiting to get married. I was in love with my fiance, leaving work after a satisfying day and it was incredible outside. It was early spring but it was warm enough to have my windows down as I drove from Anne Arundel Community College back toward downtown Annapolis, past the Naval Academy where I would stop off to throw rocks at Clark's window and see him for a short moment before going home. There is a bridge in Annapolis that crosses over the Chesapeake River. As you come up over the middle of the bridge you have a perfect view of the Naval Academy in all its historical splendor. The bridge itself is a work of art with detailed stone statuettes and old fashioned gas lamp posts. I was driving with the windows down and listening to Time to Say Goodbye by Sarah Brightman. Seagulls were dancing up and down the sides of the bridge in time to the music and I felt a euphoric sense of contentment and happiness to be alive. I was warm and happy. I will never forget that moment. It was like a symphony of the senses, being played in perfect sychronization and harmony. It felt as if the birds and water were part of a choreographed motion to the music and I actually felt a swelling in my breast...a rush of adrenaline that left a silly sort of smile across my face.
Today, years later and "hundreds-of-those-moments richer" I had another one. I was at the park with my sister and our kids on another perfect day. The weather was incredible and the company...(I can't find a word that describes how much I love the people I was with, minus my husband). We were walking our strollers holding the babes and my two daughters were riding their bikes ahead of us. These moments are many since my five year old has learned to ride her bike. There is something so innocent and poetic about watching her from behind, concentrating on her balance and so proud of herself for growing up...and her back side is darn cute...my two older girls, so far, have inherited their Dad's legs...my favorite part of his body (besides his head, of course.) Their cute little legs, peddling...their juvenile heads, still slightly large for their bodies. ANYway, Abby was right in front of us on her little plastic bike and peddling a mile a minute to keep up...we must have watched her pedal those little legs in eternal circles for a good mile and a half, at least. She had her hair down (impossible to convince her to do anything else with it), a little white t-shirt with delicately puffed sleeves adorned with a bow, and a little plaid skirt with knee socks. Her unintentional determination to pedal and pedal and pedal made my sister and I both smile. That moment was added to permanent fixtures in my memory...I hope I never forget what they were like at this age. I still feel the rush of emotional adrenaline and tears welling up waiting to release that joy and emotion that I can't contain. My family evokes these feelings in me.
Life is not perfect. I suppose if you graphed the good and bad times there would be a dramatic overshadowing of the bad....but that is so beyond the point. Our lives will always be what we think of them. We choose every day how we think and what we do. Things happen to us but they don't define us. Things happen to us, but we will always have a choice of where to go from there. Things happen to us but we don't have to assimilate what they are. We choose. We choose what we are. We choose what we think. We choose what we do and ultimately where we will end up.
I don't want to downplay how difficult this can be. I can sulk with the best of them. I like to wallow...its how I sort through things and move on. But the power is there, in each of us. It is our divine nature to overcome--we are not alone. We have an ever present, loving Heavenly Father and we are surrounded by people who make our lives beyond bearable, beautiful. Choose this day to see the cup half full. Optimism is the key....no. Gratitude is the key. James E. Faust said that
"Gratitude unlocks the fulness of life. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend".
Be grateful for everything and you will not only grow, you will be happy.
