Mother Knows Best

Hopefully Opal doesn't mind that I used her picture that she posted on facebook. It's just that it happened to have my mom, all garbed out in it! She's the one of the far left, and looks exactly freaking like me (which is why she gets in trouble when she complains about her appearance.). OH, also, funny side note. Me and  my sister in law next to me are both pregnant and in corsets! She and I are due a week apart....bless our hearts.)

         When I was a teenager, my mom started taping little index cards with sayings on them to our bathroom mirror so we could read  and memorize them whilst we were brushing our teeth. I'm going to share with you my TWO very favorite ones, because they play like a recording in my brain AT LEAST once a day. 

"If we hung our trials out on a line, you'd take yours, and I'd take mine."

           This is one of my enduring favorites, because it sounds like something a little craggy lady in an apron would  would say while she was hanging up laundry. OH...it's also my favorite, because it reminds us to be GRATEFUL for the trials that we have that seem to be hand-picked just for us.   I'm certainly never fond of hardships while I'm right in the crushing grip of them, but when that dang hindsight kicks in, I always think, "Holy JUNK! Look at how that exact situation helped me out later on in life. Look at how that helped me to grow!"  Now, granted, I believe that with lots of really hard situations, we may never come to know the reasons in this life, but certainly we can still choose to let the catastrophies shape us into better people.  

         I truly wish that I had the wisdom to be humble and charitable while life was going smoothly AND roughly, but it seems like I need good hard kicks in the emotional shins to help me wake up and remember how to be a decent human being. I know that hardships don't necessarily always make people better in the short-run... sometimes we let our own personal pain dominate all of our thoughts and actions, thus making the world an even worse place for everyone else. However, some of the best people I know have lead very hard lives, yet their unfailing positive attitudes and selflessness still shine bright and uplift every single person they meet. I doubt that they would have the fortitude and compassion to act this way had they not suffered the ordeals they had been given. 

This is me and Brynn, this last summer, exporing the amazing rock formations of Southern Utah. It struck me how beautiful that the LOW places where, just as much as the high places. When  you're down, you can look up and find hope...light shining through.

        My other favorite quote that I have to repeat to myself every dang day is this one. I actually found the source for the original quote, as well!

 Many of our fears are tissue-paper-thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them. 

-Brendan Francis

      

       OH, man! This one has such great imagery. I can just see myself, whining and complaining, while standing in front of what I see as an insurmountable barrier, but what is actually a piece of tissue paper. I'm thinking that generally, the tissue paper is my shoddy attitude, and if I could just bust through it, I'd be good to go! ;) 

     But just think of all of the fears that choke us, making it so we can't move forward because of illogical paralysis. Come on....just one dang step.....You can do it!!! 

      Thus, I have decided to start taping quotes to my kids' mirror, and making them memorize and record them in their little brains. I would be REALLY interested to see what  YOUR favorite inspirational quotes are. I think that, together, we can make the internet a place for positive interaction, rather than trolling, cowardice, and contention!