Ultimate Stress Releif

"There are times when you are fearful, when the stress and busyness of life seem to overwhelm you, when you feel adrift from the Spirit. Perhaps you even feel as though you have been abandoned. When I encounter those feelings, the best antidote is my memory of the moments when Christ's peace has come to strengthen me. . . . I invite you to remember with me what it is to feel the Lord's love in your life and to feel encircled in His arms."
Topics: peace, Jesus Christ, love

(Kathleen H. Hughes, "Remembering the Lord's Love," Ensign, Nov. 2006, 111)

I saw this quote by Kathleen Hughes this morning and it caused me to remember how blessed I have been in my life with The Lord’s peace. The “…peace that passeth all understanding…” as the apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:7. So many times in my life I have not understood but have been reassured by the knowledge that all things are in the Lord’s hands and He will lead me in the best path if I will allow him to. I just have to remember to allow my faith to pick up where my understanding leaves off.

I often feel overwhelmed by the abundance God has blessed me with: A wonderful loving and supportive family who brings me more joy than anything else I can think of in this life. I am blessed with friends that lead and inspire me daily by their example. Many times I have thought about the many people I have had association with and wonder how one person could be so lucky to have so many amazing people in her life. I am so thankful for good health and prosperity. I have never been TRULY hungry in my life and have always had every temporal necessity met and so much more. I am exceptionally blessed to work for and with men and women of integrity and honesty and charity. And living in this prosperous and free country is something for which we should all be thankful!

Life gets so crazy sometimes that I forget how simple things are. I was listening to our new primary music this past week and thinking about the simple truths that make our lives meaningful. Our theme this year is “I am a Child of God”. No matter how crazy the world around us gets we can always rely on this fact that we are a child of God. And what else really matters? If we took this to heart we could eliminate all of this overwhelming insecurity, over-indulgence, stress, fear, and so many more societal ailments. If we could focus our minds on who we really are and not who society thinks we ought to be then negative body image and eating disorders would disappear and so would fashion magazines and “America’s Next Top Model” (not a fan).
I noticed my friend Christi had posted one of my favorite quotes on her blog the other day. It is from Marianne Williamson’s book “Return to Love”( which is one of my all time favorites books). “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?" Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. “
Although I am not a Hillary Clinton supporter, I really liked something she said in he speech after the New Hampshire primary results were in. “ This campaign about people, about making a difference in your lives, about making sure that everyone in this country has the opportunity to live up to his or her God-given potential. That has been the work of my life.”
What if each of our “campaign” was about people, about making a difference and making sure that we as well everyone we know feels inspired to live up to our God given potential?”


Oh and One more thing... GO SUNS!!!! I want to send a big fat GET WELL to Grant Hill who has become one of my favorite players of all time (don't worry Steve you are still my MVP).