So, ever since my last post I have been looking for something to say that will move that whining down the page a little bit. Curiously, posting about all the reasons I have to NOT write has caused me to reflect on all the other reasons I have TO write. Yesterday's lesson during our women's meeting at church provided me with an idea. The lesson was on gratitude -- on not just being thankful for the obvious, big blessings were have (food, shelter, family, job), but on all the little things that make life more comfortable, more pleasant, and more fun. And also on finding reasons to be grateful for challenges and annoyances, which could easily have turned into a horrible cliché but, thankfully (HA!) didn't.
To begin the lesson, the teacher had us number 1-7 on a little piece of paper, and we were to write down the first thing that came to mind when she named a category. After writing something down for each category, she had us label each item with a letter, which turned out to be the first letters of the days of the week. Her suggestion to us was that each day of the coming week, we focus on the assigned item throughout the day and find something about it that we can be grateful for. We never shared the items out loud, and nobody ever saw them. I wondered to myself if anyone would actually do this. And then I thought, "Well, I'll do it."
As I sat there in the class, my mind wandered back to my BYU days when I was living in an apartment with this girl named Beth, who had just returned from serving a mission in Spain's Canary Islands. I was preparing to serve a mission myself at the time, and I really looked up to Beth. She suggested doing an apartment prayer each night, and at first I was kind of skeptical about it because I'm not terribly fond of fake affection and spirituality. I barely knew these roommates, and I didn't think I'd feel comfortable praying with them every night. I didn't want to feel forced to go be spiritual if I was studying. I didn't want to have to pretend I was as close to them as, say, my family.
But Beth really knew what she was doing. Each night at 10:00, whoever was home gathered in the living room for prayer. The first night we did this, Beth told us about how as a missionary she and her companions always shared their favorite part of the day with one another prior to praying. It started out kind of awkwardly, but within a short week or so, we were all having a great time with new this little tradition! We roommates were becoming close friends. Even better, I found myself becoming more mentally aware of the good things that happened to me each day. I found myself writing them down so that I wouldn't forget them when prayer time came. We got to the point where we were each sharing three or four "favorite parts" each night, and prayer time was stretching into almost a half an hour on particularly good days. If friends were over, they joined us. Several of them started doing the same thing with THEIR roommates. It became a mini epidemic within that apartment complex during that semester.
When I left the apartment and went on a mission, I did the same thing with my companions. When I look back on those several years of my life, I remember them as a really good period. I honestly believe that much of that is due to the fact that I was consciously looking for the positive in my life. I allowed myself, forced myself, to see the everyday blessings I was given. There were a lot of tough times during those years, of course, but I can truly say that not a day went by that I didn't have at least one good thing to say.
So, fast forward to 2007. The last few years of my life have been immensely stressful and complicated. Job pressure. School pressure. Moving. Being single. Dating. Breaking up. Being single again. Moving again. And again. And again. New job pressure. More school pressure. No clean laundry. Repeat ad nauseum. It's time to start focusing on the positive and the gratitude again. Not only do I feel that I need it for my own well-being, but the world can always use a little more positive vibe.
As a start, each day this week, I will be posting the item I came up with during yesterday's Church lesson, and a bit on why I'm grateful for it. Here's the list of coming attractions, some of which will not be easy to be thankful for!
Monday: Something in my house
Tuesday: Something that gives me trouble
Wednesday: Something I know of but have never seen
Thursday: A food
Friday: A color
Saturday: My least favorite feature of my body
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