Time has a way of making the picture clearer, always. I have found that if I stay back and wait I can see exactly what it is that is best for me and then decide. Lately, my judgment has been off and my intuition has floundered. It is when I seek the advice of friends I can usually have a better understanding. Now when I say this I am not talking about bouncing this stuff off everyone around me, I am speaking of those few to whom I have great admiration. The ones that have truly gleaned the life lessons that make their wisdom that much more valuable. They somehow have an instinct to know the best way to react to any given situation.
Far too many times too many people know too much about the people in their social group, like to Momo’s. My sister calls it the fish bowl, others have less pleasant names but anyway you look at it, it’s a voyeuristic view of someone else’s life. It comes in the form of concern or through the callings of VT’ing or HT’ing which when done in the right spirit can be a beautiful blessing in a life but when done as an intrusive nature, it becomes overbearing and trodden. Thus lays the balance and the rungs of the social ladder.
When is advice the best laid case for social friendship and when does it become harmful? Oh, and who decides which is which?
The best laid plans are never quite as easy as you would think. For me, by the grace of God, I have had wonderful advice. I have friends with ions of life experience that when we speak they then offer an intuitive response that makes my pathways clearer. I have been able to avoid major catastrophes by listening to the wisdom my great friends provide. I have been blessed.
So what am I on about?
Gratitude, as President Monson asked us to explore this conference.
“This is a wonderful time to be on earth. While there is much that is wrong in the world today, there are many things that are right and good. There are marriages that make it, parents who love their children and sacrifice for them, friends who care about us and help us, teachers who teach. Our lives are blessed in countless ways.
We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that “gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”
How can we cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude? President Joseph F. Smith, sixth President of the Church, provided an answer. Said he: “The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life.” He continued: “Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!”
President Smith is telling us that a prayerful life is the key to possessing gratitude.” Oct Conf Sunday Morning Session
I have been overwhelmed in my life by the negative. As my wise husband said, “you are over analyzing and dwelling too much”. I hear him and I live life NOW and in the MOMENT because that is all that you truly control. My past ways still haunt me however and I can dwell too much and too long. This is where my gratitude comes into play. I have wonderful friends and family who give wise and great advice and because they have I am finding that even for myself, I am making better choices. Time is such a wonderful healer.
I am also grateful for wonderful kids – ALL OF THEM – in spite of what others may think. The other day, someone asked, what was more important, a kind child or active child. I said that when it is all said and done, and we reach the pearly gates, He isn’t going to ask you what positions you held, or how much money you have, He will ask, how you treated others. My kids are good kids, kind people, and honest people. I have been very proud of them, always! They have wonderful lives filled with hope and loves, what more can a mother ask. If they aren’t sitting in a meeting gossiping about the failures of their friends, I am not sad. The fish bowl wasn’t for them, that‘s all. Somehow, I think He understands.
So yesterday I played hookey. I was going to head out to the mountains but instead spent the day chilling and finding my head space. I hope that I can find my place again somewhere in the ward I belong. I am not sure though, I think the gate is shut and may be too high to cross over.
So here’s what I think;
“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” ~ Don Williams, Jr.
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