"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Romans 8:37.

Getting up is tough after you take a fall.

Some unexpected event that throws you off track can easily keep you off track unless you get right back up. Even the most optimistic of us loses faith, energy, and interest. It happens to the best of us.

So the best you can do is to get up quickly!

Never give up. When giving up is not a choice, then you do things differently. You look for a new approach rather than a way out! If you have the slightest thought in your mind that you can always quit, then you’re destined to fail.

Since you have other choices, every time you hit a bump or fall, your mind always looks at the other choices. It looks for the path of least resistance. When you’re down, quitting is the path of least resistance. So let go of the choice of giving up.

Falling happens. Accept it.

When you were learning to walk, you fell many times. You got back up and tried again. Eventually you could walk with no problem. When you fall, the next natural step is to get up. We learn to grow and become stronger from our falls.

So falling is part of growing; staying down is not.

REMEMBER

We learn from experience that goals and dreams are not always measured in outcomes but often in attitudes. We gain a lot from beginning and then having to push on by beginning again. So even if you feel that your dreams and goals have washed out in the past, build them up again. Each new day is a fresh start, a clean slate, a new chance to change, improve, and try again. In the very process lie opportunities immeasurable for growth and good fortune."

Our Prophet, Dear

What a wonderful thing we have in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to reform people’s lives, to make them better, to lift their reach and look to the stars and make something good of their lives. Miracles happen when people accept the gospel. We see people who are dragging along in their slothful ways. The gospel touches their lives, and they come alive. Something really wonderful happens. I call it the miracle of Mormonism, this marvelous transformation that takes place in the lives of people" - President Hinckley

"Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, but with great purpose in heart." - President Hinckley

"Let us be more neighborly. Let us be kind. Let us be gracious to those in our midst who are not of our faith. Let us be helpful and generous and good. Let us be Latter-day Saints in the full and complete meaning of that word" -President Hinckley

"Let us all try to stand a little taller, rise a little higher, be a little better. Make the extra effort. You will be happier." - President Hinckley

Parenting

Is there a magic cutoff period when
Offspring become accountable for their own
Actions? Is there a wonderful moment when
Parents can become detached spectators in
The lives of their children and shrug, 'It's
Their life,' and feel nothing?

When I was in my twenties, I stood in a hospital
Corridor waiting for doctors to put a few
Stitches in my daughter's head. I asked, 'When do
You stop worrying?' The nurse said,
'When they get out of the accident stage.' My
Dad just smiled faintly and said nothing.

When I was in my thirties, I sat on a little chair
In a classroom and heard how one of my
Children talked incessantly, disrupted the class,
And was headed for a career making
License plates. As if to read my mind, a teacher
Said, 'Don't worry, they all go through
This stage and then you can sit back, relax and
Enjoy them.' My dad just smiled
Faintly and said nothing.

When I was in my forties, I spent a lifetime
Waiting for the phone to ring, the cars to come
Home, the front door to open. A friend said,
'They're trying to find themselves. Don't worry,
In a few years, you can stop worrying. They'll be
Adults.' My dad just smiled faintly
And said nothing.

By the time I was 50, I was sick & tired of being
Vulnerable. I was still worrying over my
Children, but there was a new wrinkle There
Was nothing I could do about it. My
Dad just smiled faintly and said nothing. I
Continued to anguish over their failures, be
Tormented by their frustrations and absorbed in
Their disappointments.

My friends said that when my kids got married I
Could stop worrying and lead my own
Life. I wanted to believe that, but I was
Haunted by my dad's warm smile and his
Occasional, 'You look pale. Are you all right?
Call me the minute you get home. Are
You depressed about something?'

Can it be that parents are sentenced to a
Lifetime of worry? Is concern for one another
Handed down like a torch to blaze the trail of
Human frailties and the fears of the
Unknown? Is concern a curse or is it a virtue
That elevates us to the highest form of life?

One of my children became quite irritable
Recently, saying to me, 'Where were you? I've been
Calling for 3 days, and no one answered I was worried.'
I smiled a warm smile.
The torch has been passed.

(anonymous)


PS I was once told that once you become a parent you are forever wearing your heart on the outside of your body.

My Dirty Little Secret

I LOVE LMN! That's right...Lifetime Movies!



Every Friday night I make a list of the things I'm going to do on Saturday. Clean out closets, organize the kitchen, do grocery shopping for the week.



This morning I woke up with every intention of breaking in the treadmill. HMMM...I wonder what's on LMN?



The next thing I know I'm hooked on some financier who ends up fighting for her deceased father's ranch only to fall in love with the ranch hand and throw in her career to marry him. Next was a movie with Jenni Garth...so it goes every Saturday. No shower, no work done, and a weekend of staying in bed and watching grade B movies.

Bad Memories

If you can't forget, forgive it.

If you can't forgive, forget it.

If you can't forgive nor forget it, fight it.

It Takes "Balls To Change" joss stone

If I had known then what I know now, I would never have done what I did.

I'd like to believe that this saying is true. But given the choice, how many of us would truly change our course if we knew the outcome before hand.

Sometimes the hardest questions, are the ones we ask ourselves. The most difficult truths to face are the ones that shed light on us, the saddest moments are seeing what contributions we have made to our own misery.

So the best I hope for is honesty. Honesty on which I can base my decisions. One of my favorite quotes: "I'd rather be hurt by the truth than comforted by a lie" is my strongest desire.

Too, often in my life others have kept truth from me. I believe it's the cruelest thing one human can do to another. If you don't have the truth, you have nothing real.

My resolution for 2008 is to be authentic. Authentic in all my relationships, including my relationship with myself.

It's hard for me to say this, because I want to believe in change. Yet, I'm not sure it's possible. I believe that our behavior can be modified. But it seems to me that the core beliefs, where ever they come from...stick.

I admire "change" in any form. It takes "balls" to step outside of learned behaviors. To react "differently". But I don't believe it. I don't trust it. It feels manipulative. Not authentic. And that scares me. I guess it takes trust to believe in "change". The one thing I don't have is trust.

So life for me is difficult. I live with someone who has gone through a great deal of "change". Everyone is so proud of what he's been able to overcome. That includes me. But I don't trust it. And maybe in the end, that says more about me than him.