The Wall

If you put a sticky note on the wall for every thing you are grateful for how much wall could you fill? About a year ago I heard a bunch of talks about being grateful. One of the talks said, “feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” This and many other statements, stories, and experiences caused me to think. I was not at a high point in my life at the time and I thought to myself, "I might as well give it a try. I don't know what else to do." So when I got back to my apartment I asked my roommates if I could create what I called a gratitude wall. I explained that on this wall I wanted to put sticky notes of things I was grateful for. Anyone could join in. We even bought special sticky notes for the task. Everyone had agreed and it was to be put on a wall in the front room. Only six sticky notes were allowed per person per day. Every day I tried to put something on the wall. Well, it worked! Life became better and a little easier. I stopped thinking about myself so much and started looking at ways to help others. I noticed the trees around me and the glorious world we have been given. It was truly amazing. The sticky note wall became a huge blessing. We covered most of the wall in a month or so. We rearranged it into a tree on day for Christmas. It contained everything! People who did not live in the apartment contributed to the wall. Some people would come over just to see it.

This simple wall of sticky notes gave me motivation to wake up every morning. As I went through my day I thought about what I could put on the wall. It motivated me to find the good in things and stop looking at the bad so much. It gave me hope that life would get better. It was simply amazing how a few sticky notes on a wall could change my life so much! Some people keep gratitude journals. Others express gratitude in songs or art. As for me, I need something that hits me in the face. Something that says, "Hey! Are you paying attention? You live in a beautiful world and have a fantastic life! Don't forget it!" Gratitude is not just for Thanksgiving. It's not just for when you feel like it. It's for always. And don't forget it!

Potential To Become

This last week I had the opportunity to go to what is called an "Integration Bee". To most people this sounds like the most terrifying thing in the world, a calculus competition! I did not participate, I have not done calculus in 2.5 years! However, I really enjoyed watching. As I watched I realized that I could not win this competition. In fact, I couldn't think of any competition that I could enter at this point in my life and win. Ridiculously, I was disappointed. For the majority of my life I have been pretty much great at one thing or another. The fact that I cannot say this right now really disappoints me! So, I went home and talked to my mother (a natural response to anyone not feeling satisfied, to turn to someone with more experience).

My mom gave me some fantastic thoughts. First we need some background though. Growing up I was constantly told that I had potential in pretty much everything I ever did. I began to hate the word potential because if you have potential in everything, but you aren't really awesome at anything no matter how hard you try it can feel like a slap in the face every time you are told you have potential. I was sharing this with my mom and also my recent experience at the Integration Bee when she shared her own experience. My mother is most of the reason I have potential in a lot of things because she taught me to always do my best. When she got married though she thought to herself that she did not have any more potential. She believed that she was stuck, that my dad could do anything, but that she was very limited. I suddenly became very sad for my mother. She has always taught me that I can become something more and the fact that she did not always believe that was difficult.

At this point I realized that I have infinite potential. I can become whatever I want to become! There is nothing to limit me! We are never stuck! There is always something we can do to better ourselves. I can always learn something more and try to be a better person at every moment of my life. I have the potential to become amazing! More than I ever thought I can be. So this is what motivates me. Sometimes we feel stuck, but there is always somewhere to go if we look for it. Just live up to what you know you can become!

When El iPodo is Not Playing

My entire life I have loved music. It is something I have been raised with. I learned early on that music can greatly affect your mood and your life. As a result I have been very picky with my music. It takes a great deal of thought and research before a song can make it onto el iPodo (that's what I lovingly call my iPod). When I travel in my car though I don't have an iPod hook up so I go on what I call a "music splurge". I listen to whatever I darn well please on the radio. Through this I have found some songs that I enjoy a lot. Some of them include lyrics such as:

"I'm not good at much, but I'm good at drinking beer"

"God is great,  beer is good, and people are crazy!"

"Every tear is a waterfall!"

Now, I believe that sometimes listening to music doesn't affect you as much as it does at other times. So I have had no problem with my music splurging (mostly because I don't drive a whole lot). However, lately I have been driving more. It takes 15 minutes to get to school and sometimes I have an extra 30 minutes to go for another meeting. My music splurging has greatly increased. During this time I have noticed that my mood has changed. Life has not been as happy and frothy as always. So while analyzing my situation I realized that I have been listening to some music that is not very happy on my car rides! I needed to change that!

Now to back up just a bit. Through my college years I often had a song stuck in my head. Unfortunately I didn't know the song, just one part and the only words I knew were "Oh, Alleluia". I would always ask my roommate, who grew up only listening to classical and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, what the song was because I knew it was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. But alas, we could never figure it out. About 2 weeks ago I was listening to a song on youtube when I saw a song I did not recognize, which was weird because I was listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. So I decided to listen to it. Here it is:

This is sung by a BYU choir, not the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but this is the song! So I looked up where the song came from and found it on a cd called "Come thou fount of every blessing". I skimmed the songs and realized I love them all. Without further ado I purchased the cd and this is all I listen to in my car now. I realize that there are some who would hate it, but like I said, music can greatly affect your mood and life. The quality of my life has greatly improved because instead of focusing on beer or Adele's lost love I think of my Savior, who has done everything for me. I rejoice everyday I climb in my car.
So this is what motivates me today! Great music! Music that can change your life! Don't be dragged down because of what you are listening to. Allow yourself to rise higher because of what you know and understand.

"You can pour your soul out singing a song you believe in

That tomorrow they'll forget you ever sang

Sing it anyway!"

A Passion for Quantum

Lately I have been working on something that I don't particularly enjoy. Understandably, I have had difficulty feeling motivated. However, today I was reminded of one motivation that I can find as long as I am willing to think about it. We all have a passion. Some people thoroughly enjoy painting pictures. Others find joy in writing stories. Others of us find joy in what may seem the strangest things. I was asking my father exactly what it is he does at his work. As he began to explain I became incredibly excited. He is a chemical engineer who is figuring out how to mass produce something that some genius men figured out how to make. They figured out how to (as I term it) "trick" an element. As he explained it I remembered how much I absolutely love the idea of quantum mechanics! This is my passion. So no matter how much I may dislike what I have to do every day I can always turn to quantum. It keeps life exciting and gives me a reason to keep thinking. So although this motivation may not relate specifically to anyone else I know that we all have a passion that we can turn to. We can make life better and remember how to love life!