“Behold the Man”

We had a lesson today in church that really stuck with me. It’s resonated with me and has made me do some deep down soul searching. The talk I’ll be referencing and talking about was given in our 2018 April general conference given by Dieter F Uchtdorf entitled, “Behold the Man”.

You guys are brother Jesus Christ is incredible. The most significant day we’ve ever seen was that day 2000 years ago where Jesus Christ bore our sins, hung on the cross, died and resurrected for all of us. For me individually. He died for me , and he died for you. 

One part of this that really stuck with me was thinking about the fact that even if we choose not to acknowledge or don’t really want to partake in repenting for our sins, it doesn’t matter. Jesus already paid the sins. He paid the sins knowing that we may not fully accept or follow his teachings. I found myself trying to really grasping that concept. That’s like me baking cookies for everyone and if you choose not to partake in it, I already have baked the cookies so they will almost just go to waste. 

Pause. Reflect on that. Do i really want to waste my older Brother Jesus Christ’s’ sacrifice by not repenting or by not acknowledging this incredible sacrifice that he gave to each and every one of us. Does he cross our mind on a daily basis or is our mind to caught up in the latest gossip, newest debate on Facebook, etc. I’m guilty. And that’s why I think this lesson was so important for me to here and I hope that I will be able to improve every single day

Elder Uchtdorf states,

“In spite of all this, there are many in the world today who are either not aware of or do not believe in the precious gift Jesus Christ has given us. They may have heard of Jesus Christ and know of Him as a historical figure, but they do not see Him for who He truly is”

I encourage you to take a step back and really analyze your life. Is Jesus Christ a historical figure to you? Or is he your older brother? Is he the prince of peace? Do you recognize him for the incredible sacrifice that he gave to each and every one of us? 

In our lives do we “behold the man?” Do we soak it all in, or do we just touch the brim. Has there ever been a time in your life where you beheld the man? Where you felt his loving arms around you? Where you felt his love for you so deeply? 

When I was going through my divorce I felt like the biggest failure. I felt like I failed myself, my covenants with my Heavenly Father, my family, my friends, people around me, I had failed. I would cry at the thought of having to tell Hunter one day what happened. I would cry feeling like I let so many people down. The only comfort I could find is when I was on my knees praying to my Savior. 

It was as if he spoke to me and said, “you have not failed anyone, I love you, you only followed my plan for you, you have not failed because you listened to my guidance”.  It was then that I felt my Saviors love, all of it. I felt his love for me extend to a capacity I didn’t know exist. I knew that I did not fail him. 

It was then that I felt like I truly “beheld the man” I soaked in all of his love. I felt his loving arms around me. 

You guys Jesus Christ is not only my older brother but he’s yours. He died on that cross for you, he bore all the sins in Gethsemane, he bled from every pore, he knows you by name. He loves you and he can’t wait to physically hold us in his arms and protect us and comfort us. He’s not a historical figure, he’s my older brother. 

“So, when you are encompassed by sorrows and grief, behold the Man.

When you feel lost or forgotten, behold the Man.

When you are despairing, deserted, doubting, damaged, or defeated, behold the Man.

He will comfort you.

He will heal you and give meaning to your journey. He will pour out His Spirit and fill your heart with exceeding joy.

He gives “power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”

“I testify that the most important day in the history of mankind was the day when Jesus Christ, the living Son of God, won the victory over death and sin for all of God’s children. And the most important day in your life and mine is the day when we learn to “behold the man”; when we see Him for who He truly is; when we partake with all our heart and mind of His atoning power; when with renewed enthusiasm and strength, we commit to follow Him. May that be a day that recurs over and over again throughout our lives.”

Jesus climbed the hill to the garden still.

His steps were heavy and slow.

Love and a prayer took Him there

To the place only He could go.

Gethsemane. Jesus loves me,

So He went willingly to Gethsemane.

He felt all that was sad, wicked, or bad,

All the pain we would ever know.

While His friends were asleep, He fought to keep

His promise made long ago.

Gethsemane. Jesus loves me,

So He went willingly to Gethsemane.

The hardest thing that ever was done,

The greatest pain that ever was known,

The biggest battle that ever was won—

This was done by Jesus!

The fight was won by Jesus!

Gethsemane. Jesus loves me,

So He gave His gift to me in Gethsemane.

Gethsemane. Jesus loves me,

So He gives His gift to me from Gethsemane.

If you feel lost, broken or torn please get on your knees and pray. Pray to feel his love and I can say without a shadow of a doubt he will wrap his loving arms around you ❤️

-Jay 

You are enough

You are enough. 

You are enough, and I hope you never forget that. In a world full of comparisons, judgements, and certain standards it’s hard to remember that we are truly enough. 

I feel like through this divorce I’ve “lost” a lot of good people in my life. And I put lost in quotation marks because they’ll always be there because they are just that good of human beings. 

My whole life I’ve struggled with not feeling enough. I’ve always felt like I’ve always had to put in more effort in friendships, relationships whatever it may be and almost have to force a reciprocation. Maybe I’m just not that cool. 

My problem is I just care. I care for my friends, my family, acquaintances. I feel for them and I will always be there whenever they need me. I’ve always played a poor me card that people don’t care as much as i do. But is that a bad thing? 

Is it a bad thing to be there for others? Is it bad that I can feel wronged but should someone need me I can’t say no? No because that’s me. And I’m imperfect and I’m human and I feel.

I’ve lost a lot of good people from feeling inadequate. From feeling like I’m not good enough for them, from feeling like they deserve so much better. I’ve said goodbye to a few because I didn’t feel worthy.

Satan is the worst. 

The truth is, is that we are all good enough and we all deserve so much love, peace and happiness. Get out of your own head. Take it from someone who can’t get out of their own head, you’re only going to wind up hurting yourself. You’re only going to wind up beating yourself up. 

I’m not perfect, and neither are you. We are all on this crazy ride together. Be nice to one another. Yes i have a past, yes I was married for 9 months before I couldn’t take anymore, yes I’m a single mom, yes my life is chaotic and busy and stressful, but it’s my beautiful life and I love it. 

This isn’t a poor me post either. I’m fully aware that it’s my own fault that I let a lot of good people exit my life based on my own insecurities. I hurt my own self by thinking others don’t care. 

I just wish and hope that you will never forget how amazing you are. That you can do hard things. That it’s okay to feel like you care more or put in more effort, it’s okay. All of these thoughts are perfectly okay and normal. Some days I just pray and wish that I could take me own advice. But that’s okay...

One day I’ll believe I’m enough. And I hope that day is soon for you when you won’t question, am I good enough? 

F O R G I V E N E S S

You guys. Let’s have a little chat on forgiveness. Forgiveness is hard. It isn’t easy  and I truly believe it wasn’t meant to be easy. I believe Heavenly Father asks us to forgive because he is trying to free our souls. 

We have all been wronged, we’ve all been hurt, we’ve all laughed at the thought of forgiving someone who we see as unforgivable. Okay, maybe you haven’t, but I certainly have! 

Let’s get real for a second. When I was going through my divorce the last thing I ever wanted to do was even think about the thought of forgiveness. Of forgiving those who I felt wronged by. There was no way I was about to offer any forgiveness. He didn’t deserve it. Others didn’t deserve it. No one deserved my forgiveness. I let pride stand in the way, but in the end I was only hurting myself. 

Do you know what that did to me? It made me walk around carrying so much anger in my heart. So much fear so much sadness, so much turmoil in my heart. I’ll be honest, yeah I was happier when I left but there was still something holding me back. It was all that anger.

Well it wasn’t until we had a lesson at church about forgiveness that I learned a whole new side of forgiveness that I never knew existed. 

Forgiveness is forgiving someone so that you can be set free from the bonds that are chaining you down. Forgiving someone is allowing you to move on and feel bad for those that felt it necessary to wrong you. Forgiveness is removing Satan and allowing Heavenly Father and the spirit back in. 

Guys, this was a game changer! Forgiving someone doesn’t mean you are saying that what they did is okay, and that you agree with it! Forgiveness is truly for ourselves! No one wants to live with such hatred and anger in their hearts. At least I know that I don’t! 

I think it’s also important to remember to be easy on ourselves. Am I willing to just forgive those overnight? No, but I truly believe the Lord sees and recognizes our progress. One baby step forward is a step in the right direction. I don’t think he expects us to forgive overnight but he’s expecting progression. 

If you find it hard to forgive someone, get on your knees and pray. Pray for those that wronged you. Let Heavenly Father do the judging, it’s not our responsibility. We need to remember that he is our protector and he is constantly looking out for us. Let him protect us. Let him serve “justice” where it needs to be served.

But for ourselves. We deserve to live. I deserve to live free of all the pain and anger that was built up. I deserve to move on. And I deserve happiness. I deserve love. I deserve to smile. I deserve to be free from the constant angry thoughts in my head. And so do you. 

Let’s talk about the part of forgiveness no one likes to talk about. Forgiving OURSELVES. We are our own worst critics. We tear ourselves apart, we beat ourselves up, we compare, we tell ourselves that we aren’t good enough. Why? You think Heavenly Father wants that for you? No! So forgive yourself! Stop being so hard on yourself! Forgive yourself! 

May we always remember our ultimate example of forgiveness. Our Savior , Jesus Christ. He was dying on the cross and literally asked for forgiveness for those who wronged him because they knew not what they had done. Like how incredible is that example! 

Forgiveness is hard. Trust me. I’m slowly and when I say slowly I mean SLOWLY am working on forgiveness in my life. Not only forgiving others but forgiving myself. Forgiving myself for lying to those around me for almost a year to try and protect someone, for beating myself up everyday, for being a “fake happy jay”, for having thoughts that I did about my own life, and so much more. But everyday is one day closer to fully being able to offer forgiveness to others and to myself, and everyday is a step in the right direction. 

I hope you can reflect on forgiveness in your own life and see where forgiveness needs to be made. I’m not there, but the small progress I’ve made has made some of the biggest changes in my life! 

Love to you all, 

-jay. 

Smile - Spiritually minded is life eternal

SMILE- spiritually minded is life eternal.  I love this little phrase, and the truth behind it is so real. When our minds and thoughts are turned towards the Savior it really does help me focus on the eternal aspect of things. And a simple smile will always remind me to keep focus on being spiritually minded because In the end eternal life is what we are striving for! 

Guys. Life is going so unbelievably well. I’ve had multiple people tell me that for having an almost three month old and having to go through a divorce that I seem to be doing more than alright. And the truth is I am! And there is only one person I can thank for that. My Savior. He has made this process so easy and quick. I have experienced many tender mercies along the way. 

My biggest tender mercy is my Hunter boy. He is my pride and joy. He can make my heart burst with happiness at the sound of a coo. He is the happiest of babies and I am so unbelievably lucky to have him. He’s my little twin, my biggest joy, and my best friend. I absolutely love being a mom. 

Happiness is so important. It’s so important to remember the eternal perspective of things. It’s so hard to remember that when we are going through trials but it is so important! It has helped me see things in a different perspective when I’m going through tough things and I know it will help you. 

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, or worn. It is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace & gratitude.” 

I love this quote and I think it’s so true! I truly believe that when we live our lives full of love and thankfulness that we can be a genuinely  happier person. I know that the past year I got really good at pretending to be happy, and I was trying to earn the right to be happy. I knew i deserved it but I was looking for my happiness in all the wrong places. I was in such a rut, I was so down on myself from words that were said, and I just tried everything to get out of it. It wasn’t until I realized my worth, and realized those things I was so grateful for, and started to fill my heart with hope and love that I truly found my happiness again! Just in time for the arrival of my sweet Hunter! 

One of my dearest friends shay is going through breast cancer at just 26. It literally breaks my heart. And I wish it was me instead of her. But one thing I shared with her is a quote I found “in heaven we shall see that we had not one trial too many” I think this is so important to remember. We are given our trials personally because our Heavenly Father knows we can get through them. Shay is such a strong human and I know she was given this trial to spread her strength and positivity to all of those around her. I know I was given this trial for unique purposes. 

To be honest it’s so easy to throw a pity party, or feel embarrassed. I mean I was only married not even a year, and it’s so easy to look at others and say what the heck happened. But I am so grateful that I went through this. It has helped strengthen my relationship with the Lord and I can now put all my focus into being the best Mom to Hunter as possible. 

There is such a peace when you turn your life over to our  savior and literally say my life is in your hands, I’ll do what you want me to do. I know I am striving everyday to live my life as the Savior would want me too. And I have felt so much peace turning my plan over and following my Saviors plan. I will never lost trust in his plan for me. 

My hope is that whatever you are going through in your life that you find what makes you happy. Find your joy and happiness. Treat others with that same happiness. I’m not perfect but life is much more pleasurable when you let go of your worries and just live Day by day, moment by moment and putting smiles on all the faces around you. 

I love all of you. Thank you for dealing with my million pictures of Hunter. Thanks for letting me share my story, and thank you for being respectful of my journey. I give all my reasons for happiness to my savior. He got me out of a really bad situation, and he has sent so many tender mercies in my life. I am humbled by his love for me and I know that the same love he has for me, he has for all of you. ❤️

It’s okay to not be okay... right now

One thing I have realized over this past Easter/ General Conference weekend is that our Savior is an amazing being. How lucky are we to have him by our side throughout this journey. 

I realized with my last post that I may have come off as “I am not struggling one bit with this”. While this was the best decision and I am so much happier and at peace, it doesn’t mean that some days may not just suck. 

It doesn’t mean that all my Timehop memories are wedding related right now and I often ponder what the heck happened. I have my moments of weakness, I cry, I let Satan in my head, I blame myself.

One thing they’ve always said is that when you need to hear something you will hear it and you will think the talks were designed just for you. I can’t say that’s not how I felt watching General Conference. The talks on forgiveness, on relying on our Savior, all of it, I felt like those men were just talking straight to me. 

Forgiveness is a tough one. Forgiving someone that you may have felt wronged you in so many ways, or who treated you poorly, whatever it may be, I feel like we all have those people in our lives that we still hold a little bit of bitterness towards. We have that one person or people who the thought of forgiving them never crossed our minds. We may find it easier to look towards bitterness and hatred rather than love and charity. But our Savior asked us to forgive everyone. Whatever the circumstance, we need to work on forgiveness. 

I am the furthest thing from perfect when it comes to forgiveness. It is something I know i need to work on. Forgiving those who i believe hurt me or wronged me makes me want to vomit. And i know that I am not there yet on forgiveness , and that’s okay. But i feel like our savior just wants improvement. He wants to see effort and progress. He doesn’t want us to move backwards but forward in all things. We can’t relive the past. We have to move on. We have to put in our true effort and he will make up the rest, this I know. But I feel like it’s okay for forgiveness to take time. It’s okay to need time to heal before seeking out those that wronged you and forgiving them. 

One important part that I’ve had to learn in forgiveness is learning to forgive yourself. Forgive yourself for whatever it may be. Letting go of that burden that’s been on your shoulders. Finding freedom from those thoughts and memories. Forgiving yourself is just as important as forgiving those around you.

Remember, it’s okay to not be okay. You don’t have to be strong every single day. You are aloud to have your days of weakness, you’re aloud to mourn. But one thing that has helped me is to not wonder what if. To dwell on those memories. It has helped me to pray to move forward with my life, and I believe my Savior has aloud me to do that fairly quicker. And for that I am so ever grateful. I believe that is the reason that I am okay. I believe that’s the reason i have found my smile so quickly again. I believe that’s why I found my joy and why I am doing “so okay” with this. My Savior has given me an enormous amount of strength, especially on those days that are hard. 

I also learned that it’s okay to lean on others, especially our Savior. Some days can be tough. Some days can be easy. In either circumstance it’s okay to lean on the support and love from those around you. The Savior puts people in our lives to help us. To be a comfort and a sense of peace to us.  When the days are tough don’t be afraid to lean on those people. 

My mom has been such a strength for me at this time of my life. She is so much more than a mom. She’s a listener, a protector, a best friend, and she is the BEST grandma. If it wasn’t for her I’m not sure I’d ever have a peaceful shower or be able to eat with both hands. 

My sister, Jen is one incredible human being. She has the heart of gold. She is a best friend and she is someone who is there for me whenever I need her. She listens, loves and protects. 

I am grateful for my sweet Hunter. I am grateful for the love and peace he brings in to my life. He is such a perfect human being and I see the savior in those sweet eyes of his. He is an example to me to keep going and never lose hope. I love you baby boy. 

My family are the best people for me. They are all there for me with whatever I need. They show me how to love, and find joy in life. I am so grateful for them. 

I am grateful for all of those who reached out to me in love and concern after my last post. Each and every one  of you touched my heart and I am thankful for you. I love you all and you boosted my spirits! 

I am so grateful for my knowledge of the atonement of Jesus Christ. I know he took on the sins of this world for me, for you, for all of us. Because of him, I can get through this time in my life. Because of him, I am able to seek joy and happiness again. Because of him I have people placed in my life to pull me through. Because of him I have strength to overcome Satan. Because of him I have strength to get through those harder days. I love my Savior and I would be nothing without him. 

Hugs and love to you all ❤️

It’s my story, it’s my journey

It’s my story.

8 months pregnant, and i found myself in a really hard spot. An impossible spot, one i didn’t know how I was going to get through it. But I knew I had a loving Heavenly Father who would get me through it. 

Let me for warn this blog post. This has been written for a while, and I’ve debated posting it or keeping it in. But one of my biggest motivators in life  is trying every way possibly to help those around me, even if it means exposing a little bit of my personal life. I do not want sympathy, And this post isn’t meant to bash anyone. This isn’t me blaming anyone or trying to make anyone look poorly. It’s not about me wanting attention, trust me it’s hard enough to swallow some pride, be humble and share my journey in hopes it might touch just one of you.  It’s simply about how i got through some hard times with the help of my Savior. It’s about having the courage to share a part of my journey. Nothing more, nothing less. I know some may not agree with me posting about this as it’s a hard topic, and maybe this is just my way of healing and i just need to write it down, but it’s a part of my story and I will never hide that, no matter how hard it may be to share. 

I found myself really quite unhappy. I was missing so much of who i was. I feel like i couldn’t quite get to being myself again. Growing up i would consider myself a happy go lucky, lover of life, always trying to be positive kind of person. I loved to smile and found joy in knowing others were happy. But now i was living a life where I was drained, torn, unhappy, and miserable. My self worth was down the drain and I got really good at faking my happiness. I   found my motivator to keep going and find myself again was my son baking inside of me. Oh how I couldn’t wait to snuggle and kiss those cheeks of his! He deserves the best me possible and I had to find a way to get back there. But i was lost with no direction. 

I found myself on my knees begging my Savior for guidance, some kind of direction. And I kept getting the answer of what to do, but it was an answer that seemed nearly impossible to do. So I kept praying hoping for another alternative. Nothing, same answer. So my prayers quickly turned to having the courage to follow his plan for me even though I knew it was going to be a long hard road that may not have everyone’s approval, or may have people gossiping or tiptoeing around me or whatever it may be. 

But I followed his guidance and direction and did what I never thought I’d have the courage to do. 

I now found myself 8 months pregnant and going through a divorce. The Word divorce is not one that comes lightly to me. Nor did I ever picture  my life going this path. It took everything in me to do it, but i knew that i would have the Saviors help. I still found myself crying, feeling like a failure, and asking why me? Why now? Why? I knew it was the right decision but that didn’t make it easier for one bit. 

But all I could do was simply rely on the Saviors plan for me and keep moving forward. My focus now turned to how can I be the best mom possible to such a perfect human being, a blessing from my Savior? How can i turn this trial into a learning experience? How can i come closer to my Savior through this? 

I found myself listening to church music, reading conference talks, reading my scriptures doing everything I could to find all those answers. And what I learned is that You know what?  We have a Savior who designed our lives, who mapped out every trial, every happy time, every obstacle, every success. If my Savior gave me this trial, than He had the faith in me to know that i could get through this and I needed this. 

So my thoughts quickly turned to, you know what I’m strong enough to get through this! Why not me? I am not a failure. My Savior didn’t design any of his children to be failures. I did what I never thought I’d have the courage to do. I left, so that I can find my happiness again. I left, so that i could be the best mom that I can be. I left because i knew my worth and what i deserved. I started to dig deep inside of me and started pulling out my happiness. Oh how I missed smiling and not having sadness behind it. I missed saying “I’m doing so good, I’m happy” and not having the thought of “I’m miserable and unhappy but I can pretend”. 

The Lord has truly helped me turn this into such a positive learning experience. I have grown so close to him, and I have learned to rely on him. I’ve learned that it’s okay to go through hard times, but it’s never okay to stray away from the Savior. I’ve learned that I am enough, The feeling of being inadequate and a failure comes through Satan and we cannot listen to him. Our Savior loves us despite our imperfections, and will help us along the path of returning to him.

I have found my joy again. It hasn’t been easy. I still wonder why I have to go through this, but when I look into my sons perfect eyes I know that because I had the courage to leave, I could now focus on being the best mom to my sweet Hunter boy. I am grateful for my savior for giving me the courage and guidance that he has. I am grateful that I was given Hunter. He is my biggest blessing and I can’t believe he is mine. He reminds me why I made the decision I did, and finding my joy and happiness again made it all worth it. It’s a beautiful thing to have a real genuine smile on your face and not have to try and hide the hurt and suffering. I will forever look at the positive of this trial. 

Thank you to everyone who’s reached out to make sure I was doing okay.  I am okay, i am happy , and i am loved. I am owning this trial and I am grateful for a savior who gave me this trial. I know this was a very personal post and some may not agree or question why i posted something so personal. But my hopes is that it touched just one of you and helped you realize your worth, that you are enough, you are strong enough to do extremely hard things, you deserve happiness, and you will get through this journey and your trials with the companionship of the Savior. Have the courage to stand up for yourself and have the courage to live the life you want to live. Have the courage to stay true to who you are. Never lose hope, never lose sight of who you are and never lose sight of your happiness. Your blueprint of life might be different than you planned, but don’t be afraid to share your story, it’s what makes you beautiful. 

I love you all! 

-Jay.

Mountains to climb, and faith to move those mountains

“If we are steadfast and do not waver in our faith, the Lord will increase our capacity to raise ourselves above the challenges of life. We will be enabled to subdue negative impulses, and we will develop the capacity to overcome even what appear to be overwhelming obstacles.”

-Ulisses Soares

Rising above the challenges of life. Sounds easy enough eh? The truth is , is that life is hard sometimes. Sometimes it goes in directions you never expected it to go. Sometimes it throws you in every which way and you just don’t know where to turn or which way to go. You feel lost, hopeless, confused and hurt. 

Go to your knees, go to your Heavenly Father. When sore trials came upon you , did YOU think to pray? Did you even stop to think or remember that you have a Heavenly Father who loves you. Did you forget he has a plan for you? Did you forget that he knows every aspect and turn of your life? Wether you are going through a trial so small or a trial so big you can hardly catch your breath, always remember to turn to the Lord. He will guide you and help you if you listen to him. 

“The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future”

-Jeffrey R Holland

Having faith isn’t always the easiest either. It’s easy to think why me? Why did I have to go through this? Why does this have to be my trial? We can either keep asking ourselves all these questions or we can rise above the challenges of life, and accept and own our trials, get back up and keep moving forward. We aren’t going to get any where moping around asking why me? 

If only we could learn to say WHY NOT ME? You know what I’m strong enough to get through this. I have enough faith that my Heavenly Father will help me, so you know what why NOT ME? bring it on. Bring it on trial, bring on the judgements, the hurt, Satan’s lies, bring it all on. Cause you know what? I’m strong enough to get through this trial. And i have the most important person carrying me through it, my Savior. So you know what give me that trial. I’m going to learn a heck of a lot from it, and I’m not scared or worried. Cause remember YOU can do hard things. 

But wait, it’s not always easy to be tough and put a smile on even if you are hurting inside. in every trial we go through  I’m not saying you can’t have hard days. You’re aloud to cry, you’re aloud to be sad, not every day is going to be easy. But what you can’t do is dwell on it. Learn from it, learn from your trials. Get up and keep going forward. But don’t feel bad if you just need a good cry either. 

“my message for you today is that there is a different path than ones of fear and doubt or self-indulgence—a path that brings peace, confidence, and serenity in life. You can’t control all of the circumstances of your life. Things both good and challenging will happen to you that you never expected. However, I declare that you have control of your own happiness. You are the architects of it.”

• Gérald J. Caussé

Trials aren’t easy. But do you know what is easy? Being happy. You deserve it. You get one life to live so just be happy. If others don’t agree with decisions or try to put you down, rise above them. You’re in charge of your happiness. You are the architect of your own happiness. And I’ll tell you what, it’s a dang good feeling to be happy. 

So if you find yourself in a slump, and you feel like you can’t get out, really ponder what is making you feel that way, and please please get out of it. Every single person deserves to be happy. No one deserves to live life unhappy , wondering what it feels like to have happiness. No, YOU Find YOUR  happiness, do what makes you happy. Don’t worry what others think. The only opinion you need to worry about is your Heavenly Fathers. Stay close to him. He will help you, he will guide you. 

“The more we devote ourselves to the pursuit of holiness and happiness, the less likely we will be on a path to regrets. The more we rely on the Savior’s grace, the more we will feel that we are on the track our Father in Heaven has intended for us.”

~Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Live your life with no regrets, be happy, have the faith to move mountains, and rise above your trials and challenges. If life’s challenges throws you off the highway, get back on and keep driving towards your end goal. To reunite with our Savior one day. Love and prayers to you all, whatever you may stand in need of  at this time. ❤️

-Jay

Happiness. Strength in Christ. Positivity.

I am not perfect. Never will I ever come close to believing I am. I’ve made my mistakes, I have my short comings, sometimes I make really silly decisions, sometimes I care too much, or worry too much, or try too hard, or compare myself to others, I am not perfect. Not even close. 

What I’ve come to realize though is truly how important happiness is. It can change your attitude on life, if can turn the bad days into good. A wise man once said “you do not find the happy life , you make it”.  How true is this. Nothing in life comes easy. We are thrown all sorts of curveballs, and roadblocks are placed every which way. But we also weren’t placed in this life to give up, to believe there is no happiness , to be down, stressed, whatever it may be. We need to make our own happy, and this I am a true believer in. 

How many times do we go throughout our day with our head down trying to just make it through the days, instead of keeping your chin up, smiling, laughing, talking to those around you. How many times do we lend a compliment in the hopes of brightening someone else’s day? Or are we too busy keeping our head down trying to avoid all human contact. How many times do we look around and judge those around us, and have bad thoughts towards them instead of noticing that they are a beautiful Child of God and they make this world such a beautiful place? 

Are we too busy focusing on ourselves, and fail to realize that there are people all around us who are struggling? Struggling spiritually, physically , emotionally whatever it may be. We don’t walk around with a headband sporting our trials and struggles and in fact most just put on a smile in order to hide the fact that they are struggling with something much deeper and just want to give up. But if we could just stop for one second and smile, or help the elderly with their groceries, or give the homeless guy some food, compliment people, love people, think positively about everyone, don’t you think that for just a blink of an eye , maybe they’d forget their struggles? And maybe just maybe, a little piece of there broken heart can be mended? 

Kindness and happiness go a long way. 

Positivity goes a long way. Positivity doesn’t come easy. It’s hard to stay positive when everything seems to be raining down, its hard when you realize you are human and naturally you compare yourself to everyone. It’s hard to remain positive when everything around you in this world is telling you to see the bad. But who chooses to believe it? Who chooses to see that they dress nicer, that they are skinnier, prettier, stronger, have the better hair, or they don’t have to live paycheck to paycheck? YOU DO. Your eyes and your mind are the ones who believe it. I am working on taking my own two sense when I say STOP IT. This world would be a dull place if we all were the same personality, looked the same, etc. stay positive, believe in you, set goals and dream big. Stop seeing the negativity this world is trying to make you see. See the good, see the beauty in everyone and everything around you. Smile gosh dang it! Who cares if you have trials, short comings or really hard times? Do you think your trials and heartache are going to get any better moping around and having a pity party? No! So go out and smile, compliment others, lift others burdens, lift other people up, stop worrying about yourself and maybe you’ll slowly start to realize that your life is meaningful, it’s beautiful, and you are here for a purpose. Positivity starts within. Go and find it. 

One thing I’ve learned over the years is how much strength I can receive through my Savior. Through relying on the lord, through bended knee pouring my heart out. In realizing that we have a Savior who atoned for our sins, who wanted to take away every pain, every ill thought, every sadness, burden, loss, heartbreak, HE DID IT FOR YOU. Your name ran across his mind, your face he saw , every single one of you. He suffered for you. Personally, coming to know my Savior and his sacrifice has given me the strength to rely on him in every circumstance, in every success , in every failing. He is there. He will not let you go. He will fight for you, you just need to learn to fight for yourself. Come to rely on him. 

Life is much too short. Sing the song, dance in the rain, worry less, laugh, look around and see the good, see the beauty, focus on the good and leave the bad behind. It’s your turn to find your happy life. Go and make it, and make it a dang good one. 

-Jay.