Don't Cry Because It's Over, Smile Because It Happened...

Well hello there,

Confession time...

Deciding what to do with the blog has been very difficult for me. I won't lie...I LOVE this blog! The things that is has done for me and even more importantly...what it has done for many others completely humbles and fascinates me. I feel like what it has become, is something I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams. 

I have spent countless hours thinking of where to take it from here and I am still waiting for my "light bulb" moment...but I have faith it will come! For now please just bear with me as my posts may be random and rather scatter brained...which I promise you is really just a glimpse of what goes on in my mind. Ha! But while I search for some direction...if you have any advice, ideas, questions, or if you just want to encourage me to keep emptying the contents of my over-active brain onto the internet...please let me know! :)

Now to the good stuff...

One of my favourite things to do is to sit in front of the bathroom mirror for a realllllllllly long time and think.  I have often been teased about this, but little did they know there was some serious soul searching going on! I can literally stare back at myself and reflect on how much has changed and how much I have grown. It is quite the experience. If you have never tried it, you should! 

 In one of my more recent "pondering sessions" I thought back on the events of the last few months and then of the last few years...yikes/wow/wahoo!/oh man...it was insanely overwhelming. But I was able to take a step back from everything. I was able to see the negative; the things that had gone wrong, or simply just not how I had planned. And I was able to see the positive...which came as a result of conquering each mountain in front of me.

When life threw me some "less then desirable" experiences...I had two options:

One - I could focus on everything that was lost, taken away and destroyed.

or

Two - I could be grateful for the memories, and then focus on everything that was still here.

I found a saying that I now have in my home...I see it every day and I love how simple the message is - but the power that is behind it.  It says;

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened"

So easy to say, rather difficult to do?  It is hard - but it is all about your mindset.  And for me I found that the only way I could get the icky, negative thoughts out of my head was to flip them around into something positive.  I had to be grateful instead of being angry or sad.  

Let me give you an example;

It was unbelievably hard, not to be given the opportunity to say goodbye the moment things happened.  I was a long ways away. I couldn't do a thing. And as much as I did have a chance to say goodbye, it still wasn't the same as "being there" at that moment. I am sure you understand what I am saying.  BUT  it would have been much harder to sit beside him and make the decision of whether or not to end life support...see, tender mercy.  I didn't have to make any decisions. Thank goodness the decision was made for me.  I just had to accept it.

We have to flip these things in our brains to make them easier to cope with! 

My Grandma shared a perfect, much simpler example of this with me.

One day she left a bottle of fabric softener on top of the washing machine...with the lid not completely tight.  The washer turned on...the fabric softener fell off.  As you can imagine this was quite the mess to clean up!  That stuff is slick! But how did Grandma choose to think about it? Well she decided her house sure smelled nice!

Last week I woke up very early on a day off, after a very late night, to go Visiting Teaching. I was up, dressed and out the door early enough to allow myself time to sit in my car, read over my lesson, gather my thoughts, say a prayer etc. After texting my companion for directions to the Sister's house that we were going to...she replied with, "I thought that was tomorrow!" Turns out...it was! My first thought? Are you kidding me?! I got out of bed for nothing?! My second thought? Wow, that was so nice to sit in complete silence and to take a moment to refresh myself and to start off my day with a different spirit then I normally do. AND I had even more time to ponder the message! ;) 

Clearly it is all in our mindset, and I love how invincible I feel when I choose to think this way.

Give it a try! I really believe you won't be let down. No matter what happens today, focus on the positive! Focus on everything you DO have...the rest will work itself out in the end. It always does. 

Great things will come.

If you have any wonderful stories about when you put this method to use...please share them with me in the comments below! It is so refreshing to hear different experiences! :)  

I hope you all have a wonderfully, positive day! :)

Love, 

Dakota