The Hard Things We Do Now Will Help Us Later

Hard things are put in our way for a reason.
Doing hard things strengthens and empowers us. Once we do something hard we can look back and say, "I did that. If I did that, then I can do this."
Hard things are hard. But I wouldn't trade them for easy things. Hard things callus and prepare us for what the future will bring. And it's during the hard things that we find our inner strength. Each of us has inner strength and there will be times when we will have to pull on it to help us through difficult times.
I went on Trek (a handcart pulling/pushing reenactment) and on the second day we talked a lot about inner strength. That was the day where we had what we call the Women's Pull. And, just like it sounds, all the girls pulled the wagons. And it was hard and tiring but it was worth it. And inspiring to hear about how everyone found their inner strength afterwards.

Tupac Shakur said, “I know it seems hard sometimes but remember one thing. Through every dark night, there's a bright day after that. So no matter how hard it get, stick your chest out, keep ya head up.... and handle it.”
Hard things are always worth fighting for.
And remember, you do have a support group. Family, friends, mentors. There are always people willing to help and there's someone out there that has either been in the same situation or something like it and would be happy to help.

You have to make the call you’re afraid to make.
You have to get up earlier than you want to get up.
You have to give more than you get in return right away.
You have to care more about others than they care about you.
You have to fight when you are already injured, bloody, and sore.
You have to feel unsure and insecure when playing it safe seems smarter.
You have to lead when no one else is following you yet.
You have to invest in yourself even though no one else is.
You have to look like a fool while you’re looking for answers you don’t have.
You have to grind out the details when it’s easier to shrug them off.
You have to deliver results when making excuses is an option.
You have to search for your own explanations even when you’re told to accept the “facts”.
You have to make mistakes and look like an idiot.
You have try and fail and try again.
You have to run faster even though you’re out of breath.
You have to be kind to people who have been cruel to you.
You have to meet deadlines that are unreasonable and deliver results that are unparalleled.
You have to be accountable for your actions even when things go wrong.
You have to keep moving towards where you want to be no matter what’s in front of you.

You have to do the hard things.

The things that no one else is doing. The things that scare you. The things that make you wonder how much longer you can hold on.
Those are the things that define you. Those are the things that make the difference between living a life of mediocrity or outrageous success.

The hard things are the easiest things to avoid.  To excuse away. To pretend like they don’t apply to you.

The simple truth about how ordinary people accomplish outrageous feats of success is that they do the hard things that smarter, wealthier, more qualified people don’t have the courage — or desperation — to do.
Do the hard things. You might be surprised at how amazing you really are.1

I've always liked this. It's not easy to hard things, obviously; their not called 'hard' for no reason! But I think that the harder it is, the more worth it the thing becomes.
 

So, what hard thing have you done?

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1 You Have To Do The Hard Things by Dan Waldschmidt

Thankfulness

Thanksgiving isn't the only time to give thanks.
In fact, "he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more."1

This a video that I really like; in New York city random people on the streets were asked one question: What are you thankful for?

I don't know about you, but I think that's just great.
Say you were stopped randomly on the street and asked, "What are you thankful for?", what would you say?

In the video there was a dozen different answers, ranging from Heavenly Father's creation and intelligent conversation to breakfast, lunch and dinner and macaroni and cheese.

So, what are you thankful for?

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1 Doctrine and Covenants 78:19

The video is called In the Spirit of Thanksgiving and can be found on YouTube and lds.org

Light

Isn't interesting that evil is always depicted as dark and black and cold while good is represented with light?
Light is an important element in our lives; without it we are lost.

Suzanne Collins is famous for writing The Hunger Games trilogy. But before Hunger Games she wrote another series, The Underland Chronicles. This series follows a boy from New York City named Gregor who falls down hundreds of feet below the surface to Regalia.
It's interesting that in this series, the Underlanders interchange the words 'light' and 'life.' I like that.

Light. Flashlights. Fire. Lamp. Spotlight. Lightening. Light bulb. Match. Bonfire. Lantern. Headlights. These are just some examples of the lights we use in life.


This is the first part of a three part video series about light:

Light is powerful. Light can always overcome darkness but darkness can never overcome light.No matter what. Light always wins in the end.

This is the second video on light:

And here is the third and final light video:

I love these videos!

Anyway, light is seriously really powerful and really important!! Like i mentioned before, light is essential to our lives; we're blind without it.

There's a light at the end of the tunnel.
Interesting phrase. It means that when you're going through tough times, there's hope and if you just endure then you can make it to the end.

This is one of my favorite poems; for one thing, it's all about the light inside of us. Like that first video talked about, the light of Christ, which is in all of us.

Our Greatest Fear —Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?



Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other

people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

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These videos can be found on lds.org and YouTube.
Our Greatest Fear can be found by searching for it on google.

Embark!!

This is great!!
(You may not get the first part and that's okay!)

 
For youth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this is our theme for 2015. (The video is the theme song1.) And isn't it wonderful?
This has to be my favorite theme.

em·bark

verb \im-ˈbärk\

: to begin a journey especially on a ship or airplane

intransitive verb

1

:  to go on board a vehicle for transportation <the troops embarked at noon>

2

:  to make a start <embarked on a new career>

transitive verb

1

:  to cause to go on board (as a boat or airplane)

2

:  to engage, enlist, or invest in an enterprise2

Embark. What a cool word.
I love how there are so many different things that embark can mean but still mean something closely related! I don't know if that really made any sense but I think it's just wonderful.

 In the video it was just amazing how many different ways youth were serving. They were embarking.
It's so awesome!! Not to mention, embark also means "to make a start." Embarking is doing something new, trying something out. In other words, beginning a journey.

So, what are you going to do to embark this year?

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1 This video can be found on lds.org/youth and YouTube
2 Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Narnia

(Really quick, SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't read any of the Narnia books, you should! And it never hurts to reread them.)
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I don't know about you, but Narnia has always been a special series for me.
It's a story that not only entertains but also teaches (I love those kinds of books!!). Now, I will admit that I haven't read all the books but I'm working on it.
So, I'm going to focus on three of the seven books. The Magician's Nephew, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Voyage of the Dawn Treader. (All of them are great and I would really encourage you to read them all!)

The Magician's Nephew
This book focuses on the creation of the world.
One of the things that's so interesting about Narnia's creation, is that Aslan sings. He doesn't just sing while he's creating Narnia, he's singing to create Narnia.
Digory has to right the wrong he's made and we are introduced to Jadis, later known as the White Witch.
Through Digory's uncle, Uncle Andrew, we can learn about greed and selfishness.

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Narnia teaches so much. But most importantly, in this book, we can learn about Christ's Atonement.
Edmund sides with the White Witch but soon learns that she's not what she was at first. That's like sin; it can look appealing and fun but it's a trap. Do you know how traps work? I'm sure you do; sin is just the same. It looks good but then it traps us and it can be really, really hard to escape.
Edmund is forgiven and saved by Aslan. Aslan sacrifices himself for Edmund. And he didn't do it to be cool or for praise. He did it, I think for three reasons; 1) He was a leader. It was his responsibility. 2) Edmund had sincerely repeated. He had no desire to return to the White Witch. And lastly, but most importantly, reason 3) Aslan loved Edmund. He wanted and was willing to die for Edmund.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader
In this book, Edmund, Lucy and their obnoxious cousin, Eustace, journey to Narnia and meet up with an older Prince Caspian (they first met Caspian in Prince Caspian.)
Caspian is sailing around, his goal being to find seven lost lords.
In this book Lucy learns to be happy with herself, Edmund and Prince Caspian experience jealously and Eustace gets over his uselessness.


C.S. Lewis knew what he was doing when he wrote The Chronicles of Narnia. Each book teach important lessons.
4 of the 7 books have been made into movies.
BBC (British Broadcasting) produced The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair.
Disney and Walden Media have done The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian and Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
If you want closer to the book, I would recommend the BBC versions. (I personally like BBC's better because it stuck to the book.)
If you want more...I don't know, more action, watch Disney/Walden Media.

"Please, Aslan," said Lucy. "Before we go, will you tell us when we can come back to Narnia again? Please. And oh, do, do, do make it soon." '

"Dearest," said Aslan very gently, "you and your brother will never come balk to Narnia."

"Oh, Aslan!!" said Edmund and Lucy both together in despairing voices.

"You are too old, children," said Aslan, "and you must begin to come close to your own world now."

"It isn't Narnia, you know," sobbed Lucy. "It's you. We shan't meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?"

"But you shall meet me, dear one," said Aslan.

"Are are you there too, Sir?" said Edmund.

"I am," said Aslan. "But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there."

~Chapter 16 The Very End of the World, Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Happy New Year!!!

2014 has been a good year. I'm certain 2015 will be great as well.

I was thinking back to everything I did this past year and thinking about what I want to accomplish this year.
Now is a great time to do that, think about the past and future. Cherish what's already happened and plan for what's coming up.

Have a wonderful, inspiring and meaningful 2015!