Hold Fast To That Which Is Good

Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash

 I write most days so that I can create the day I want in advance -- or at least how I want to show up in the day whether things go like I expect or not.  I use the rules of words which are:  

1. Use 1st person  

2.  Use present tense  

3.  Claim what you want  

4.  Avoid trigger words -- words that bring negative feelings  

5.  Use power words -- words that motivate. 

 I want to share something I wrote.  I hope you will find what you need to lift any heaviness and at least bring a glimmer of light into any darkness.

"I am writing and remembering that I am Sisu.  I am sure, radiant, strong and unwavering.  I love God and people and He loves us.  He holds us in the palm of His hand.  I will trust in Him and not be afraid.  He can bring light into the darkest times and give beauty for ashes.  He is my friend and there is beauty everywhere and in everyone to remind me of Him.  I will hold fast to that which is good and rejoice in my Savior."

A Word For Me: Sisu

Photo by Nathan Jennings on Unsplash
The Lord Is My Light

 I have learned to write, every day if possible, my I am statement, which I make up and change from time to time.  For a while I had a really hard time coming up with something I was happy with.  I changed things every day, at least a little.  I finally realized that I had started feeling sorry for myself and fallen into victim mode.  Woe is me!  I needed to be a creator.  I needed to decide how to handle my challenges instead of just reacting to them.  I was still struggling with my I am statement though, until Derek suggested a Finnish word.

Derek went to Finland on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when he was 19 and he told me that the old timers in Finland would describe their ability to stand through challenges, and even thrive, as Sisu.  He explained it well, and I looked it up.  Sisu is a way of being, kind of like the Danish Hygge that is so popular.  So, I chose Sisu as a part of my statement.  The rest I chose because our world can be confusing and there are so many questions I don't know the answers to yet.  If I focus too much on those questions, and the hardships of life, I start to feel like I'm on shaky ground.  I can start to doubt God's love and to question His plan.  I want to be very deliberate in choosing what I believe and in choosing faith.

My statement is:  "I am Sisu:  Sure, Radiant, Strong, and Unwavering"

I put each of the four words in a quadrant and found a few scriptures and songs with lyrics that would help me stay on a firm foundation.

Spiritual:  Sure

I believe and am sure that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God and He loves every person beyond measure.  (John 6:68-69)

(This helps me remember who to look to for help and how much He loves me and others.  When I do this I can show up as a faithful, and loving daughter of God)

Social:  Radiant

This little light of mine.  I'm gonna let it shine.

(I want to be a light that draws people to the Savior so they can have the love and help they need)

Physical:  Strong

The Lord is my strength, song, and salvation.  He makes my feet like that of a deer and helps me soar on wings like eagles.  Isaiah 12:2, Habakkuk 3:19, Isaiah 40:31

(I am strong when I rely on the rock of my salvation.  He can help me know what to do to strengthen my body so that I can "run and not be weary, and walk and not faint".  He can lift me when I am down and help me to soar like eagles.

Intellectual:  Unwavering

"No storm can shake my inmost calm, while to that rock I'm clinging.  Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?"  by Robert Lowry 1869

(When I am calm, I am able to be inspired and know what I can study and share that will be helpful.)

I hope you will be motivated to come up with your own inspiring I am statement.  Something that can help you feel the strength you have through Christ.

Love from,

Sher

Photo by Derek
Picture by Dan
Me being surrounded by God's love and radiating it to those around me.

Deliberately Create Your Story

Photo by Kalen Emsley on Unsplash

PEACE

This week has been quite stressful and I thought I was handling it all pretty well, and then bedtime came around again last night, and suddenly I felt a lot of stress myself.  I felt it in the pit of my stomach.  I started feeling like I'd messed up somehow to my family's detriment.

I start going into "What if" mode.  What if I were more inspired or determined?  What if I had said...?  What if I had done...? What if I had played with my kids more, or handled my own emotions better when they were little, then would they have been able to avoid some of the hard things they deal with now? I then start assigning thoughts to other people.  Derek probably thinks ....  The kids probably think....  

Inspiration came from remembering a thought I had read this week.  The truth is, when we assign thoughts to other people, we are usually projecting our own thoughts onto them.  I was the one thinking that if only I were better my family members wouldn't be having such a hard time.  (What power that assumes I have!)  I was the one assigning thoughts to those around me.   Those were my thoughts and even if those thoughts were true, I couldn't really know it.  I don't read minds!

Then I realized something else.  I can choose to believe that I have done the best I can.  It is true.  I would never intentionally harm anyone!  I can even choose to believe that their lives are, and have been, better with me in it.  I can choose to create my day not on the imagined thoughts of others, or even on my own negative thoughts, but on what I want to be and do.

After I realized those things the weight lifted.  I still didn't sleep all that much, but I felt peaceful.  I can't live to please everyone else, or to solve other people's problems.  I can't go back and change anything.  I can't make anyone think what I want them to.  I can live to create the most loving version of myself possible with the clear realization that I, and everyone else, are "perfectly human" and so we are going to mess up.  We each get to choose how we show up for ourselves and with other people.  We get to choose how we react to our challenges and the challenges of others.

Today I am choosing to focus on the good and to be thankful for how my family takes care of each other.  I have chosen to create the best day I can, and to do my best to let go of what doesn't work just how I wish it would.  I am the creator of my story, and being a creator is a powerful way to live.