Sadness, disappointment, and severe challenge are events in life, not life itself. I do not minimize how hard some of these events are. They can extend over a long period of time, but they should not be allowed to become the confining center of everything you do. - Richard G. Scott, Finding Joy in Life
Anne and I took a trip to the National Parks
to soothe her great distress because Pamela married and Anne knew she would
never marry and have a family.
Truly I believe that the trials I've faced are events in a life that is filled with an abundance of people I love and who love me, God, church, adventure, fun, learning, experiences, education, work, motherhood, wifehood, grandmotherhood, miracles, blessings, and so much more...
Her love and faith in God taught me how to live and how to die.
“I know that [God] loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things,” --Nephi - 1 Nephi 11:17. O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever” Nephi - 2 Nephi 4:34. When I think of these scriptures I tell myself during difficult times, "I don't understand why this is happening, but God does and I trust him."
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My sweet Mom and me - Everything was the "best I've ever tasted."
When I was a teenager, I wrote and presented a talk in Sacrament meeting. My entire body shook and I talked so rapidly, that the 2 1/2 minute talk was finished in less than 30 seconds. However, this talk that I memorized and practiced over and over again, has been a guide throughout my life. Below is the quote and poem that still spill out of my memory when I find myself anxious and worried about the future and/or beaten down by sad or hurtful things in the past:
Live in day-tight compartments.
Sir William Osler 1913
In the first chapter of “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” by Dale Carnegie a story is told about Sir William Osler, who while crossing the ocean on a ship, learned from the captain that many compartments on the ship could be shut off at the touch of a button into water tight compartments. If one area of the ship was breached, the other compartments would be closed off and the ship could continue to run without sinking. A few months later (1913) while speaking to a group of students at Yale, Dr. Osler urged the students to live in “day-tight compartments”, to only live this day.
"Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn!
Look to this Day!
For it is Life, the very Life of Life.
In its brief Course lie all the
Varieties and Realities of your Existence:
The Bliss of Growth,
The Glory of Action,
The Splendor of Beauty;
For Yesterday is but a Dream
And Tomorrow is only a Vision;
But Today well lived makes
Every Yesterday a Dream of Happiness
And every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope.
Look well therefore to this Day!
Such is the Salutation of the Dawn!"
—Kalidasa, Indian sanskrit poet and dramatist, 5th century A.D.)
Kody's miracle adoption
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