Gratitude

In the fourth book of The Work and the Glory, a newly married couple are living in a sod hut that leaks mud when it rains. The wife suggests that they have a contest to see who can come up with more to be grateful for. They have fun with it, mentioning things like the fact that grass only grows up so they don't have to cut the grass on the ceiling. And at the end, they are both in a much better mood.

I think this is something everybody should probably do more often- look for the good and find the humor in the bad.

Not Room Enough

Today at work, I was transcribing a letter that Rachel wrote to her parents when she was 21. She was talking about how she'd had a good life and great opportunities, and then said that she noticed that the Lord did a lot more for her than she did for him, and she should try to even things out a little.

When I read that, I laughed out loud.

Sometime between thirteen and fifteen years ago, Mom gave a lesson in family night where she gave all of us something- 10 pennies, maybe- to represent blessings from the Lord. Then we were to give some back. But as soon as we gave something back, she would give us more. Much more than we tried to repay. So we would hand more back, only to receive an even greater amount of blessings.

And that's the way it really is. You can't try to pay the Lord back. You will just keep getting farther and farther in debt.

Cheer?

My roommate Tasha often puts inspirational quotes as her facebook status. Today, she had, "I find comfort in the reality that we are sent to mourn with those that mourn. We are not sent to cheer them up." -Melissa Y

And that got me to thinking. When I'm down, a lot of the time the best thing to cheer me up is a distraction completely unrelated to whatever is bothering me. And sometimes that can be a good thing. But eventually, I need to face my problems- either to come to terms with it or to find a solution or just go to work, doing whatever I've known all along needs to be done but haven't wanted to. And that generally is not exactly cheering. But it is what has to be done.

Telephone

I have been scared to make telephone calls for a very long time. I'm not sure why- it wasn't a problem when I was really young. I called to get the homework assignment or to ask Daniel if he could come play with no trouble at all.

But by the time I was a teenager, I had a problem. If I had to make phone calls for any reason whatsoever, I practically needed someone there to hold my hand. It got better, so that in my late teen years I could call a friend to chat just with a couple opening lines and then go ahead and chat. But even in the past year, I could spend anywhere from a couple hours to a couple weeks just working up the guts to make a simple telephone call.

And the thing is, I actually sort of like talking on the phone. Well, better than texting, anyway. Because it takes so much longer to type it all out, and you can't express emotions as well, and you only have 160 characters. But if I have something to say, it usually takes a lot more than that. Yet I am more likely to text than call, because mentally and emotionally, it is easier for me.

There are exceptions. Once I've had several successful experiences with calling the same person, it's fine. So if I want to talk to Mom, I can call her. No problem.

But lately, I've called at least 3 or 4 people for the first time with no hesitation. I'm not sure why this came so suddenly, but I think I may be getting over this weird phone fear.

Now, if I can just get over my automatic reaction of hanging up when I hear an answering machine or voice mail, I'll be set. But that one may take a while. It has been there since my first phone call.

Old Institute Thoughts

Yesterday in institute, I was reminded of a couple thoughts expressed in previous institute classes that I have taken.

1. Fall 2006- The Savior's Enabling Power. It focused on the atonement and genealogy. And, yes, the way the class was taught the combination worked perfectly. And the thought was something along the lines that even though we can use the atonement to repent of our mistakes, we can go further if we take it into our lives now, since we can keep going forward from where we are now instead of spending time falling backward, then using the time and energy to catch up to where we were and then moving forward again. A quote that I have since come across says, "Men do not suddenly become righteous any more than a tiny acorn suddenly becomes an oak. Advancement to perfection can nevertheless be rapid if one resolutely strides toward the goal." (Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness)

2. Fall 2008- Doctrines of the Gospel. I can't find the quote used in class to illustrate this point, but the idea was brought forth that Christ is both our judge and defense attorney. And isn't it comforting to think that the judge is personally invested in us winning our case?

Something About Human Relationships

Sometimes having to tell somebody what you want them to do cheapens the effect when they actually do it. I was thinking about this, and trying to work out how to explain why it is, when I remembered that it is not just a human thing:

For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.

Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; (Doctrine and Covenants 58:26-27)

But we are given commandments- told certain things that we should be doing. And we should remember that for human relationships. Yes, it's nice when people do considerate things for you on their own. But you should also be willing to tell what you want sometimes.

Spam Names

I've read people on message boards talking about the weird names used for the people who their spam is supposedly from, but I never really paid attention to mine until today.

Most of my spam does not have a person's name in the from field- I get a lot of companies and descriptions, maybe some web addresses. But in what I did get, I noticed an odd pattern. Almost half of them have girl names for last names. These names: Connie, Rona, Nell, Lauralee, Albertha, Paula, Celeste, Theda, Carole, Kathryn, Tiffani, Liza, Catarina, Carolann, and Ciera.

There were also a couple humorous name combinations: Virginia Mann and Irish Catarina.

Although I suppose Irish Catarina could be some sort of company name. Or Virginia Mann, for that matter, but I'd expect it to be Virginia Man then.