Finish!

As a missionary for the LDS church, we leave our families, friends, homes and hobbies for a 24 month period to go and share the good news! I now have 1 month left. When missionaries get close to finishing their service they can get what is called "Trunky". Home becomes a distraction, motivation lacks, and the cruise control button goes on!

It doesn't just happen on the mission either. There are many things in life that require hard work all the way through. Did you make new years resolutions? Does the word Senior-itis sound familiar? How much of your high school Spanish do you remember? Can you still play those songs you learned on the piano?

There are many opportunities wasted when we don't endure to the end. Here is a poem I recently memorized to help me finish strong.

 Stick to your task ’til it sticks to you;                                   

Beginners are many, but enders are few.

Honor, power, place and praise

Will always come to the one who stays.

 

Stick to your task ’til it sticks to you;

Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it, too;

For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile

Will come life’s victories after a while.

—Author Unknown

Attitude of Gratitude

"Are you serious?" I think those were my exact words the last time this happened to me.  So it may not be the most appealing topic, but it is so easy to relate to because we've all been there! You are using the bathroom and you take a quick glance to your side. What used to be a good 5 inch thick roll of the bare essentials, is now a piece of brown cardboard with an inch or two of white shredded stragglers. Creativity is now at an all time high! Nothing else matters. Whether your approach is the crouched over shuffle, the plea for help, or making the best of what you got (see picture) , it now becomes your life mission to get some asap!  Maybe you took it a little for granted before?

The example is a little extreme, but I do it to prove a point. When is the last time you were grateful for our everyday conveniences, like toilet paper, when it wasn't lacking? Another example is whenever I wake up with a sore throat, I promise myself that as soon as it gets better, I will be grateful everyday I wake up without any pain. I always forget.

Gratitude is how we show our love for God and the things that he has given us.  When we notice all that we have instead of what we want to have, we are much happier.

We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.”
–Thomas S. Monson

The next time you use the restroom, I hope that you will NOT think of me because of this post. I do hope however that you will take the 5-45 minutes to think of all that you have been given.