This Time I'll Take it Slow

I have been in every mind set, in every mood, and around every corner in my mind over the past three months. It's funny how changes in life can cause so much stress and anxiety. I'm already a liability waiting to happen, all I need is one more change to push me over the edge! I've decided to revisit some of the advice I've received and learned the most from.

1) Life is a marathon, not a 200 yard dash. My Dad gave me this advice, and I have to remind myself nearly everyday that I don't have to do it all today. I don't have to solve every problem, fix every broken thing, or figure out all life's secrets. I have a long time to do everything, and I need to learn patience. God knows, I need to learn patience.

2) What are we here for if it is not to make life easier on each other? Sister Hinckley wrote this in a letter or a book and I think it is marvelous. We all to often, and me especially, get caught up in thinking "me, me, ME!" and instead we should be looking for the things we could be doing for others. Really, when we all get together and put all our problems on the table, we all take a good look around, and end up taking our problems right back. We can handle what we're going through, we wouldn't trade problems with anyone else, but we can help those others.

3) Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out. Robert Collier, a sweet-ace runner, said this. It works for long-distance runners, but it also works with everything in life. If you want to succeed in anything, you work at it day in and day out. You don't take a day off (well, outside of running!) you work hard and don't lose sight of the prize.

4) If I were two-faced, would I really be wearing this one? Oh, Abraham Lincoln! We all need to have good senses of humor and be able to laugh at ourselves! Enough said....well, and he said these great lines as well:
- I will prepare, and someday my chance will come. (SO GOOD!)
- Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. (So true, I need to work on this one. I've said quite a few dumb things before thinking...)
- Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. (Again, so true.)

5) Have you decided what you're going to do when you graduate yet? How are your toe nails? My mom wrote this all in one text message! This was during a time when I had no idea what I was going to do when I graduated (ahem, last week!) But, I literally smiled and laughed to myself because here I was, making the biggest decision of my short adult life (so far) and my mom just put things in perspective. Sometimes with big decisions we feel like we're going to lose something, or this is it, this is the end. That's not the case. No matter what we decide in life, the world still turns. We still need to eat breakfast the next morning, the trash needs to be taken out, we need to see the foot doctor about a bruised toe nail that might fall off from too much running.

With huge, life-changing decisions, we need to remember that our world won't come to an end when we make a choice. We (meaning I) just need to commit to the decision, don't look back, and buckle my seat belt for the ride! That new path ahead of me, the one that, if nothing else, will yield to heaps of life experiences. And that, that will make all the difference! (Robert Frost)