A little over a month ago my little brother Kevin and dear Grandma Corn came to visit us. It was such a refreshing visit as both of them are very enjoyable company. Not only are Kevin and I close in age, but he attended USU the same time as Justin and I. We of course spent a lot of time together and have a very strong bond as brother and sister. Kevin is very opposite of me. He is much more laid back, calm and as POSITIVE a person as you will find. He inherited this trait from my father who inherited it from my Grandma Corn. While their company was about the best around and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner, a principle of life became very apparent to me after conversing with Grandma that day.
I expressed to her some of the concerns of my life. However, trying to sound optimistic I said, "I am working on being happy though."
Her response, "That isn't something you should have to work at."
She is right, happiness should be our choice freely every day because their are only two choices and being happy is a lot more fun and will take us farther than being mad.
Grandma's childhood was far from picture perfect. Her mother died from tuberculosis when she was six weeks old. Her father would now days be considered mentally unstable and therefore was kind of crazy about the care of his children. When she was three, she was placed in an orphanage by the same man she called dad. Why? No one really knows but it is attributed to his orneriness and different way of looking at life.
Luckily, her father was crazy enough that a few months after arriving they were advertising the children for adoption in the newspaper. He cut the picture out of the paper and sent it to my Grandma's Grandmother. She immediately insisted that her father take her and her brother's out right away and send them to their aunt (her mother's sister) to be taken care of. She soon was placed with her aunt and spent the rest of her child-adolescent years living with her aunt and sometimes her father.
I asked her how she had felt about being an orphan and if that was really hard. I was sure she would say that it was awful, because that is what I thought of it.
Her response again surprised me, "It really wasn't bad, we had clean clothes, food, a bed and we were treated kindly."
Wow, I was amazed to see her ability point out the positive parts of the situation, when all I was clearly focused on was what she had lacked.Grandma has always been this way, it just was very apparent to me at that moment. Yes, things are not perfect and they can be hard, but there are always positive and happy things to be grateful for.
Not only in conversation was she able to show her A+ attitude about life, but also her actions. She was suffering from sever inflammation in her left leg during the visit. She wasn't very good at taking her pain pills and was therefor in severe pain. Not once did she complain or ask for attention. We were consistently asking her how she was doing and trying to help her, but it frustrated her that it was a topic of conversation. It was such a blessing to me that day to listen to her wisdom and watch her genuine actions of being grateful and positive.
Lately, life has been getting me down with some of the challenges and trials Justin and I are facing as we try to build our family and future. I have been praying about what I can do to better help our situation or what the Lord wants me to focus on and be better at. This visit with Grandma was the first answer to my prayers.
The second hit me about three weeks ago. You can watch it for yourself
here.
I love that she points out Philippians 4:8 in her talk,
"Finally, bretheren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
My visiting teacher shared this with me and then gave me a clicker to start counting. I
did the clicking challenge one day last week. It was amazing how it
turned my day from mundane to bright and cheery.
I am finding that filling life with the good, focusing on the positive and choosing to set my sights on whatever is lovely, virtuous and of good report is what makes this life bearable and fabulous. I am not perfect at all at doing this, but am moving forward with desire and actions to do so. This conscious effort is making a big difference in my life and my ability to act and choose the good.
Lastly, I read this as I was flipping through the Ensign this weekend again feeling very discouraged at not being exactly where I think we should be in life right now. I came across this
article. Heavenly Father was once again answering my prayers with teaching me the same principle. It is time to focus on the many many blessings I have been given, trust in the Lord and his plan for my life and continue to work hard at doing what is right. Gratitude and positive thinking are important principles in life that lead us to find the 'JOY' we are told life is about. How grateful I am for the example of others and the teaching of the scriptures.
Justin and Ruth Blazzard
