The Unknown

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines; sail away from the safe harbor; catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-Mark Twain

I have been thinking about this statement a lot lately...

Have you ever wanted to just experience the opportunity to hold someone you were once forbidden to even think about? Have you worried about what other people would think? What is it that keeps us from throwing off the bowlines to leave the safe harbor we are in?

"Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond our own imaginations."

Reflection

Over the past week I have been thinking about the people who have come and gone from my life and the impact (however short or long) they have had on my life. People I have met whether it be through work, church, acquaintances, or just randomly striking up a conversation with someone.

The digital age allows us to stay in better contact with people, as well as find people from our forlorn past. Just today I was clicking on some blogs to see what I have missed out on since the last time I did it.

As I looked at the blog of a college friend, I thought back to how I met this person. I had just come home from my mission and I wanted to get back in to WSU Student Government, I wanted to run for an office. But the sad news came that I could not run because I hadn't been enrolled the previous semester. So, I was introduced to the current student body president and he let me know who was going to run, so I could get involved in a campaign.

I was going to go to each of the meetings and then decide what my best option was going to be. But when I walked into Ryan's home and had a chance to meet all the people there, I knew that was where I wanted to be. Besides, I had worked with his brother the year before my mission and he was a stand-up guy. I knew that in their family the apples didn't fall very far from a well grounded tree.

I worked on his campaign for PR and marketing. During election week we got in the paper a few times and it was great. In the end he won and I had the opportunity to work with him for the next year as the Marketing Director. What a wonderful turn of events that allowed me to get to know such a wonderful family.

Another beautiful person I have been able to get to know is Stephanie. We were doing baptisms for the dead at the Jordan River Temple and she came in with our group. I randomly struck up a conversation with her and we had such a beautiful conversation.

She has allowed me to see the beauty of God and how much he loves each of his children. Had I never opened my heart that day, I wouldn't have been able to see what I saw. It would have been just another trip to the temple with the ward.

On the other end of the spectrum, Elle and I became friends because she chose to open her heart to me one day. She said hello to me and invited me to her house for game night. She eventually served as my councilor in the Relief Society presidency and has brought so many blessings to my life.

Someone else who opened their heart to me is now one of my best friends. I was on assignment covering a story in Ogden. I asked him a question and when he couldn't help me I went to walk away and talk to someone else. Thankfully, Trevor kept pushing to converse and now, almost 2.5 years later, he has been a great blessing in my life teaching me so many things.

You never know who you will get to know in life if you don't open your heart. Perceptions can be dangerous to what we learn if we don't let our walls down and say hello to that random person. God puts people in our path for a reason and it is up to us what we will do with that opportunity.

Catching Butterflies

Last week I had the sweet opportunity to sit down and talk with my Bishop. As we were chatting he said, "Sometimes we would all like to go out and just catch butterflies all day."

Sitting there I thought to myself how lovely it would be to go out and catch butterflies all day long. Continuing in that thought, I realized that that is what I have been trying to do all these years. I have been chasing after so many different kinds of "butterflies" that I am running in every direction.

When I think back to some of my happiest years, it was when I was chasing one or two butterflies. Those "butterflies" were writing and photography. Those are the two pursuits that make me the happiest.

An editor, whom I revere, once told me that I had too many irons in the fire. Not until lately have I truly understood what he meant. I believe I can say now that I "get it."

While I want to chase butterflies, I don't want to chase all the pretty ones in the sky. I want to go for the ones that will bring joy and happiness to my life. Just sitting here writing, the thought came to me that Satan uses pretty butterflies to distract us in our lives. He would have us run ourselves ragged and not focus on those gifts and talents our Heavenly Father has given us. This further proliferates the idea that we aren't "good enough", which is a dangerous path to walk.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave a thought-provoking talk in LDS General Conference October 2007 titled, "Good, Better, and Best." In his talk he addresses this concept of having so many butterflies in our lives:

"We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives."

There simply isn't enough time in the day to do all the "good" things; and that is OK. We must learn to discern the things that need to take priority in our lives.

"As we consider various choices, we should remember that it is not enough that something is good. Other choices are better, and still others are best. Even though a particular choice is more costly, its far greater value may make it the best choice of all.

"Consider how we use our time in the choices we make in viewing television, playing video games, surfing the Internet, or reading books or magazines. Of course it is good to view wholesome entertainment or to obtain interesting information. But not everything of that sort is worth the portion of our life we give to obtain it. Some things are better, and others are best. When the Lord told us to seek learning, He said, “Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom” (D&C 88:118; emphasis added)."

Chasing butterflies can be difficult to discern because they are all so pretty and unique. But as we seeks our Heavenly Father's council, he will help us to know which ones will lead us in the direction we are to go.

I personally am going to seek to simplify my life and chase only a few butterflies. Maybe I will be able to catch my breath and enjoy the beauty of life God has created for me.

Bella