When You're Patient, Everything Works Out

So I have an android phone and it's about a year old but two of the buttons have officially broken and it still works but using it everyday is just a pain. So in my attempt to get a new phone I searched on KSL for a temporary one until my phone can upgrade with T-mobile. So I found myself an older iPhone and decided to purchase it on a whim. I get it home and I'm trying to figure out how to work it as a jail broken phone. In my attempt to waiting for my phone to connect I got impatient and started pushing buttons on my iTunes and long story short.. the iPhone got stuck in a restore state that I cannot get it out of. So of course by this time I am quite frustrated and I was just ready to go to bed. I took a deep breath and just told myself to go to bed and come back to it the next day. After that I wasn't worried, I wasn't stressed, I was calm and collected. I woke up the next day and had a great workout, I got ready for work feeling great and ready to take on the day. I just plopped the iPhone in my purse and had a great day! It was hitting 5 O'clock when a good friend popped into the office. We started chatting and I felt prompted to ask him if he knew much about iPhone's. He didn't know how to fix my phone but in his attempt to figure it out he turned to me and said, "you know what? I have at least one older iPhone sitting at home that I would love to give you." I was so relieved and said thank you a thousand times! Looking back on this story, I realize that staying calm after everything happened and knowing in my heart that patience makes everything work out for the better, everything had worked out! This story has another lesson to it as well; what you give is what you get. If you are frustrated and negative about events that happen in life, it is more likely that you'll find negativity and frustration within results. But if you are positive and calm and happy, the results are usually far greater! I love the little lessons I learn each day! The simplest of things can have the greatest outcomes on life!

Vision

I have learned am amazing lesson over some period of time. Vision defines what life will create for us. If we envision what we want, we will see it come alive right before our eyes. I was told a story tonight about a girl who wanted to test this in a very simple way. She chose her favorite flower, a Calla Lilly. She began by placing the photo of a Calla Lilly on her mirror so she could see it every morning. Next she put it as her background on her phone and then placed another photo in her car. Every where she looked she saw a Calla Lilly, she was envisioning what she wanted to become present in her life. One day she was at her friends house and she noticed a beautiful vase of Calla Lillies peering at her from the kitchen table. She saw them but still knew she needed to keep it a vision and it would come to her without her having to take physical action. She was heading for the front door when she heard a quiet voice. She looked behind her and came to find her friends daughter holding a calla lilly in her hand and saying, "have a beautiful flower". Something so simple had come to her by just envisioning it. She was amazed at how this worked and she started to envision everything she wanted in her life. Everything she wanted was rephrased from I want this to I will have this. She stayed focused on envisioning her goals and she had success in every area that she had envisioned. Vision is everything. If you see it, you will believe it. Faith goes along with this, even though it seems contradictory.. with faith, you don't have to see it to believe it. To explain how this goes together is envisioning all things through faith. If you have faith that you can achieve something, then faith becomes vision and vision becomes success. It is a beautiful lesson that we can all apply to our lives. Envision your dreams, breathe them, see them, and you can live them..

The simplicities in life...

I'm sitting in Salt Lake Brewing Co. waiting on a friend and watching people come and go. Oh coffee shops you must do something to my head because I always have the best moments and writing epiphany's while sitting in such places. I see an old man come in wearing a raccoon hat and take a seat. I see a fragile lady vigorously typing away at her laptop and snatching a bite of her veggie sandwich. People come and go, orders come and go, cars come and go. It is such a busy life we are all living in. Clocks ticking, things moving, invisible molecules sifting through the air. Things moving at fast speeds and never stopping. I keep my eyes busy glancing here and there then I look to the ground and fix my eyes on something shiny so I lean down to get a better look. It's a penny faced heads up. I get super excited and think to myself, Oooh a lucky penny! I pick up the penny and slide it into a little pocket in my zebra striped planner that has sticky notes piled out the sides. I keep my mind on this little lucky penny, something that was probably so insignificant to someone in which case they probably carelessly tossed it on the floor, then here I am thinking its lucky and letting something simple make my day. This just reminds me of a quote I wrote once. It said, "happiness is made by the simplicities in life." The smiles of a stranger, the kiss on the forehead, the whisper in an ear, the flower peeking up between cracks in a sidewalk, the laugh of a child, and even the heads up penny on the floor of a coffee shop. I am so grateful that I can notice these simple moments, I find such happiness within them. If you're ever lacking happiness in your life, take a look around you and pause the busy movements of this world to find the simple joys. You will start to realize how happy you truly are..<3

Hitting rock bottom..

A new friend of mine recently mentioned a quote about hitting rock bottom. I smiled really big when she mentioned that once you get there, the only direction left to go is up! Reflecting on this conversation I thought about the last year and how I unintentionally hit rock bottom, and man did I hit hard. I went through some rough times and I was on my knees more than a few times. I often wondered why me as I rolled out of bed early every morning either killing myself in the gym or going to early morning classes. I lost happiness and comfort in the simplicities of life and I was often hit with stressful situations. I just tried to keep my chin up. A change in this way of life started when I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Singapore! Singapore was probably one of the most amazing places I could have ever traveled to at that time in my life. The country was just pure and clean and the people were all so different but that didn't matter, they were all so beautifully nice and helpful in every way. Being in Singapore and away from my natural sense of the world was the perfect place to heal and listen to my heart and look into myself at who I am and what I want out of life. It was such a beautiful time of reflection and a fresh start on life. As my time in Singapore came to an end, I felt refreshed and ready to take on my life waiting for me back home. I walked off the plane with a smile on my face and a brave feeling of growth and accomplishment. I knew life could only get better than it had been. Taking this blog to reflect back on how my new life has turned out makes me amazed at how prayers are answered and gives me a firm testimony that if you patiently endure trials, they do in fact make you stronger and more able to take on the world. I have been back from Singapore for exactly one month and in the last month I have had more amazing opportunities than I can count on two hands. My first amazing opportunity was the chance to go back to my wonderful job working at Striders running store. Running is my relaxation and my way to cope with everything so being able to work around that atmosphere everyday is so amazing and I am so grateful for that job. My second amazing opportunity is the chance to start my certification process for personal training and deciding that working out is what makes me most happy and teaching others about health and fitness everyday will make me wake up every morning with a smile on my face excited to get to work! My next amazing opportunity was the chance to be contacted by Urban modeling agency and have faith and comfort by prayer to sign with them as a model. Through that I was also hired as a scout for them and it is a great opportunity for me to use my networking skills and open doors for young aspiring models and actors! I feel so privileged to be apart of that! The best opportunity I've had while being connected with Urban is making new friends that have opened many doors. But the biggest blessing I have received through all these amazing moments in the past couple months is the reassurance that Christ lives and loves us and has felt our pain. He has guided a path for us that we can humbly follow. This life is tough so we can gain the knowledge and understanding necessary to understand Him. I am full in my faith when I say that everything in fact does happen for a reason..

Music That Speaks to my Heart

Mary J. Blige, you did it again! The first time I heard 'The living proof' I just closed my eyes and tears welled up. This song feels like a plea of my life. I have been through a lot of very hard times in my life and those hard times have taught me to be strong and use the lessons i've learned to teach those around me. I would not be who I am without the trials I have seen and I want to be a voice to those around me and say, "I am the living proof". Enjoy;

When You Wish Upon a Star

It’s 4am. I’m sitting here on a plane in the middle of China as I look around me and see everyone sound asleep. The plane is dark and I feel restless. I lay down my head and slide open the window shade. I look out and see every single star in the night sky. The sky is rich and dark in color with a slight hint of orange. I gaze out at the stars and their spectacular brightness and beauty. I glance to the right and see a breathtaking view of a star shooting up across the sky in a color of blue and white. It looked like a crystal piercing the sky. I closed my eyes really tight and made a wish. Of course I cannot tell you my wish or else it won't come true, or so they say. When I opened my eyes I got a rush of gratefulness for this time in my life. I am grateful for little spectacular events that God grants us to send a smile or a warmth to our heart. Being above a strange country by myself was a little scary and discomforting but I find faith that God sends angels no matter where we are. We are all his children and he has a plan for all of us whether we are in China, America, Africa, or anywhere else. Another comforting feeling was the beauty that surrounded me no matter where I was. I've always been one to try to find the beauty in all the moments of my life but how beautiful was this particular night in the sky above China. My heart has been filled with joy and experience. I am forever grateful for this simply spectacular moment I had on a plane in the China sky..

Learning to Swim..

"At times life may toss us into the sea, but it is up to us if we sink, or learn to swim."

   It was a gorgeous stormy morning in Singapore today! Being Sunday I don't have to nanny so I have the day to myself. I wanted to spend my day writing as much as I could, because the last week and a half has been spent getting settled here. I dropped the kids off at their church service around 7:30AM and I had 6 full hours to myself. I was in the heart of the town so I could have gone wherever I wanted, but I looked out the windows and it was pouring rain. I looked across the way and the first thing I saw was a cozy starbucks and some big comfy chairs. My first thought was, "Oh yes something I'm familiar with!" Sometimes it is nice to feel at home once in a while. I walked inside and the smell was just as if I was back home! The first thing I noticed was the glass case of goodies. There were the usual Chinese snacks like potato curry puffs, and fishy stuff, but I looked up to see a fluffy, thick bagel! The only carbs I've had these last 2 weeks have been from rice, so I was thinking bring on the bagel! I sat down in a big comfy chair with my perfectly toasted bagel and phillidelphia cream cheese and a hot drink (not to mention it was about a 12 dollar meal haha). I pulled out my laptop, my journal, and my iPod. This is danger zone for a good writing session! I sat down and wrote and wrote and wrote! I had about 5 different pages open of my book and my journal combined. I looked at the time and 3 hours had passed in the blink of an eye. I couldn't believe how time had passed and somehow within it all, my drink and bagel were gone. But I was still hungry, hungry for words and thoughts. I glanced out the window as I noticed a flash of lighting. I heard the door rush open and I got a whiff of the exotic rain. Then and there I read over my notes and I saw, "At times life may toss us into the sea, but it is up to us if we sink, or learn to swim." It's funny because so many times during my writing sessions I am unaware consciously of what I am saying because it is usually just pouring from my heart. It is very important for me to go back and really ponder things that I say. So I read that quote again and again and it really spoke to me (gotta love that I'm learning from my own words haha). I am here in this strange place, and I have gone through a lot of trials the last couple years. Life has definitely thrown me into the sea in many different areas of my life, and on some days, every area of my life. It was such an amazing moment for me to look back and notice that I have indeed learned to swim, and I'm getting stronger, and eventually I will reach the shore, but until then, I will continue to swim and endure the sea. That is the only way I can become strong enough to reach the shore. This quote reflects directly to our life. We are sent trials to make us stronger. That strength and knowledge we gain here on this earth is all that we can take with us when we pass on to the next life. So indeed, we must find strength in our trials, and enjoy every minute of life. Some sea's are cold and dark, but some are bright blue and warm. It's your choice of how you interoperate the sea in your life, and it's your choice to sink or swim..