Stains on the Floor

A little while ago, I was doing some chores around my house when I had a hard realization. I was not in a good mood. I felt really discouraged and sad. And it was weird- has this happened to anyone else before? You know, when something distracts you for a minute, and then you have to remind yourself why you were upset a few minutes before? Well, that happened to me, and it was a powerful moment because I couldn’t even recall where this bad mood had come from. And it made me t h i n k.

What had I done that day? Like a lot of other days this summer, I’d woken up maybe later than I needed to, wasted a good amount of time on my phone, and then started on chores and was getting ready for work.  There was absolutely NOTHING that had gone wrong. And I’ve had days like this before, but I finally realized that maybe I was in a bad mood because I woke up, and instead of saying my prayers and doing something productive or even taking half an hour to entertain myself with something uplifting, I’d spent it utterly breaking myself down by not only comparing my physical appearance, but what I had done the night before, or what my biggest event of the summer had been- to all of the pictures edited to perfection in front of me.

I think we’ve all heard before that we tend to “compare our behind the scenes with others’ highlighted realities” but what seems to happen is that we hear this and realize it’s true, but do nothing to overcome the twisted way of thinking that challenges all of us in some way or another.

Not too long ago, Marjorie Pearce came and gave a devotional to the women in my ward. She talked to us about beliefs. Beliefs tell us how to feel about our experiences. Each of us have a collection of beliefs- and in this collection are:

 Capital Truths or eternal truths- such as “God loves me and has a plan for me”

Secondary “truths”- which are not eternal and have come from other sources or other people’s beliefs: “The ACT test reflects my academic abilities”

And LIES- “Nobody likes me. I’m not pretty or capable or worth anything at all”

Beliefs tell us how to feel about our experiences. So if you believe that “nobody likes you”, it doesn’t matter if a guy calls you and asks you on a date, you’ll tell yourself it was because he had nothing else to do or it was out of pity or something ridiculous like that. Some peoples’ collection of lies ring louder than others, but we all have accumulated clutter in our own belief boxes. The more we dedicate ourselves to daily seeking out eternal truths, beliefs that are REAL, that come from God, we will find peace and serenity. We need to talk back to the clutter that is thrown into our minds every day.

We will be happier and more successful if we start looking at the substance of things. Not the fluffy cultural coat. We need to choose to see things as they really are.

We need to stop doing things for other people to see. I truly believe that it takes value away from experiences and memories. There is nothing wrong with sharing, but we need to check our intentions. Because honestly, popularity and fame and feeling the need to make our lives seem like a grander adventure than everyone else’s is part of the big hologram our society has created. So why live in it? It’s not real!

We all know what REAL life is.

Real life is ups and downs. It’s eating eggs for multiple meals so you can save money because you’re a poor college student and you literally have none. In real life, people don’t look cute every second of every day or have flawless relationships. Real life is lonely and confusing. It's failure and disappointment. Real life is messy bedrooms and stains on the floor and crashing your car and losing your wallet and getting hurt and getting told no and wondering why things happen.

But hardships and loss and hard work make life so r e w a r d i n g and so much more wonderful. And we forget that too often. And we are afraid to admit that all of us struggle and have weaknesses.

I think we all want to be legendary. To leave a mark, to make a difference, to be admirable, to really make something of ourselves. But we often get confused with what a legendary life entails. And here is what I’ve learned.

It’s not living a pinterest-perfect life.

It’s not in having a plethora of friends

It’s not in perfect pictures

It’s not in being outwardly beautiful

Or being magnificently talented

Or in being the most adventurous and accomplished person

The most legendary man who ever walked upon the face of the earth was “despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted of grief”. He spent His life spreading joy and light and having close and intimate relationships with people. He’d seek out those whose hands hung down and He lifted them. in being like Him, we’ll find lasting happiness and unshakeable confidence that we are all in need of. 

I just wanted to remind all of us of the Truths we forget (including myself) 

Happy Sunday everybody.

Love,

Bri