The Small Things Help Us Focus On The Big Picture

Today, if it wasn't for the small things I would have broken down. Things happen all the time in life that bring us down. That's a fact. But it's okay because life is still great. Reminding ourselves of that is sometimes hard. We all have worries and more worries and more worries. But we MUST keep our focus on the big picture. That, my friends, is also a fact. Having an eternal perspective isn't always the easiest thing to do, but it makes life easier. Funny how these things work.

I am going to use myself as an example. Because I am the one writing this blog... imagine that. I think that I love to be busy. And most of the time that thought is true. But I have exceeded the amount of busyness I like. I don't want this to be a post filled with complaints or pessimism. Because that's not who I want to be. Also, one of my biggest pet peeves is when people complain about being busy all the time. Because everyone is busy. Way to be a hypocrite, Tasha. So basically all you need to know is I work a lot and apparently if I am not doing something I think its time wasted. For some one that preaches a balanced life, it seems I am not the best at practicing what I preach as of late.

In my life:

focusing on being busy=exhaustion=crabby, irrational, irritable, down-on-herself Tasha

Not exactly the Tasha I want to be. This is the way I see it. We all are busy. Life is just that way. But it is what we focus on that influences our perspective and attitude. It is also how we choose to react to the busyness. So, we focus on the good things. The things that bring real joy in our lives. Focusing on the positive will help us have a positive outlook on life. That in turn will help us have a good attitude to the busyness of life.

Okay, what do we do to focus on the BIG picture or the positive things? Well, the little things of course. I don't pretend to have all the answers but here are some of my thoughts on what I can do to change my focus.

1. Prayer- Our loving Heavenly Father listens to our prayers and will answer them. Because He loves us! Just remembering this fact lightens the load. One of the most comforting scriptures is found in Matthew 11:28-30. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." So, pray, PRAY, PRAY!

2. Scripture Study- Right along with praying is of course scripture study. This is also what I think it means to "come unto Him". Strengthening our testimonies through scripture study is vital to having a positive attitude. I don't think it is possible to come away from reading the scriptures with a bad attitude. If you do, you weren't really reading. To quote another scripture: "Feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." (2 Nephi 32:3) So we read the scriptures and the Spirit will guide us to what we need to be doing. This can help us schedule our busy lives and be able to prioritize.

3. Listen to the promptings from the Holy Ghost. And to go along with that recognize the promptings. We are guided by the Spirit all the time. We get promptings all the time, but are we always listening or recognizing the promptings? Every time we listen and recognize a prompting from the Holy Ghost our testimony is strengthened. We also become more in tune with Spirit. This helps us recognize and listen to future promptings.

Insert personal story--- Last night I was getting ready for bed and remembered I needed to make my lunch for tomorrow. I was exhausted but thought it was a better idea to make it the night before. Heck, if I am waking up a minute before I have to! The next morning I remembered we were going on a tour of the Edwards Jones Dome for work and I could possibly get something while we were out. So I thought, "oh, I will just buy lunch as a treat". So I finish getting ready and I am about to leave when I get the impression "No, you should bring your lunch". I actually sat there and thought about it for a second. In the end I decided to just bring it. Well, we get to where we are going to sit down and eat and one of my clients brought something she had to microwave to eat. We were out and didn't have a microwave. She was stuck without a lunch and didn't have any money to buy something. So, I ended up giving her my lunch. Now this wasn't a big deal, but I truly believe I was prompted to grab my lunch at the last second for her. And from this simple act I came away with the great feeling that the Lord does send us promptings through the Holy Ghost. My testimony was strengthened with this small act that I could have possibly forgotten in a day or two. But since I realized it was a prompting it has made an impression on me that I will keep with me. I will be able to use this experience to help me look for other small whisperings of the Holy Ghost.

4. Look for the small things. I didn't know how else to title this one. But what I mean is: every day things happen to us that make us smile, make us feel good, make us feel loved, make us want to be better. These are the things we need to focus on. These are the things we need to be thinking about when we go to bed at night. These are the things that need to stand out about our day. These are the things we need to talk about. These are things that will help us live our day to day lives. Look for them, recognize them, remember them. And if you feel so inclined write them down. I think it helps to write them down because then when you are feeling down you can go back and look at them. Then you will remember those times and it will help you think of other things that make you feel good.

Insert personal small things from today--- As I look back on today I realize I can't count the number of good things that happened. Because there were so many. And I started writing this post because I was feeling way down. But atlas, I have gotten to myself. Today was a good day. Scratch that. I had a GREAT day. Some small examples: When I walked into the door at work a client got all excited and ran and hugged me. While during the tour another client hugged me just because. One client helped another client throughout the day in so many ways. Just seeing this makes me so happy. My early morning client was chipper and smiley when it was way early. My boss thanked me. Someone sincerely asked me if I was doing okay. I talked to my mom. I talked to my best friend. I read my scriptures and a talk by Elder Ballard. These just scratch the surface. There are so many things that made me feel good today. Yes, life is great.

Well, a long rant later... I feel like I just wrote a talk or something. Haha. :) But in all seriousness, this has lifted my spirits more than I could ever imagine. It is the truth the small things help us focus on the big picture. And that makes life so much happier.

Inspiration or Curse?

When I was wee little thing my dad dubbed me "Biff". Yep. This is the nickname my dad gave me when I was learning to walk. He says it is because I fell down, ran into things, rolled off things, etc. But what baby doesn't? As I grew older I continued down the path of being clumsy. Not only in my walking, but in most areas of my life. And as I look back on these 22 years I begin to wonder "Did my dad curse me or was it inspiration to what I would become."

Some incidents that come to mind:

1. In 2 days I injured both my thumbs. No, not in some awesome way. Pure clumsiness. Oh, and maybe some stupidity. What 22 year old burns her thumb on the cigarette lighter in the car? Or cuts her thumb pretty bad while cutting an orange?

2. How many times did I fall on BYU campus? I started to count but then the number just became ridiculous. Snow, rain, or sunshine. Didn't really matter I could find a way to end up on the ground. I will just pick one from those 3 different weather conditions to share with you. Because I know you are dying to hear them.

Rain- This wasn't too horrible. I was walking with a group of people up to the Marriott Center for a basketball game. It was a group that I just started hanging out with and so they didn't know me very well. We are walking a long and next thing I know I am on my back on the ground.

Sunshine- Walking across campus, enjoying the sun, and leaving a voicemail for my friend. I am leaving the library so I have my backpack on full of books and everything. I still don't even know how this one really happened. But ka-blam I was down. And the best thing it wasn't straight on my back. Because I had a bruised knee, bruised elbow, scraped up hand, and a broken phone. It was quite a scene. Pass-byers didn't know what to do: ask to help me, laugh, etc. I just laid on the ground, raised my hand up, and said "I'm okay."

Snow- This time I was actually talking to a friend on the phone. I think he still doesn't know that I fell while talking to him. I was coming down some steps about to cross the street by my apartment. I slipped off the top stair and landing in a pile of snow on the side of the road. All the cars at the intersection stopped. I got up and just walked across the street. And my friend just kept on talking.

3. I have destroyed a number of cell phones. The one I have now is a trooper. It has been through countless drops (including a 2 story drop onto cement), dropped in water twice, the battery being lost in countless places (fields, my car, etc), and many other things.

4. I can't walk in high heels. No joke. It is always a ridiculous disaster.

And I am going to leave it at that. I had others to add, but I don't think I need to. So I am not sure if it was inspiration or a curse. But either way I think I live up to the nickname.

Surprising But True...

This isn't a picture with me in it....

Day 8: A picture that makes you laugh

I love to laugh so most pictures could qualify as this. And as I found out recently (trying to pick out a picture for my mormon.org profile), most pictures I take are ridiculous. Usually I am making some crazy face or something else out of control. So it would be quite easy to put a picture of me on here. Most pictures of me make me laugh. But this picture is, as people say these days, "EPIC"!!! I love it. It makes me laugh and I think it is just a great moment captured.

It's Sad But True...

Day 6: A picture of your most treasured item

Too lazy to take a picture of my actual one. Though it does have a cute cover on it... Anyways, yep my ipod. It might be ridiculous but it's true. The world is totally turning over to technology.

I do almost EVERYTHING on my ipod. I read my scriptures on it. The app even has this cool feature where I can add my own notes right into the scriptures, talks, lessons, etc. I love that about it. I check my email on it. I check Facebook on it. I read my daily Dilbert on it. I use it for directions. I take notes on it. I have my Bucket List on it. I check the weather on it. I check Redbox on it. I read the news on it. I use it as my dictionary when I need to look up a word or know how to spell a word. I check my ESPN on it. I use it to look up all the useless facts I think I need to know. I play so many fun games on it. Oh and I guess I listen to music on it too. Haha.

Woah, reading this makes me think it is a little pathetic. But it is just so useful. And I don't really think it's bad. It is pretty amazing all the things I can do on this little thing. Well there you have it, my ipod. :D

Are we talking about a "REAL" person?

Because if not that would have to be Ginny Weasley. No joke there. But since I guess this means a real person I will go with someone else.

Day 6: A person you would love to trade places with for a day

J.K. Rowling. Obviously.

It would make my life to be able to trade places with her for a day. And not so I could have the money or fame. No, I would want the knowledge. There is so much of the Harry Potter World that she didn't have space for in the books and I want to know all that information. Obsessive? Maybe. But really. J.K. Rowling is amazing...SO talented. She is seriously one of my heroes.

Too Many To Choose From

Day 5: A picture of your favorite memory

Family vacation 2006: HAWAII!!!

AMAZING. We had so much fun. I loved everything about Hawaii. One of my dreams is to live there. One of the biggest reasons is because of the laid back culture. We had so much fun. Great things we did: snorkeling, swimming, bogey boarding, great food, time with Nana Bug, touring, Polynesian Cultural Center, etc. I also had the best birthday ever there. 18th birthday. Spent the day scuba diving with my dad. Then my family went to a delicious steak dinner at a restaurant on the beach. :)

The Fuzzier the Better

Day 4: A picture of your night

Well, it's winter and the night outside is cold. So I thought I would use a picture of what my nights truthfully consist of. And that my friends, would be my pillow and two fuzzy blankets. Then there is the usually movie and my ipod. I play games on my ipod and I do my scripture reading on it too, so it is always with me when I am getting in bed. I love falling asleep to movies. It's kind of strange. But I put Day After Tomorrow in there because that's the movie my body is trained to fall asleep to.