Step #5--Options

No matter what happens, you always have options. When a date falls through for Friday night, that doesn't mean you have to sit around sulking. Watch a movie, paint a picture, write a letter, go get some ice cream, clean! When you get a bad grade on a test, don't let it destroy you. You have the option to be consumed by it, or you can get over it and learn from your mistakes. If it's absolutely necessary, you can be sad for a moment or two, but then it's time to move on. There are plenty of other things to do. Pity parties are rarely fun and they never make you feel better. Get over it

Step #4--It'll pass

Having a bad day? Having a bad week? Having a bad year? Guess what? It'll pass. Things will get better eventually! After about a half hour at work doing surveys on the phone I think, "Can I really survive for another 3 and a half hours of this?" The answer is yes. Yes I can. I have up to this point. When push comes to shove, 4 hours isn't that bad of a shift. Sure, it isn't fun, but it won't kill me. Eventually, the 4 hours pass, and I get to move on to other things.

Not all things go as fast as a day at work, but no matter what it is, eventually it'll pass. A bad date, a horrible class, an embarrassing moment, a sickness, it'll always pass.

Step #3: Understanding Gravity

What do you think of when you hear the word "gravity." Probably something along the lines of "What goes up, must come down." True. What goes up, does come down. Gravity is the force that weighs us down towards the earth. It's what causes us to trip, stumble, and fall. But did you ever stop to think of the benefits of gravity? First of all, it's the only thing keeping us rooted to the ground. Without it, we'd have little control over our bodies. We'd start to float off towards space and we wouldn't be able to stop. What a scary thought! Second of all, there must be an opposition to all things. If nothing was weighing us down, we wouldn't have to pick ourselves up. We learned how to walk only because we stubbled as kids.

There have been a lot of things pressing down on me lately: school, work, church duties, etc., but it's come to my attention that it's the hard things, not the easy things, that really matter in self discovery and personal progression. This current semester has been a lot like jumping out of a plane; I didn't know what to expect or whether I could handle it or not. But I have many things acting as my parachute: friends, family, textbooks, the gospel, and the spirit. It's hard, but I'm actually enjoying myself.

It's important to understand that "gravity" is here to help us grow and learn. It's a force pulling us down so that we can learn to pick ourselves back up.

Step #2 Evaluate

Have you ever really had a bad day? This last week's devotional speaker told a story about a family that brought a dog into his veterinary clinic. The dog's name was Cholo. Cholo had been hit by a car which crushed it's skull. The family decided it was best to have Cholo put to sleep, so a family friend took him out into the desert, and shot him five times. After it was decided that the poor dog was dead, they buried him shallowly in the ground. A few days later, a neighbor called the family, informing them that Cholo was wandering around the neighborhood and looked to be in pretty bad shape. The family assured the neighbor that the dog couldn't be Cholo, but the neighbor was sure that it was. Sure enough, the dog was Cholo. Extremely surprised, the family embraced their dog and took him to the vet, this time to have him fixed. If what Cholo had was a bad day, then I certainly have never had a bad day. My troubles are minimal compared to being hit by a car, shot five times, and buried alive. As I evaluate a situation, or even an entire day i have to think: compared to what Cholo went through, I can cope with just about anything!

Step #1 Look for the Rainbows

You know what I love? Rainbows. Not painted rainbows or skittles rainbows, but real life rainbows. I love the bright colors: the way they shine and the way they stretch across the sky. But what I love most about them is that they come after rain. The sky, having been grumpy and unpleasantly dark, suddenly becomes bright with sunshine and vibrant colors. Rainbows aren't always easy to see. Sometimes you have to shift your head to the right or move a few spaces to the left. Seeing the rainbow always makes me appreciate the rain.

After thinking about it, I believe you can find metaphorical "rainbows" in life situations: the lecture may be boring, but that information learned will help you pass the test; the boy may be an awkward date, but hey, you got a free dinner out of it; so what if you just dropped your cell phone into a swimming pool? Now you can buy one you really want! No matter what situation you find yourself in, no matter how uncomfortable, awkward, sad, boring, unbearable, or awful, I believe a rainbow can be spotted, even if it's simply "Now I know I never want to do this again."

My blog is changing...

Hey there,

My name's Emily Randall and I'm currently a student at Brigham Young University--Idaho. There's nothing particularly extraordinary about me; i'm just your typical 19 year old college student, surviving on ceral and a minimal amount of sleep. My daily concerns involve boring things like homework, my call center job, and going to the grocery store. I've been blogging for a little over a year now, but I suddenly came to the realization that my blog had no point. I wasn't writing it to anyone, I wasn't writing it for anyone, I was merely blogging for the sake of blogging.

That's why I've decided to change things up a little bit.

I don't want my blog to be a pointless waste of space, so I came up with a purpose. It didn't take much time for me to realize what I wanted to write about. So many things happen to us throughout the course of our lives. Many things are good, but a lot of them are bad: death, discouragement, failure, misunderstandings, depression, accidents, and so on. As mere human beings, it's difficult to bear so many burdens. But my point is not to run from these things or wish they never happened, but to learn from them and look for the positive in every situation.

Easier said than done, right? "Look for the positive, hmmm. How exactly do we do that, Emily?" you may ask. Well my answer to that is pretty simple. I have no idea. But that's why I'm doing this. I want to find out. So everyday for the next year...that's right a whole year, I will look for the positive in at least one situation throughout each day and then record what I learned. No more "I hate the world" days. No more chocolate truffle pity parties. I'm going for an attitude adjustment one step at a time and my hope is that you, as a reader, might learn something too.

Back in Rexburg

WOW AM I BUSY! School, work, homework, school, work, homework! I now have a job at a call center. Not a fabulous job, but it'll get some money in my bank account. I'm loving my classes, even though they're running me ragged. I've already read one Shakespeare play, performed one monologue, written a couple papers, and done numerous assignments. Welcome back to college Emily!