Step #9--No count downs

The past few months my calendar has been covered with little "x's" marking each day. I was counting down to something. Today I realized I had no idea what I was counting down to, so I've decided to stop. One lesson I'm constantly learning is to live in the present. When I'm always looking towards tomorrow, I don't have time to appreciate today...and then I realize a week has gone by and I wonder what happened to all that time I thought I had.

I remember hearing a quote from somewhere, I don't remember where, but it went something like this: "Today is a gift, that's why they call it the present." Too true. So no more crossing off days, no more count downs. Time to focus on the here, and the now!

Step #8- When you can't stand it any more, DANCE

The end of the semester is approaching. Crunch time. Stress time. There are moments when I feel like ripping out my hair or throwing furniture across the room. But those aren't real positive stress relievers. Instead, I try to do something fun: draw, paint, sing, blow bubbles, anything to take my mind off of my homework for an hour or two.

My favorite stress reliever these days is dance. I go dancing on campus several times a week and it's a blast. I'm actually starting to get pretty good too.

Step #7:It's where you feel the most inadequate, that you have the chance to shine

All my life I've been on top;When I took the hard classes, I got good grades; When I auditioned for choirs or shows, I made it in. This semester I was worried that my luck would change. On the first two days of classes, I sat there feeling small and insignificant, especially in my Shakespeare and Acting classes. The classes were hard at first, I was having a hard time understanding what the professors expected of me. But now, I'm passing all my classes with flying colors. As it turns out, I'm not lucky, I just work hard. Hard work pays off.

The past few weeks, my friend Caleb and I had been working on a scene from The Star Spangled Girl by Neil Simon. After our first performance of it, Hyrum gave me a B+ on my performance. I was shocked and discouraged. I'd never done that poorly on an acting assignment in my life. But, instead of getting angry or depressed, I stepped up my game and took to heart all the suggestions Hyrum gave me. After our second try at the scene, which was significantly better than the first, Caleb and I both received A's on our performances. Hyrum had nothing but good things to say about it. As you can imagine, I was ecstatic.

My Shakespeare class has been a true test as well. When Brother Waddell told us we'd have to write an 8 page analysis on one of the comedies, my heart stopped. But as I threw myself into the project and began to write the paper, I found myself enjoying the process. I got excellent grades on both the paper and the midterm exam. I am currently one of four A's in the entire class.

Now, of course, the key is to keep it up. No slacking off now. I have to keep my scholarship after all! Sometimes when I feel too confident in a class or subject, I end up performing below my expectations. It's where I feel inadequate that I am able to grow the most and eventually shine.

Step #6- Everything's Not Lost

There's a song called Everything's Not Lost by Coldplay that I absolutely love. It's a song about dealing and coping with hardships. I thought I'd go ahead and share the lyrics. They mean something to me, maybe they'll mean something to you.

When I counted up my demons
Saw there was one for every day
With the good ones on my shoulders
I drove the other ones away

So if you ever feel neglected
And if you think that all is lost
I'll be counting up my demons, yeah
Hoping everything's not lost

When you thought that it was over
You could feel it all around
And everybody's out to get you
Don't you let it drag you down

'Cos if you ever feel neglected
And if you think that all is lost
I'll be counting up my demons, yeah
Hoping everything's not lost

If you ever feel neglected
If you think that all is lost
I'll be counting up my demons, yeah
Hoping everything's not lost

Singing out
Oh, oh, oh, yeah
Oh, oh, yeah
Oh, oh, yeah
Everything's not lost

Remember if you ever feel neglected, everything's not lost.

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.