courage

...Surviving is about courage and faith....


Sometimes it takes courage just to keep going.
Sometimes it's about doing the right thing.
Or sometimes you just have to have courage so that you can prove to yourself that you CAN do it.

I've been telling myself for forever that once I turned 16, I'd donate blood. Blood is so needed by so many people and well, I've got it to give.

But when the blood drive was announced at my school, I thought Oh man... I'm actually 16 now! It took me about a week just to get the courage to sign up. I seriously asked a dozen people what it was like, watched youtube videos, read what people thought on Yahoo Answers... (LOVE Yahoo Answers! Wouldn't have an A in Chemistry without it!)

Eventually, the day before the blood drive, I had a moment of courage and told my bff Sydney that if we didn't go sign up THIS SECOND, I wouldn't be able to do it.

I was so SO scared. Scared of passing out, that it would hurt for a year, that I wouldn't be able to play the region championship game we had that night, (we WON!! I still am an idiot for playing in that game. I was out of breath after 3 minutes. ha.) I was just SO freaked out for so many reasons. Most of them entirely impractical.

I just kept telling myself that it wasn't a big deal and it would go perfectly.

But you know what? Friday came and I donated blood. And it didn't go perfectly, but I still did it. (hehe... they had a hard time finding my vein so they had to go kinda deep or something like that, because it hurt really bad the whole time instead of just during the initial stick... but I still did it!!)

And I'm pretty proud if I do say so myself.

And now that I've done it once, I can do it next time easier. (Hoping beyond hope that it goes easier, less painful, and faster!) :)


Courage isn't something you're born with. At least I don't think so.

Courage isn't about wanting to go skydiving or bungee jumping.
Courage is about being scared out of your pants to go skydiving and still jumping out of the plane.

Courage is about pressing forward even if you are worried about the future.
It's about trusting in the Lord even if you want to scream and cry because you are so scared.

It's about doing His will even if it's hard for you to accept.

It's about initiative.

Doing what you have to do even if you dread the possible outcome.

It's when grief and pain are on the front porch and you open the door and deal with them head on.
Because you know they're not going to leave and putting things off doesn't get anyone anywhere.


We agreed to do hard things before we came here. We agreed to be tried and tested. And we were excited to prove ourselves.

I think trials ended up being harder to get through than we had originally imagined.
But they're still there.

And the courageous thing to do is to deal with them so that we can keep on keeping on.

And enduring to the end. That takes courage.






P.S. What things have YOU done that required courage??

empathize.

There is someone out there with the perfect words to say to you.

They are going through - or have already experienced - the same things you're going through.
And boy, could you guys support each other.
You could talk and talk and talk and become best friends.

It's nice to have someone to confide in. Someone who just... knows. 


These people are hard to come by, but they are around.
But why are they so hard to find?

I suppose that can be answered in the little poem above.
We hide ourselves.
Not the good things, of course not the good things.

We hide the bad, the ugly, the mistakes, the hardships... etc...
But those are what people need to hear!

1 Corinthians 10:13 - There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

You are never alone. Ever. Everything that you go through... someone has experienced it before you.

“If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.” 

- Regina Brett

Open yourself up. Share what you know.
A certain confidence comes with knowing.
And it takes a certain person to see what others need and have the courage to share their experiences... to fill that need.


So, for the good and happiness of everyone, be that person. Share what you know with others. Observe, then serve.

And wear your blue skin out in the open sometimes. Or maybe wear a few less layers on top. You could really bless a lot of lives.

A Marked Generation

We all know those people around us that just amazing.
They are smart, funny, spiritual, and just all around... good.

And there is no doubt in our minds that they are going straight to the Celestial Kingdom...

And then there's us.

At least that's how we seem to always see it.

We tend to often feel that we are not measuring up, that we're just not good enough.

Well...
There have been people on this earth for thousands of years.
There was Adam, the Ancient of Days.
From him came many, many prophets who preached to millions of people that we read about in the Old Testament.
In the New Testament, We read about Christ being born. He preached healed, and offered himself up for a sacrifice.
There were many, many generations following that.

Read history books. Read about the Indians, the Revolutionary War, Ancient Rome, Chinese history...

There have been a lot of people on this earth.

Billions.

Billions of people have lived and died here over the course of six thousand years, each with their own special mission.

And then you were born.

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For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the Second Coming. Every previous gospel dispensation has drifted into apostasy, but ours will not.... God has saved for the final inning some of his strongest children, who will help bear off the kingdom triumphantly. And that is where you come in, for you are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God...." Make no mistake about it you are a marked generation.

- Ezra Taft Benson
(read more)

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You came here for a reason. You have a mission to complete that no one else can complete for you.

We are the strongest generation... the generation strong enough to defeat Satan.

Strong enough to stand up for what we believe.

Strong enough to make a real difference.

The fact that you live on the earth at this time... makes you amazing.

The Father saw something in you during the pre-existence. He knew you were strong enough.

You were foreordained to be great.

Of course, that means that we have a great responsibility. We can't let our Father down.

We have to work hard to accomplish what we came here to do.

But. I promise.

It will be worth it.

Dare to Stand... Even If You Stand Alone.

First of all, I thought of this comic when I watched the following video:

LOL... I've been waiting for a video to come out on this talk... yay!  Plus the chief petty officer (or whatever he is) totally cracks me up. 

"May we ever be courageous and prepared to stand for what we believe, and if we must stand alone in the process, may we do so courageously, strengthened by the knowledge that in reality we are never alone when we stand with our Father in Heaven."


I love that talk... it was given last fall. It was actually given during the Priesthood Session, but for some reason I read it after. Click here to read the whole talk.

It is hard to stand alone, or even mostly alone.

It can actually be really hard.

But there is one thing that I know.

Someday not too far in the future, we will be looking back on the decisions we made during this life.

And we don't want to have any regrets.

Because even though things seem like a big deal here, and heaven seems far away, it is not so.

There is a day not too far away, that we will either be rejoicing in the fact that we were loyal and courageous, or in great sorrow because of our sins.

And the things we do now will determine our eternity. 

If you think about the fact that we were created eons ago, and have existed infinitely as intelligences, and have eternity to go,

why would you give that up now... for something so small?

Or maybe it seems big, but in fact won't matter to us in the future.

Don't give in to negative peer pressure...

It's not worth it.

Not even semi-worth it.

Because despite what you might think, you are never alone. You have a Father and a Savior to back you up.

And most likely many people too, even if you don't realize it.

Dare to be a Mormon;

Dare to stand alone.

Dare to have a purpose firm;

Dare to make it known.