Purple Elephant

Isn't it amazing how well we have convinced ourselves that life has to HARD??

I believe that we chose to come to this earth, knowing full and well that we would be tested and tried. We agreed to live through uncomfortable circumstances so that we could grow, learn and become as close to our Heavenly Father as we could.

Do you believe that a loving Heavenly Father has put us here on earth, under those circumstances and not provided a way for us to be happy and find JOY? There are many who do believe that. You hear ALL THE TIME, "My life is just hard", "I was meant to have lots of trials", "A hard life is just my lot in life" or "Good things never happen to me"

Think about the above statements? Have you ever said any of them before? I know that I sure have.

Have you ever heard of the law of intention, or the law of attraction? That which we set our intention on will expand for us. For instance, picture in your minds eye a purple elephant with shiny red toenail polish. Get a really good picture of it in your head. Now, count to three and do your very best to NOT think about that pink elephant.

It is almost impossible to not think about that elephant because you put it in the front of your mind. If I were to say, "My kids drive me crazy!!" Then I make that statement true, simply by saying it, and my kids will deliver on that 100% of the time.

Most of the worlds population doesn't know about or understand the law of intention. It is still there- whether we know about it or choose to believe in it. It is just like the law of gravity. You don't have to fully understand or even know about that law to have it work for you.

It is simple. What we say, think and set our intentions on will be manifest in our lives.

In life, we will encounter trials, heart ache, health problems, sadness, loneliness and tragedy. These are a part of life. But these trials were not intended to rob us of our JOY. They were intended to humble us and remind us that JOY is all around us.

This weeks Challenge-Notice were JOY is trying to creep in. JOY is always knocking. If we are declaring statements like the ones above, then we will attract those things into our life. Pay close attention to where JOY is trying to present itself in your life. Keep a journal. Pray for enlightenment. Catch yourself in your language and thoughts.

PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS WITH YOUR FEED BACK! I NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU! THANKS =)

Has a week past already?? Wow. My baby has been sick this week and I feel like a zombie...walking around with no sleep is not an easy task.

Baily (5) said to her dad the other morning when he was trying to wake her up for school, "I would rather eat DIRT than get up right now! That is how bad I don't want to get up!" I totally agree with her and I would rather eat dirt right now than have another sleepless night with a coughing, fevering baby! He is much better today, so I may get a good night sleep yet.

It is amazing to me how different my life has been by making these seemingly small changes in my thinking and language. Just like the scripture that says, "By small and simple things are GREAT things come to pass." Don't ever underestimate the power that small changes in your thought patterns or language have on you and those around you.

I want to share one thing that has completely shifted for me since I have started this JOY JOURNEY. It is about money. You may wonder how money relates to JOY. Well, if you have ever struggled financially, you know that MONEY can sometimes be DIRECTLY related to JOY.

It was pay day on Monday. I was really looking forward to going grocery shopping and having some money to get somethings we really needed. I walked into the living room that morning where James was sitting with the lap top. I could FEEL the negative energy in the room. The look on his face didn't help either! Something had happened with his pay check (taxes...something complicated...) and we were shorted almost $400. That is a lot of money to us!! FOOD money!!

The feelings came immediately. Hopelessness. Anger. Sadness. Panic. The feeling of wanting to run away and hide. These feelings, associated with money, have been my constant companion. Me and money have a very unfriendly relationship. Money has never done anything for me. I could never trust money and it seemed to run away screaming whenever it got close.

I felt myself retracting into the space inside of me that is designated for money troubles, when, like a switch, I remembered JOY. I remembered all of the things I have been learning about myself, my internal beliefs and the promise I have made to myself to not be a victim anymore. I had made the realization a couple of weeks before that money was no longer going to be my ENEMY. It had no power. It was just money.

My loving Heavenly Father, in his infinite wisdom and love, was testing me. He was saying, "You said you wanted to change, here is your chance."

I was amazed at how easy it was to just shake it off. I told James, "Everything will work out." He gave me a surprised look, and I even had to go look in the mirror to make sure I was still ME.

Can I tell you what an empowering experience that was for me. I was no longer a victim to money. I could control how I reacted. James and I sat down, rearranged our money plan and continued on through the day, experiencing JOY in our children, our home and each other.

The Master Healer

James and I were asked to speak in church this last Sunday, and you will never believe what my topic was. Just Guess. That's right...JOY! I learned so much as I prepared that talk! It wasn't anything that I hadn't heard before, but it was as if it was new, because of the space I have created in my life for JOY. It wasn't just words on a paper. It was tangible. It was real.

I want to share with you the power that Jesus Christ, our Savior, has in our journey to remember JOY.

Here is an amazing quote from my new favorite author and energy therapist Carol Tuttle, "Christ suffered, so that we would not have to. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ took upon himself all the sins of mankind. He took upon himself all of the negative, heavy energy that had been and ever would be created by mankind. Christ's atonement has already healed us. It is our belief in struggle and our patterns of recreating upset and drama in our lives that keep us from maintaining this healed state.

The power of the atonement of Jesus Christ is real. The power of faith in His atonement is real. As we live by faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ, this faith provides us with the power and energy to heal ourselves."

Because Christ has already taken away the pain and suffering of each of us, we have the ability to literally REPLACE feelings of doubt, fear, anxiety, sadness, loneliness, regret, anger and worthlessness with feelings of HOPE, HAPPINESS and JOY! I didn't say ADD to those feelings, or momentarily disguise them, but REPLACE them.

We will all feel these negative emotions at different times in our life, but we don't have to suffer in them or dwell on them.

I want to share a very personal experience with you to help you understand what I mean. **Just to warn you, the details of the story I will relate are disturbing**

I recently heard about a baby who had 8 of his fingers chewed off by the family ferret. The parents claimed to not have heard the babies screams. This story sent me over the edge. I was experiencing severe anxiety, nightmares and terrors. I think the fact that I have a baby amplified those feelings. I found my self drowning in these feelings. I have a history of anxiety and was brought back to some very dark times in my life where these feelings where happening on a daily basis.

One night I was laying in bed and I broke down in tears because I could not get these images and thoughts from my head. Then, something miraculous happened. I imagined in my minds eye this little innocent baby experiencing an excruciating amount of pain. Then, I imagined that Christ entered this babies room, scooped up his little spirit and held him. He rocked the baby in His arms and even sang him a lullaby. The babies physical body was enduring the pain, but his spirit (the part of us that animates our body) was safely cradled in the Saviors arms. The spirit baby was even smiling as he looked up into Christ's eyes.

I was healed from these terrors in that moment. Christ had already suffered the pain that this baby endured. Besides relating that story once to my sister, I have not thought about it at all. That is how powerful the Atonement is!

Christ can heal. He can, He does, and He is waiting for you!

Today's Challenge- Do you have an emotion or event in your life that is leaving you weighted down with negative energy? Can you imagine a loving older brother, Jesus Christ, taking those feelings away? Identify one emotion or event and turn it over to The Lord. Visualize your own scene, as I did.

I want to hear about your experiences with this! Please leave a comment.

This quote comes from Carol Tuttle's book, Remembering Wholeness. This book is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G and will change your life.

Spilled Milk

I have noticed since I have been paying more attention to the space I am creating for JOY, my internal dialog and the language of JOY, that I am being pelted with things that challenge that. You've heard the saying, "Don't ask to be more patient because your patience will be tested." HELLO!!

My children are my greatest teachers. They teach me so much everyday, and sometimes that growing and learning process is not always comfortable.

My sweet, darling Malia is my greatest teacher right now. Malia is 3. Malia is curious, mischievous, and beginning to assert her independence...in a big way. I am so glad that she is on this path of finding who she is, what she likes and the things she can do "all by herself". I really am. But, this process is not always fun. Take, for instance, yesterday...

Malia tried to pour her self a glass of milk and dumped half a carton of milk out onto the floor, then used EVERY clean dish cloth that I had just folded and put away to clean it up. Then while I was cleaning the rest up, she decided to try my new earrings on. I don't exactly know how it happened, but she broke those. Then, she was unusually grumpy and feisty and decided she didn't want to stay in bed and got out at least 20 times.

Now, before, this would have just been a really bad day to me. I would have gone to bed feeling tired, angry and sorry for myself. I would have felt a lot of guilt and helplessness. But since I have been on this personal journey I was able to come to these conclusions.

#1- The reason the milk was spilt was because she had asked me 3 times to help her and all 3 times I had told her "just a minute" (you never use that line with your kids, do you?) What would you have done if you were her? You would have poured your own milk!

#2- It is know at my house that when you make a mess, you are in charge of cleaning it up. Malia knows this and that is exactly what she did. She cleaned up her mess. To her, using all the towels was the fastest way.

#3- She is as girly as they come. She was already wearing a pink princess dress, so why not put on Mom's new shinny earrings to complete the look?

#4- I would have been grumpy too if I had been punished and yelled at for trying to grow up. I would have wanted some affirmation and attention from my Mom, who I wasn't sure still liked me. Wouldn't you?

I was amazed at how different this day ended. Was it still exhausting to run around and clean up after a 3 year old? Of course, but that bad day happened BECAUSE of me, not TO me. I own that, and I learned from that. I went to bed feeling JOY for such a sweet spirit to grace my presence. How lucky am I to have such a loving Father in Heaven who trusts me enough to send me Malia.

What are the people in your life trying to help you learn about JOY? Each person in your life serves a purpose.

This weeks challenge- Pick ONE person in your life, child, spouse, co-worker, sibling, parent, neighbor, ANYONE who you seem to be at odds with. Someone who seems to be rubbing you the wrong way, pushing your buttons, or doing all the wrong things. Ask yourself what that person is trying to teach you about yourself and your life.

Here's a quick example (hope you don't mind me sharing Tara!) My older sister shared an experience with me about a girl that she use to know. This girl, we'll call her Sue, really got under Tara's skin. She just didn't mesh with Sue and had a really hard time with her. One day, one of Tara's friends casually mentioned how similar Sue and Tara were. It was eye opening for Tara. Because she is a very wise woman, she was able to step back and see that this girl was placed in her path to teach her something. She realized that they were similar and she was able to see some of the ways she was portraying herself to others and do some tweaking.

Are you being a victim? Are you letting people or experiences create your emotions? Or are you being a creator of your own life, and owning the role you play?

I have such a strong desire to learn the things I am suppose to learn here, in this earthly experience. I am so glad to have people in my life who teach me, help me grow and make me want to be better.

The Language of JOY

How did you do with last weeks challenge? Did you write down a new internal dialog and practice it? Let me know what worked for you. (If this is your first visit check out the link WEEKLY CHALLENGES to the left.)

Now, the language of JOY...

This concept is so new to me, BUT SO EXCITING!!

JOY is a very high moving energy. Close your eyes and think about a time in your life where you have been very joyful. Remember the energy that was almost bursting from you. The feeling of JOY is like a bouncy ball. We have all seen what happens when a child tosses a bouncy ball. The ball goes everywhere! It can not be contained!

I can think of at least 6 times in my life where I felt only JOY. #1 was my wedding day. Only JOY. The other 5 were, you guessed it, the births of my 5 miracle babies. In those little delivery rooms, where first breaths were taken and angelic spirits arrived, there was only JOY.

We know how JOY feels.

Let's compare that to anger, tension or fear. Have you ever walked into a room where people have been fighting and you can literally FEEL the tension? The term that comes to mind is "you could cut the tension with a knife." Because anger is an energy, just like JOY, it is palpable and easily felt.

JOY is an energy that I want to share with the people around me!!! What about you? I don't want anger and sadness trailing me. And I certainly don't want my family, who have to live with me, left with tension or anger in the air, plugging up their ability to feel JOY.

To speak the language of JOY is not easy. Misery is all around us. It seems like, in our society, we are always trying to one-up someones story of misery. What if we started talking about JOY? If we started to change the conversations at the water cooler, so to speak.

This weeks challenge- Focus on the language of JOY. Start telling people the things that are going right for you. The feelings of JOY you experienced that day. Start learning the language of JOY. To most of us, it will seem like a foreign language, but practice makes perfect, right? You may also want to right a reminder to your self about this. Put it somewhere you can see it, and start noticing the space you create for JOY.

Magnify the JOY

Have you ever noticed that after you buy a new car you see that same kind of car everywhere you go. Or when you are pregnant, all of a sudden, there are pregnant woman everywhere! Those cars and pregnant ladies didn't just appear, they were always there, our perspective just changed. It was magnified. Our lives are like that too. What we choose to focus on is magnified.

Now, is there room and times in our life for sadness and pain? OF COURSE. There is opposition in all things. We would not have the ability to experience JOY if we didn't know what sadness felt like. My little sister, Tami, said it best one Halloween night when she 5 years old, "All the times that I am well make me happ now that I am sick!"

Sadness is a part of our human experience. There are appropriate times for it. It is when we have more sad days than JOY filled days that we know we need to take a step back and examine our lives.

One of my favorite things that Carol Tuttle teaches is that we are CREATORS of our own lives. We are not victims. Think of when you have had a really bad day. What was your internal dialog? Could it have been, "Why is this happening to me?" or "What did I do to deserve this bad day?" Now, just think about this for a minute... what if the bad day was not happening TO you, but BECAUSE of you? That is a tough pill to swallow, isn't it. But could it be true?

We are creators of our own lives. What would happen if we stopped being victims? How would your life change if you stopped letting things happening TO you? Our loving Father in Heaven loves us and trusts us enough to pilot our own lives.

When I realize that I am having a bad day I do these 3 simple things,

#1-I stop. Usually bad days come with a lot of responsibility. Too much on my plate. So I literally stop moving.

#2- I acknowledge that I am creating this bad day. By the way I am talking, thinking or acting. I have to start blaming the right person for my day. I am not a victim. I am a creator.

#3- I pray! I pray for strength, patience and understanding. Then, I give my bad day to my Heavenly Father. I close my eyes, package my bad day in a little pink box (pink is my favorite color right now) and I hand it over. I give it up to my Savior.

Joy needs space. It won't force its way in. Create a space for joy. Realize that bad days will come, experience those feelings. So many of us try to stifle pain, or uncomfortable feelings. FEEL those feelings and them put them in a box and allow the joy back in. Let's stop magnifying the negative things that are in our lives.