What is Love?

"Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve a continuation of the species."
- W. Somerset

Now don't go thinking I'm a bitter harpy; I simply found this quote in the side margin of my psychology textbook and thought it was really funny.

You have to admit- you kind of laughed a little too.

I really want to meet this W. Somerset- he seems delightfully depressing.

Perfection

I've been thinking quite a bit about the idea of perfection. If there is one thing I've realized over the last few months, it's that I am not perfect. Not even close. But I'm strangely ok with that- I don't want to be. I love imperfections; they make us human. They are what make us unique and interesting. Now there are always things I am working on to make myself a better person. There are imperfections that need to be remedied. But overall, I'm grateful for the mistakes I make because they teach me humility, they teach me how to love, and they teach me how to serve. I'm grateful for my imperfections because they allow me to turn to my Savior in all things. I know that I am not perfect, but that through the Lord, I can be made perfect. My imperfections allow me to see all the blessings I have been given. After each trial, bump, or mistake there has been immeasurable joy. So I am not perfect. That's ok.

Decisions

"Most people fail at whatever they attempt because of an undecided heart. Should I? Should I not? Go forward? Go back? Success requires the emotional balance of a committed heart. When confronted with a challenge, the committed heart will search for a solution. The undecided heart searches for an escape. A committed heart does not wait for conditions to be exactly right. Why? Because conditions are never exactly right."

- Andy Andrews

Little Gem

My friend posted this little gem of a thought (I'm not sure where she got it from) and I loved it:

"We have a choice between three fundamental options. We can approach what happens that does not match our expectations with a negative attitude and treat it as a burden, or we can approach it with a positive attitude and affirm its beneficial features, or we can transcend both categories, reject them, and stop the ceaseless, complicated interplay between them... which integrates the negative truth of harsh reality with the positive truth of generous possibility. Transcendence acknowledges the presence of necessity and opportunity, frustration and dedication, inadequacy and abundance, disaster and opportunity, that are present in all change efforts. Leaders (I, personally) who transcend their circumstances do not accept the world as it is; rather, they work to transform it."

The Lessons We Learn

I've learned a lot of lessons in my life, specifically over the last five years. Being an adult has not been the easiest, but it definitely has been the most rewarding. I have realized that I want some things so badly that I focus on them and forget to see everything else around me. I obsess over one thing, hoping and praying that I get it, while other beautiful things pass me by because I was too stubborn to see them.

In the words of K'naan (yes, I'm about to quote a rapper): "Any man who knows a thing knows he knows not a damn, damn thing at all." This is my life. I've realized that I really don't know anything at all- the things I want are very different than the things I need. While that may seem a terrifying notion, it's ultimately very comforting. I can't rely on myself because I don't know anything. I can only rely on God because, in reality, He's the only one who knows what I need. The trick is training myself to quit staring at the things I want and realizing that there is so much better to be had.

An Interesting Conversation

You will have to excuse the excessive posts about relationships but it seems to be the only thing on my mind lately- such is the result of being in the Relief Society presidency, I suppose. I've had many conversations about relationships and why they do and don't work, etc. and I've come to a conclusion: two things need to be in place for a relationship to work- it needs to be the right person and the right time. If one, or both, of these is not in place, a relationship will most likely not work out. Now this isn't fool-proof, but it seems to be pretty solid to me. The trick is deciphering which thing isn't in place when a relationship fails.

Hello, again...

We meet again, old friend.

My New Year's resolution for 2010 was to stop drinking caffeine. I am going to go ahead and gloat now by saying that I totally accomplished my goal! Yay for me! I did have a celebratory swig of Diet Coke at midnight last night, but I think I'm going to be rid of it for good. Now I just have to find another reasonable resolution for this year...