Monday, January 31, 2011

New Post

I love having a clean bedroom.
I got back into BYU!
It's freaking cold. Like. You don't even know. Apparently, tonight it will be so cold that you can develop frostbite on skin exposed to the cold in under 30 minutes.
I love short hair.
Money is good.
I also adore my piano students.
Talking to a random guy from my freshman ward fairly frequently = weird.

Life is beautiful.
(http://photos.500px.com/73254/4)

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Rachael!

This was going to be a post about me wishing people would stop trying to define me, but you know what: that doesn't matter.
I have been fed spiritually so much this weekend by Sister Ann M. Dibb and the speakers from the two Sacrament meetings I heard today. Sister Dibb really made President Monson (her father) and the other General Authorities seem so real, and like normal, imperfect people. She made us laugh with tales of the untapped power of pie that all women have. She challenged us to lighten up someone's life every day, and to act as reflections of God's love. Because, well, it's about love. We should walk were Jesus would walk if He were here. We need to smile!
I hope to be just like her when I grow up.
And scripture study. I think my life would be infinitely better if I studied the scriptures every day. You'd think it'd be easy for someone that loves reading...
I also should really clean out my media library of anything that contains offensive content, both music and movies.
Do you ever feel like perfection is possible, if you just work harder?
I know I do.
Besides, true happiness can only come through God.

I love Sundays!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Ripples

A few weeks ago, I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for the first time (it's an odd movie). At one point in the movie, the director explores the fact that every single little decision and action people make has an effect on everyone else. Because of a whole sequence of little events, something crucial happens to one of the characters that would not have happened if just one of those things hadn't happened.
Every day, everyone affects everyone else, in ways both big and small. It's been said that we are a product of our decisions. Instead, I would say that we are not only a product of our own decisions, but of everyone else's as well. Each minute, subconscious choice can change everything. Leaving your apartment on time, making the light then looking up just in time to making eye contact with a random person on the street could change their thought process just enough to prompt them to change something, or take action where they might not have before. You being late could make waves enough to distract someone from the lesson, causing them to do poorly on a test, which lowers their grade enough to lose their scholarship, which goes to someone else that really needed it and could finally get a social life or even graduate from school. Clicking on that one link could lead you to a post that could change your mind, and your life. Each choice, each action makes ripples in the pond that could even affect people on the other side of the world, or those that haven't yet come into the world.
So thank you for doing everything that you do. Thank you for making mistakes, leaving late, smiling at strangers, and going just a couple miles over the speed limit. Thank you for being you, and making me.
Thank you for making ripples in the pond.

Monday, January 3, 2011

2011

This year, I'm going to be a better person! Yay.
Due to a close encounter with a policeman last week, I'm going to go the speed limit from now on. I've been doing pretty well, especially since the weather has made it so that everyone was going under the speed limit for a few days.
I'm also going to do my own version of The Happiness Project. I think it will really help, especially my own "ten commandments:"

  1. Get outside your comfort zone
  2. Just say Yes
  3. Don't give up
  4. Trust God
  5. Don't impulse buy; save!
  6. Don't repeat mistakes
  7. Be yourself
  8. Do it now
  9. No wallowing
  10. Consider work pleasure, because it is.
January is my "vitality" month, which is mostly feeling good through myself and my environment. Oh, and I even went to FHE today! Haha. 
May you find joy in the new year.