There is SO much to be grateful for, even if there are sucky things in our life as well... We have a LOT to outweigh the negative.
Now, I'm not going to list ALL my positives, but here are a few:
- I can dance.
- I have a warm home to live in and a car.
- I have two loving parents and great siblings.
- I have a job and one that I really love and enjoy!
- I have the means to further my eduction (even if that is through loans).
- I have a working computer, camera, Ipod, TV, DVD player, radio, printer, etc.
- I have amazing friends, and a good amount of them at that... I have wonderful people around me!
- I have a functioning, healthy body with a working brain, heart, nose, eyes, hands, feet, ears, fingers, etc.
- I have traveled a LOT around the world - 16 different countries! I have lived in three different countries and have had amazing experiences for a girl my age.
- I can sing and make music. I can listen to music and talk about it with others... I love music.
- I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and it is the right thing for me... I feel so guided by the spirit I have learned to recognize through the gospel.
- I am happy!
Now, of the negative things in my life, there are a few of those... There are five or six things I could list right now that make my life exceptionally harder. However, I know my positives outweigh my negatives and that my negatives are just a storm I'm braving in order to learn more about myself, others, the world, or the gospel.
There's a video I want to share as the "Song of the Day," but also for you to really listen to and take in the words and meaning. It's called "We All Need Saving," by Jon McLaughlin. Now, Jon here is one of my favorite artists of all time... I'm not kidding. This guy is amazingly talented and I could listen to his album on repeat and be happy. This song, however, is more than that...
I was at the Vocal Point concert on Saturday (I love them!) and this was one of the songs they chose to sing. I've heard them perform it before, but I loved the song in its original form. However, this time something hit me differently... I took in the words and remembered the original impact it had on me. I was riding my bike in Germany and having an amazingly tough, exhausting day. I was homesick and upset with a friend... This song came on during shuffle mode on my IPod and I felt a calming feeling blanket me. I think that we sometimes think that only "churchy songs" can do that, but that's not the case... This song came on, I took in the meaning, really listened to the lyrics, and something just clicked. I heard the following:
"When the cloud in the sky starts to pour
And your life is just a storm you're braving
Don't tell yourself you can't lean on someone else
Cause we all need saving sometimes"
THIS time when I was listening to the song, I heard the following more clearly:
"Come on, come on
You have got to move on
This is not the you i know
This isn't real
It's just all you can feel
And that's the way that feelings go
And whether or not it's right or wrong you'll do what you will do"
Last time, I realized that we HAVE to learn to turn to others and allow them to help, and that we have to allow the Savior to help us. This time, I realized that people get stuck in their ruts, their addictions, their lonliness... They just get stuck. I thought of the Savior saying, "Come on - You've got to move on. This is not the you I know..." He knows the real us and all we can and will become. We are more than the "stuck self." He reassures us that, "This isn't real. It's just all you can feel," because we're stuck... He knows we'll "do what [we] will do," but He knows that Heavenly Father has a better plan for us than we have for ourselves.
Take a listen to the song below and read along to the lyrics if you want... It's sincerely so powerful to me. My hope is that it helps someone the way it helped me. It's amazing the power that music has for change.
My favorite lines of the song?
"You make me what I'm worth" - We can apply this to the Savior making you what your worth, OR that as we accept the Atonement, we make Christ's gift and life what it is meant to be worth for each of us.
Also, "Please believe that someone has felt this before" - You are not alone in ANY feelings you have. Open up and you'll be amazed at how many others truly understand... not the least of these, your Savior.
I'm thankful for the knowledge that I have a Savior and that he took the time, and His life, to save me... cause we ALL need saving.
*muah*
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