Today Sarah talks about the "spiritual electricity" that we choose to turn on when we ask for help. Some of the help that we can expect to receive is an increase in "energy and inspiration, amazing and delightful coincidences, and the ability to accomplish goals with grace".
"But one thing you might not expect-one thing that might throw you-
is how dissatisfied you may feel when the Power is not present, when you are in the dark and left to your own devices because you forgot to turn the switch on."
The Power is always there, but you always have to turn it on, you always have to ask, in order to receive help.
"The dissatisfaction you can feel when the
switch is off manifests itself in different ways.
Suddenly you don't like any room in your house.
Decorating mistakes from past lives haunt you.
Your clothes don't fit or look right on you anymore.
You're bored with the meals you're cooking.
[BUT WORST OF ALL]
That...hopefulness that came from starting to integrate gratitude into your life
gives way to restless discontent."
But don't worry.
It kind of sounds like a bad day doesn't it. You'd be surprised at how many people that I've talked to that are reading my blog and how they tell me that they have bad days too. Days where they wake up and they can't get out of bed, just like me. Where they can't see the joy that life brings that day.
"Discontent and disorder [are] signs of energy and hope, not of despair."
Sarah says that this "divine discontent ...is the grit in the oyster before the pearl."
It's all part of the process. Life is not always happy.
Gordon B. Hinckley quoted Jenkin Loyd Jones in 1973
"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed. The fact is that most putts don't drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just ordinary people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise...
Life is like an old-time rail journey-delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.
The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."
I've tried to tell everyone that I've talked to that have told me about their bad days, that it's okay. It's okay to have bad days! Yesterday I had a bad day, and then this morning I got up and smiled. Today I danced while I vacuumed, and talked to my best friend while I moped and cleaned up play dough. I don't think I yelled at the kids.
Bad days happen.
And it's all part of the process.
One rainy day sit on the couch and drink
some hot chocolate wrapped up in a blanket.
And the next rainy day, go dance in the rain and jump in the puddles.
***
Gratitude Journal
***
1) Silence. Robbie took the kids on a daddy play date with his friend and his kids. I had silence. I just sat there for awhile with Indy, listening. The slight wind that blew the wind chimes every once in awhile. The sound and feel of Indy's heart beating and her breath as she sighed in content. The ability to think, to ponder, without any distractions. And then to vacuum. Since the kids would be gone for a couple hours that meant the rooms would be clean enough to vacuum again, and again, and again. Three times and I still was getting up stuff.
2) Indy. Dogs are amazing. They're like kids in a way. They love you with a childlike love, and forgive you no matter what. I brushed her today, and you would not believe the amount of hair that I got off of her. And you probably also won't believe how happy it made me that it got brushed off into a bag instead of all over my house and vacuumed up over months.
3) Kid games. I love playing "I'm gonna get you" and tickling them and they laugh and say "no! no!" so I stop and they smile and say "again?". Ring around the rosie. They're just so great, and they're great because of the kids. The simplest things make them so happy.
4) Leftovers. When something is so good, it's usually better the second, or third time around.
5) Chocolate. Sometimes, chocolate helps to motivate me.
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