I wouldn't have it any other way

This past week I have learned and relearned several lessons.

A)Progress will always be an uphill journey

B) When others want to help you, let them!

C) Focus on the Good

Last Saturday I returned from my favorite place ever, Lake Tahoe!  This has been my favorite vacation spot for nearly my whole life.  I have always loved to travel, but after being sick two years ago traveling has made me really apprehensive because it is inconvenient to pack food, etc.

A) Progress will always be an uphill journey

I am so happy to be so happy to be enjoying life, health, remission, and to recognize that this is usually not that hard for me anymore.  But sometimes it is still hard, like when I am on vacation.  When I get frustrated I feel that I have put two steps forward and one step back.  The important thing is to keep moving forward and to face positivity.  This is a choice.  And it makes all the difference.  After the first day or so of my trip I began to forget the food that I couldn't eat or the inconvenience of cooking everything and began to focus on my family and the things that I have always loved before this whole journey began.  I remember one night looking up at the pine trees and stars and for a brief moment remembering and even longing for my childhood at the lake before all this "extra stuff" happened in my life.  I missed it for a moment.  Then I felt overwhelmed by happiness and gratitude remembering all the even greater things that have come as direct and indirect results of all this "extra stuff".   Heavenly Father is so loving and loves to bless his children, I am so thankful that the entire trip I felt great and super healthy.  

B) When others want to help you, let them!

In one of my "woe is me moments" my parents kindly offered to go to the store and get any treat that I could eat.  This is actually more of a service and sacrifice than what it seems.  Because the only treat that I wanted was "Rice Dream" ice cream.  This stuff is delicious, questionable if I should eat it (but I do on special occasions :) ) and was very hard to find.  For two evenings my dad drove around to find this stuff.  He even crossed two states!  Haha we were on the border, but still.  My sweet dad drove through traffic, etc. just to find some silly ice cream for me.  I wanted to just forget it after the first two trips to grocery stores, but I could sense my dad's sincerity of wanting to do this for me.  I normally feel uncomfortable with people going out of their way for me, but I realized that sometimes people truly want to help, so we should let them.  I am happy to announce that my dad successfully found the ice cream.  But whether he found it or not, the effect was the same.  I am grateful for the effort and love that my dad showed to me.  I will remember this moment for a long time.

C) Focus on the good

It is pretty simple and as it sounds.  Just focus on the good.  My moments are much more enjoyable when I focus on the good and not on the bad.  Yes it is still pretty hard and pretty unexplainable why it is hard when others eat pizza, etc. in front of me.  Yes it is still hard in other ways.  But in reality, I am very grateful if this is what causes me grief.  I am thankful that something seemingly insignificant and silly is teaching me irreplaceable lessons.  When I look back on the past 3 years of my life (Life post Chron's) I am extremely grateful, happy, and excited.  I notice many tender mercies that I would have overlooked had I not felt a taste of hardship and sickness in 2012.

This past year has been pretty great and some of the irreplaceable moments have been just that much greater because of my crazy journey called life.  In fact, I think that life is that way for everyone.  I am thankful for the life that I have and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Finishing my half marathon this summer with my mom, sister, and uncle was one of the many irreplaceable moments that I have had.