Note to Self

Well, just like that sophomore year has come and gone in the blink of an eye!  Graduation seemed an eternity away when I first started BYU and now I don't want it to come any faster.  I am thoroughly enjoying my time at BYU and I am so thankful for all the opportunities that are coming my way and for all the hard things too that are teaching me lessons that I need to learn.

Remember this post from last year? Well, now that I have a little bit more time on my hands I am going to write a similar one.  I have really learned a lot in just one year, and I am writing this as much for me as I am for anyone else.  I have had many opportunities to find the "blessing in the curse" this past year.

Top Five Lessons of Sophomore Year

1. Hard times do and will come.  You will study hard for some tests and get a lower score than desired.  You will have days that you are running on very little sleep.  You will have weeks when you don't have time to do any laundry at all but you create time to do laundry  out of necessity when you run out of clean socks, etc.   You will have disappointments heartaches and heartbreaks, and lots of busy work given by professors who seem to think that their class is the only class you are taking.  -- Note to self: laugh your way through the hard times.  This will get you through just about ANYTHING.  Realize that hard things will end, and when they do you will appreciate the good moments so much more.  And remember, hard things always seem harder when you are in the middle of it. 
2. You Only Live Once.  Yes, the Saying YOLO has always driven me crazy and I think that in the colloquial way that it is often used it motivates people to do things they'd be better off not doing...  But I am not meaning it in this way.  Think about it, really stop and think about it.  If this is your only life to live and yours to create the way that you want then you should make it the way that you want it to turn out. -- Note to self: do things that will make you happy and do them because it is what you want to do and not what you think that others want you to do.  For example, find a major that you want to do.  Don't pick something to please others.  When I graduated high school I was given the advice to "do what you love and success will find you".  This is proving to be true and I'm anticipating it to become even more true in the future.  When you are passionate about what you are doing, opportunities will come to you.  Just be patient.
3. Let go of the things that you can't control.  Sometimes it may feel like other people are stepping on your toes.  When this happens realize that you are in charge of you and they are not.  It is ok to walk away from a situation and come back to it later.  Sometimes and often, things don't go as planned.  I have had lots of practice with this in the past year and have hope that when something doesn't go the way you had hoped, then it will turn out even better.  Last year I had big hopes for a lot of things and my plans are completely different than I thought they would be.  I am still discovering what the "better" opportunities are for me.  But I have confidence that they exist.  Note to self: Let go of things that you can't control!  It is good for you in every single way. :)
4. Be open and honest with yourself and those around you.  I will be forever grateful for the close relationships that I have with so many in my life.  I am particularly grateful for the close relationship with my mom that I have!  I would often call her every other day (trying not to every day, haha) to simply talk.  We can talk about anything and everything and that has been such a blessing to me.  I am also thankful and amazed at the people God has placed in my life.  Both my freshman and sophomore year I have been blessed to have roommates to have similar dietary needs as me in one way or another.  It is still hard at times, and it has been great to have their support in more ways than one. -- Note to self: form close relationships with family and friends, they are and forever will be your greatest blessing.
5. Pray specifically.  Prayer is such a great thing.  And I am gaining a testimony that God listens to every single prayer, even the ones we don't realize we are thinking.  He hears you in your head as you walk to class in the rain without an umbrella "wishing" (praying) it will let up until you get inside and more often than not your prayers are granted.  And I am recognizing that the more specific I become in my prayers, the more specific they are answered.  Note to self: God always wants to hear from you.  Always!  Yes at 3 A.M. Yes in the testing center when you have no clue if you should pick A, B, C, D, E, F, or all of the above.  Yes when you are having the best day of your life.  And yes when you are at the lowest point you have ever been.  

As most of you know, this blog was started in 2012 when I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease and I basically thought it was the end of the world.  Little did I know at the time, that my life was just beginning to get really good.  After 2012 life got WAY harder and WAY WAY  better in every single aspect.  I am now in remission and I am really happy.  Not just because I am in remission, but because I am now more appreciative of life because I once thought that it was going to be over.  I know that we all go through "wake up calls" and I am so glad that I had this wake up call in 2012 to help me notice how good life is.  Crohn's Disease was my curse, that has led me to find so many blessings in the curse that I can't even begin to count them all. 

I hope that as you read this it will help you to find your "blessing in the curse".

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