Count Your Blessings

So today was terrible. Not because anything specifically bad happened, but rather because something was bothering me and I let it fester. I woke up very early this morning thinking about it and I couldn't get back to sleep. Instead I laid there thinking of not only the thing that was bothering me, but then I started thinking about everything that has been bothering me for weeks. Before I knew it everything was bothering me. The house isn't clean enough, the yard looks terrible, the kids are fighting, nobody is listening to me, and on and on. By the time Jason got home at the end of the day, I was so in knots I thought I was going to hyperventilate. The more I thought and talked about everything, the more upset I got.

Then my wonderful, thoughtful husband took me by the hand and sat me down and gave me a blessing. I was reminded how Satan works. He wants us to be as miserable as he is. So he finds the dent in our armor and starts to dig. He digs and digs and digs until he gets us. Today he did that to me. I allowed something trivial to ruin my ENTIRE day!

And so I have decided to count the blessings I had today. So here goes..
1. We live in a safe home that is big enough for my family.
2. We have air conditioning in our house that works.
3. I was able to drive my children to the dentist today in a car that works and has air conditioning.
4. I have household appliances that work and allow me to feed my family and clean their clothes.
5. It rained while we were in the Dentists office, but finished before we left so we didn't get wet!
6. My children are loud and happy, not loud and angry.
7. Hubby has a job.
8. We have a TV to entertain us ( I am currently watching The Big Bang Theory, hilarious!)
10. All of my children are healthy.
11. I am healthy.
12. I was able to take my children to the Dentist today because I have health insurance for them.
13. I have a husband that holds the Melchizedek Priesthood and he is worthy of it.
14. I had the money to go to Burger King today to get comfort food, because I just needed a burger!!

There are so many more blessings that I didn't name, but the point is today I learned a very valuable lesson. Today I learned that when Satan is trying to take control, the best way to stop him is to stop focusing on the negative and start focusing on the positive.  I can always find the positive or negative in everything. It is up to me to decide how I am going to handle the situation. I have been taught this in church since I was in Primary, but I never really truly sincerely put it to the test.

To say the least, the day has become much better. I have even laughed a few times this evening!! :-)

So as Dory would say: "Just keep swimming", or as the church hymn tells us: "Count your blessings name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God has done."

I am going to try to remember to count my blessings more and focus on my struggles less.

My First Attempt

So I have never blogged, but do enjoy reading other blogs. I read friends blogs that are mostly full of cute family pictures and stories that truly portray how storybook perfect their life is and I then I read funny blogs that are full of sarcasm and jokes and make me laugh. I love reading both types of blogs. I love seeing pictures of family and friends and knowing what is going on in their lives. Sharing in their happiness brings a smile to my face. I also love knowing that hey, my life is NOT picture perfect and that's okay because a lot of people out there are just like me. 

So here is the question: What type of blog do I want to have? 

I tried the sarcastic blog and got as far as the title. That's it. I created a blog, came up with a funny and witty title, and never posted A SINGLE POST!! I truly thought I could be sarcastic and funny, but every time I thought of something to blog about I had guilt for either being too negative or trying to get a laugh at the expense of someone else. That's not who I want to be. I don't want to be "the mean girl". But honestly, there are things and people that irritate me!!!

I thought I wanted the hearts and flowers blog where I would post cute pictures of my family and talk about all the fun we are having. That would be my happy place. I could write a weekly blog about all the great accomplishments my kids had that week, there are six of them, surely there will be MUCH to blog about!! I could talk about our fun outings and take the most adorable picture!!! But is my life really all hearts and flowers? Absolutely NOT!!

Is there a happy medium somewhere?? I hope so!! 

This is what I am going to attempt, please bear with me. I am going to treat this somewhat like a journal. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Who knows if anybody but me is ever going to read this anyway right?! So, this is my therapy. This is my happy place, or at least a place of solace where I can just be me. DON'T JUDGE. After all, who really is perfect all of the time? NOBODY!! If you think your life is all sunshine and roses, you're kidding yourself and everybody around you. I will blog about fun times, but I will also blog about frustrating times. This is for me! I need this outlet and my family needs me to have this outlet! Trying to be picture perfect all of the time is exhausting! I am far from perfect, but I think I tend to portray myself as pretty put together outside of the walls of my home. 

Love it or hate it, this is my life. I welcome you to laugh with me, cry with me, share in my joys, accomplishments, and sorrows. At the end of the day I just want to feel peaceful and content knowing that I have been true to myself. Enjoy!!