Amazing Life

I read an article today that talked about gratitude & it got me thinking of all the things I am grateful for. With Thanksgiving only a few months away what better time is there to take a moment & express thanks for all that I am blessed with.

Home: I have been blessed with the best home. Not only does my home keep the heat & the cold out it has plenty of space for my family & my things. It's not overly large or spacious which makes the cleaning duty light & manageable. It's comfortable, cozy, & bright. There's plenty of yard without it being overwhelming. The best part about my home is the feeling inside. That feeling is created by the 4 people who live here. There is love in this home. There is kindness & understanding in this home. There is hope & security within its walls. It is beautiful!

Family: As I mentioned before I have been blessed with an amazing family. I LOVE my boys. They are GOOD kids. I love that they are so different from one another. It gives them the freedom to be themselves. I love watching my oldest son learn & grow & become better at soccer & in school. I love watching my youngest improve daily in his speech. I love sharing my life with a warm, kind, & generous man who knows everything about me & still loves me as though I were perfect. I love that I get to be the mother to this group as well. They are so kind & understanding. I enjoy teaching them how to enjoy life!

When it comes to family You can't forget the one you were raised in. I was blessed to come to a family where I was taken care of and provided for. My siblings didn't always get along & we still don't, but I know they all love & support me.

In addition to those families I also married into a wonderful family ten years ago. I'm amazed when I look at the 16 children currently being raised in this family. Never have you seen a more polite, well mannered, thoughtful group of kids. What a fantastic reflection on their parents & grandparents.

Friends: I'm pretty sure I have the worlds greatest friends. From my early years to the last few months I have been blessed to make new friends at every point on my journey. My closest friends know my best & worst qualities & still accept me exactly as I am. I laugh with them. I confide in them & know that they love & support me! If it weren't for the abundance in this particular blessing I'd name them individually, but there are far too many to mention them all.

Peace: In John chapter 14 verse 27 it says, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." I have been blessed to know how to find peace in this life. The deepest & most profound peace I have found is through making covenants with The Lord in His holy temple. I am a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints & the blessings of peace & light that from from the doctrines I have learned are truly amazing! It is definitely among my greatest of blessings.

Tools: I have been blessed with more tools than I even realize. There are physical tools such as hammers and pliers as well as physical tools you find in my kitchen. Knives, plates, mixers, a table, a fridge, stove, and microwave are all tools that make daily meals quick. I have also been blessed with electronic tools; the Internet, a smart phone, computers, and television. Not only have I been blessed with physical tools, but tools to help with my mental & emotional world as well. Sometimes these tools are the most valuable. This leads me to my next blessing.

Education: The more I learn the more I love learning. I feel I have been blessed with so much in terms of education. I have real world knowledge in terms of an associates degree. I have spiritual knowledge as well. I also have great knowledge of self-reliance. The best part is that with the tools I have at my fingertips I am able to learn so much more as I desire & thirst for more knowledge.

Finances: This is an area where I seek to improve, but I am so thankful for the abilities we have been given. We have been so blessed to have a sufficient income. We have been blessed with other ways to make money when we have needed it. I feel so blessed to know that The Lord has blessed us financially. 

Natural World: This is a blessing I cannot claim alone. Do you know what a beautiful world we live in? I feel like I have seen so much beauty in my life & yet there is SO much more beauty yet to be seen. Beautiful waterfalls, lush forests, red rocky terrain, vast oceans, emerald green rivers, tall trees, the tinest of flowers and all this made for our creation. God is good & He has blessed us with the beautiful world we live in.

Trails: Finally I have been blessed with trials. It may seem like an odd thing to be thankful for, but I am. Without having gone through trials I would be weak & most likely not close to my Savior Jesus Christ. I find that it is during times of trial that I become closer to Him & rely on Him in the way I should be anyway. I have been so blessed to have a Savior & my trials are the strength that has brought me close to Him. So truly I am thankful for them. 

The amazing thing is that I feel I have merely tapped the surface of listing my blessings. The Lord has blessed each of us abundantly. I pray that we all can take the time to be more aware of the blessings The Lord has given us & thank Him appropriately! 

Turning lemons into lemon bars

Yesterday feels like a dream to me. I guess I should back up. You may or may not know that I am working on building my Discovery Toys team and becoming a team leader. I LOVE the idea of not only building a business, but now building a team! Why this has been scary to me for so many years is beyond me, but I chalk it up to the personal growth this business has given me. I am SO ready to lead other women now & help them with their personal growth. Naturally when I received a call from a customer asking me questions about the business last Saturday I became excited.

I got the call while I was making jam with my husband. While it is not hard to make jam there are a lot of steps that require specific timing on things and you have to be attentive to the process. When I received this woman's call asking about the business I tried to answer her questions, but I got distracted with all I was doing. I said let's sit down and meet next week and I'll be happy to share this opportunity with you then. She then offered to take me out to lunch so we could talk and asked if she could share about the company she was currently associated with. I thought it was a little unusual, but I agreed. The free lunch started as the two of us & turned into the two of us having lunch at her good friends house and then turned into her good friend taking us out to lunch 30 minutes away. The more this plan changed the more I became uneasy, but she said she was interested in my business so I kept the date because I am a woman of integrity. If I say I will be there I will do my best to make it happen.

Well the short version of the story is that I got to lunch with two women who were there to talk about their business. Apparently all they cared to know about my business plan was how they could blow holes in it and let me know why their plan was superior and how it would make far more financial wealth for me than my business ever could. It was actually quite an insult to me & all that my business has done for me. Am I a rich woman from my business? Absolutely not, I am not going to lie. Am I passionate about what I do? You bet ya! Do I love the company I am with even with their imperfections? Absolutely! Did you ask me ONCE what draws me to that company and what I want from life? Not once! I was amazed at how they would get lost in talking about all the amazing "miracles" that were occurring for those people who were using their products while I sat and watched their engaged conversation with one another like an outsider. I was SO glad I had my 2-year-old son with me so I had a polite reason to be distracted. They hardly even talked to the servers when they came to take care of us because they were so busy talking about their business.

On my way home I called my DT leader Leslie and discussed the who scenario with her. Interestingly enough the woman who called me had contacted Discovery Toys with interest in the business. Discovery Toys sent her information to my leader and she called to follow up. Leslie asked her about her interest & she asked if Leslie was the lady she was meeting for lunch on Thursday. When Leslie tried to get more information about her interest this woman told her she was not interesting in signing up with Discovery Toys she was interested in signing Leslie up with her company. Well at least she was honest with her. Had I honestly known that was her intention I don't know if I would have gone.

Even though the interaction was not a good one for me I wanted to turn it into a good interaction & be open & honest with her. Here's my personal growth. Years ago I would have avoided that woman's phone calls & her emails because of fear of offending her. This time I decided to look at this event as an opportunity to grow for myself. I had seen how important it is to make this kind of meeting about those I am recruiting & their opportunity. However, I also decided to share with her my experience in order to assist her in her personal growth. I sent an email outlining my perspective & feelings followed with an invitation for her to examine her approach. 

This is the closing of her response I received tonight, "I have an immense amount to learn. I appreciate the time you put into writing your letter, and your very gentle but stern and timely rebuke. I was way out of line. I shall endeavor to never treat another person that way again. Thank you for being the kind of person you are, for teaching me,  for making a difference in my life, and for helping me to get back on track." 

It's experiences like these & how I am learning to turn them around & make good out of them that lead me to believe I am being prepared for leadership. These kinds of learning opportunities are how I know I will make it to leadership. I have so much to offer this world that is good. I'm going to get there and when I do I will enjoy looking back at my writings of my personal journey & reliving my personal story.