Making Choices....

I am not a very good decision maker, whenever my family or friends are trying to decide where to eat or an activity to do, I most often say, "whatever you guys want", because choices are rather stressful for me; dealing with figuring out all the options, then trying to figure out what I want out of those options, and then not wanting to annoy others with my choices- we all have to agree for the most part- makes me stressed! So if little decisions like what to eat stress me out, think of how stressful it is to make bigger decisions! Like where to move to, where to work, and what I want to be when I "grow up"! I've been pretty stressed trying to figure these things out, but I spoke with my Branch President, and we kind of broke things down. Talking to him helped, but I realized something about myself, with my difficulty of making choices. Because I've spent most of my life saying, "whatever you want" I don't really always know what I want. I am having a hard time knowing myself, knowing my own opinion. It kind of stinks! I am realizing why it's so important to help children know their own thoughts, why they need to be able to make choices, suitable for their age of course, because if parents are always making the choices for them, and not giving them enough opportunity to speak, then they begin to think their thoughts and opinions are wrong, and that others should make choices for them. If they don't have that opportunity while they are young, then it's going to be a heck of a lot harder for them to learn how to when they are older!
Choice is essential in life, we all need it, our choices make up part of our identity. We sometimes want what is best for others, that we make them, or at least try to make them, do what is right. We'll do whatever we can to make sure our dear ones are on the right track; we'll try to intimidate them by useing our authority, or we'll try to guilttrip them, we'll threaten them, and try to scare them, whatever it takes to do what is right. But no matter our good intentions, this isn't right, it denies them the opportunity to gain a sense of self, it denies them the right to choose, and understand for themselves right from wrong. Now don't get me wrong, little children need boundries, they need guidance, and rules, but that can be done while still helping them make their own choices.
Anyway I've gone off rambling about parenting advice when I'm not even a parent! :) Just speaking from experience- as one who is struggling to learn to make her own choices.

It's been awhile since I posted on here, though I don't really have anyone to write to. In fact I feel a bit odd writing on here basically to myself, I guess that's why I stopped after just two postings, but it's all good. I had been reading nienie's blog today and she really is an inspiration. I don't even know her, but her story has affected my life. In one of her posts- it was the February 16th one, she said, "Everyone has a story and it is being guided (if we let it) by our Heavenly Father." That stood out to me, because the past little while has been teaching me that Heavenly Father has a plan for us, and unless we choose to not accept that plan, it will happen, nothing will stop His plan for us from happening. I also think that everyone wants to feel important, but it's easy to not feel so, especially when we are always comparing ourselves to others, and seeing how great everyone else seems to be. In Nienie's simple statement, that everyone has a story, it brings a feeling of importance, and the fact is everyone is. We all have something to say and do, we all have our own experiences, and know things, which are important, that can be of assistance to others. We should not live our lives comparing ourselves to others, but we should live reaching for our own personal best, try to help others in any way we are able to, and expect no more or less of ourselves. This is something I admit I find rather hard to do. I've been trying for a very long time to gain confidence in myself, and to simply enjoy life. I realized a few weeks ago, as I was studying the scriptures about confidence, that having confidence in ourselves has a great deal to do with having confidence in the Lord, and having charity for others. I realized that in not trusting myself I was doubting God, I wasn't putting my full faith and trust in Him, I was saying He had failed in me- but God can't fail, He never has and never will. I realized also that in not really liking myself I couldn't love others, because my thoughts were spent focusing on myself; how foolish I was, how I could have done this or that better, or that this person must think I'm so stupid...etc. I would forget to think of what others needed, I would forget to think that the people around me might be struggeling and need someone to love them, to help them. So I'm working on my thoughts, and what I focus on- I'm trying to trust God's infinite, and perfect judgment -His perfect and clear view of all things, which is better than my finite understanding, and picture of life. So Alecto is back! :) I'm going to do better at clearing my mind of negative thoughts, and seeing what God sees, not just in myself, but in others, and in life. Things might not go exactly as planned, but I can solve any problems I'm faced with, as long as I turn to the Lord, I can be happy with who I am, and I can look forward to the future, we all can.

So last night I went to an Institute class, it is on World Religions. There are three rules in the class:
When Studying religions,
1)Ask a believer, not a skeptic or critic of that religion.
2)Compare the bests of your religion to the best of that religion. Don't focus on the negative, but look for the good in all things.
3)Don't be afraid of Holy Envy - it's ok to take the truths you learn from these other religions - truth is universal and we can all learn from each other and gain a new perspective. Truth unites all who accept it.

Anyway I really love those "rules", and I'm enjoying the class! Last night we studied about Taoism. It was so fascinating. There is a belief in Taoism called Wu-Wei (I think that is the correct spelling) It translates into "no action" or to allow or accept the natural order of things. Like water - it goes with the flow, it follows the path it has been placed upon, it is malleable, yet it is powerful enough to cut through, or change, rock, given time. So Wu-Wei does not mean to do nothing, rather it goes along the train of thought to not try to force a situation, but instead to let it happen - work, live, but don't try to control everything - if changes need to be made give it time, don't try to force things to change right away. I'm afraid that I'm not very good at making this as clear as I would like to. But oh well, Wu-Wei! I love that word. :-)
The more I learn the more confident I become in myself (those who know me, know that confidence was never a strength of mine), and I gain a brighter perspective on life. Anyway I'm done for today.

Good Day

Today has been a pretty good day so far. I got up earlier than I normally do to take my sister to the trax stop. We were running a little late, but we got there in time. I came home and spent a little time with my dog Abby, she's a beagle mix, and loves attention. It's always hard to leave her alone. We spent time outside, and she kept trying to sneak off into the neighbors yard. For the most part she is pretty good at listening to me when I call her back over, but there are those moments when something is too enticing; like the new dog across the street, a cat, or some invisible thing down the road. Anyway after we went outside for a little while we came back inside and both had our breakfast. I had some time while eating to read my scriptures. The past little while I've realized how important it is to focus on the things that really matter, and as I read today I felt again the importance of this. So often we focus on these issues that try to tell us they are more important, and we believe them; like having a perfect yard, or watching a favorite t.v. show, or whatever it might be, and the moment we're in passes us by, we grow older, as do our family and friends, and we lose opportunities. Living, true living, isn't about driving a really nice car, or buying that big boat, it's not even about our jobs, (though I know they are what help us afford to live) but it's about family, it's about learning to gain control over ourselves, and not give into every impulse or emotion we have; it's about giving and helping others; it's about giving up the mundane so as to come to know Christ; quite frankly it's about sacrifice. There are going to be moments that are difficult, and moments that we may feel that we just don't know what to do, and our inclination will be to run and hide, to take the easy road, but then we will lose out on the opportunity of learning about who we really are, we lose the chance to become our best selves; we don't really live. So as I read my scriptures today and thought of the responsibilities I have and the challenges that lie ahead I became determined to not give up, to be unceasing in doing what is right, and not give into the inclination to run away when things get difficult. That is why I picked Alecto-Adrasteia to be my blogger name: Alecto means "unceasing" and Adrasteia means "not inclinded to run away". So even though nothing extremely exciting happened today I feel alive. I'm living my life, and I'm not running away from it and with it comes an excitement and joy that just can't be compared to.