love your tree!!!

my dietitian shared this video with me last week. i absolutely love it.

it is so true! when i am observing God's creations in nature, i never think "well, gee, this rock looks pretty good.. but THIS one is a bit shabby.. needs improvement." when i look around at the beautiful earth surrounding me, i have an overwhelming sense that everything is exactly the way the Lord meant for it to me. 

so why, when i look in the mirror are my thoughts any different? am i not another of God's important and beautiful creations? because my sweater is less trendy than another woman or my thighs are a bit larger than another's, does it make me worth any less than them? 

NO

so, mental note to self... stop criticizing and start admiring. yes, that includes my own reflection. in sister uchtdorf's words..."it's not a race, it's a journey. enjoy the moment." that includes enjoying myself. 

challenge this month: LOVE YOUR TREE!!!

(this is the perfect month for that.. all the trees are pretty colors and changing.. love it)

things that matter most

this all started with a really huge picture on a cement wall in a park in tacoma. it shows hundreds of people crowding the street, waiting to see the results of the world series. my first thought was, "those silly people.. standing out there just to see some numbers posted!"

Ben Gilbert Park.... read about it!

but then i stood there a little longer and actually looked at their faces. it slowly dawned on me that these were real people with real lives and real personalities. not just part of an image on the wall. then i began to wonder what they were thinking and why each one of them woke up that morning and chose to stand on that very street at that very moment to make that very memory. i imagine most of them stood by good friends. maybe that is why they came, just to be with friends. some of the young ones had this gleam in their eyes. maybe they came for the sheer excitement of baseball. maybe baseball is what their dreams are made of. whatever the reason, the point is that they chose to be there. and it meant something to them. it meant more than being anywhere else at that moment.

this is similar to the powerful experience i had of seeing bruce lee's grave site. it was covered in gifts! people left poems, money, flowers. all for this celebrity they didn't even know. but, think of what bruce lee did for the asian american community? he showed them how their dreams were attainable! he made it in a big world where he was not-so-big! that is incredible!

so, this raises the question, "why do i wake up and choose to go where i do each day?" more so than that, do i actually do the things my dreams are made of? or do i push those things aside in the fears i will never make it? or because i mistakenly thought something else was more important? and what really inspires me is the people who live their dream. they go places and do things not because it is their duty or commission to do so, but because it is their dream to do so. these people are extraordinary. and, i am blessed to know some of them. some of these people had dreams for careers, some for families, and some for adventure. i admire how they have achieved their dreams, either in partial or complete.

keep doing what you do to make your dreams come true!

(perfect cliche ending, eh?)