Norm Nemrow is my Hero

I spent two-and-a-half years of my college life floundering around, wondering what I should do for the rest of my life. I'd worry for hours on end about it, which was useless. I researched majors anywhere from music, arts, mathematics, humanities, English, you name it. I was interested in all of them. I had too many darn options. It was awful.

Finally, this past Fall semester I took Accounting 200. One lecture from Norm Nemrow was all it took to set my mind at ease. Basically, he said that very few people go through life knowing what they want to do. The majority don't. But really, those that don't know what they want are just as blessed as those that do. They have the opportunity and ability to explore, to try out new things and have a wider experience. The people that know their destiny? Well, they're kind of boring, aren't they? They're stuck in one field for the rest of their life.

Since that day, I've been able to move forward. I thought about that lecture this week, as I've started preparing to apply to the various fields I might want to go into; accounting, information systems, and general management. Whichever of these fields I get into will bless my life, and I'll be able to work with them from there. I'm excited for whatever direction my life takes from here, because they're all good options.

I realized that I'd taken Norm's lesson to heart this week. I truly feel that I've learned a lot of useful skills (my meanderings through all my GE requirements actually paid off) and that I'm capable of many potential life endeavors.

So, where do I go from here? Technically, anywhere. But, to start, I'm going to apply to the Marriott School of Business at BYU.

Happiness in Any Circumstance

In the past week, I had the chance to hear Stephanie and Christian Nielson speak. In 2008, they were in an airplane crash with a close friend of theirs. Their friend died, but they miraculously escaped alive. 60% of Christian's skin was burned past the point of recovery, and 80% of her own was burnt to a crisp.

Stephanie described the arduous, exquisitely painful road to recovery. The details are hard to hear, and she could tell it better than I can summarize it, so check out her blog if you want to read the full, harrowing, inspiring story.

She is an incredible woman, the kind of strong, faithful woman I hope I am. Before the crash, she was gorgeous. After the crash, they had to replace the skin on her face with skin from her scalp. As a result, the skin grafts appear pinkish and deformed. She lost her beauty, but none of her inner glow. She says that every morning, she wakes up and looks at herself in the mirror. She clearly sees her imperfections, how ugly and weird her skin is, but she also sees hope. After hearing everything she went through, I understood how meaningful that word was to her. She said that she saw her face, but she also saw a strong, faithful, resilient woman. She saw a survivor who found happiness in the promises of her beliefs, her family, her husband. She did not let her circumstances define her life.

I learned so much from Stephanie and Christian that night, but more than anything, I learned that we can be happy no matter what happens to us. Happiness - I'm talking the sincere, deep feeling of joy - is entirely our own choice. It depends on how resilient we choose to be. If Stephanie can not only get over her past, but then re-live the terrible moments of her past to strengthen others, yet still be joyful, then what excuse could I ever have to not be?

Here's To You.

You know those friends you have that no matter where you're at in life, no matter what you're doing or how long it's been since you've seen them, you just pick right back up where you left off? 

Rebecca is one of those people, and I'm so lucky to have someone as incredible as her in my life. She was in my ward freshman year at BYU, and we ended up together in the same ward sophomore year, too. We got each other through a few rough times last year, and she's still someone I go to whenever I need to celebrate, rant, or just party. She had spring break this week, and chose to come down to little ole Provo. We went to the Food Truck Round-Up for dinner and got some kick-taste-buds Korean BBQ. 

BEHOLD, THE WONDERFUL WOMAN HERSELF:

Yeah, she's a babe. 

She has an inspiring story, too. Like I said, Rebecca was in my freshman ward here at BYU, but she now attends USU up in Logan. How did a true blue, cougar through-and-through end up 2 hours north? For a lot of reasons, she was meant to be up there. 

For her two years at BYU, Rebecca worked hard to get into the Music Dance Theatre (MDT) major. She auditioned multiple times, but for reasons no one could explain, she didn't make it in. Everyone she knew in the major assured her she would get in, that with her talent there was no way she wouldn't make it in. But, again and again, the MDT major refused her. It was heart-wrenching every time she was rejected, especially because no one could give her a good reason. She'd spent over a year and a half of her life pouring her heart, life and soul into preparing for this, and the only reason they gave her for why it wasn't working out was that "it just didn't work out." It was maddening for me to just watch her go through that, so I can't even imagine how she was feeling. 

Finally, she felt like she should start looking elsewhere than BYU. She didn't want to, but she knew what she wanted to do with her life, and BYU wasn't giving that to her, as much as she loved it. So, she drove up to Logan and auditioned. Then and there, at her first audition, they offered a full-ride scholarship for Vocal Performance at USU. She took her chance and ran with it. 

Within 6 days, she'd decided to look elsewhere than BYU, auditioned at USU, was offered a scholarship, accepted, and transferred. If I'm remembering right, this was all during finals week at BYU. Talk about life changes. 

The reason I find her so incredible is because she didn't let something she loved get in the way of something she loved more. She is following her passion for music, despite how hard and uncertain her future is sometimes. She knows music is a hard career to be in, but she wouldn't do anything else. She isn't willing to give up on her dreams. To someone who gave up on her love of art and music for accounting, that's amazing to me. Through her example, I again find the inspiration to keep my other passions alive. I started looking for inspiration for a larger watercolor piece, and suddenly I'm seeing everything with an artist's eye again. I notice how the light falls, how colors contrast and meld together, and I imagine how I would make those colors come to life on the page. Our passions never die, but lie dormant until we give them the freedom and energy they need to thrive once more. Thanks to Rebecca, I'm going to be paying more attention to that in the future. 

Rebecca, you're incredible and I love you. Thanks, girl.

Bollywood, Bollywood, Very Very Hollywood

I just watched Bride and Prejudice (a.k.a. the Bollywood version of Pride and Prejudice). Oh, the terrible decisions I make at times.



The horror of how terrible it was is still fresh. I'm making it sound like I hated it because of it's Bollywood influence, but nothing's further from the truth. I love Bollywood. My favorite Bollywood is Yeh Jaawani Hai Deewani (Go Bunny). That movie is a blast to watch. But this movie -  this Bride and Prejudice - this abomination - was not Bollywood. It was faux Bollywood at its worst. It was just too American. The beauty and energy of Bollywood was ruined by the American filter. I'm still reeling at the fact it was in English.

Here's my issue: I like American movies. I like Bollywood. Why do I hate them together? Isn't the fusion of cultures supposed to be celebrated? Isn't that how we overcome differences/achieve world peace/etc.? If that's what they were trying to do, they failed.

Bride and Prejudice shows just how important staying true to your roots is.  I hadn't realized how much I would dislike a diluted Bollywood movie. Bollywood is beautiful because of the wonderfully un-American enthusiasm for vibrant colors, for the distinct flavor of ancient traditions swirled together with the modern world, for its unashamed cheesiness. I don't think trying to mix the two cultures together here is the solution to bridging the gap between cultures. Accepting another culture as is - that's where the beauty of our meshing world comes alive. That's where the beauty of each culture still comes through fully and completely. Warping them together - destroying the distinct beauty of each - leaves a jaded shadow that leaves so much wanting of each.

So, to get preachy: Accept the differences. Celebrate your own. Everyone's better off.

YES:                                                 YES:

      

NEVER AGAIN:

You've Done Enough

Life is being really, really kind to me right now. Honestly, it's scaring me, because I just know something hard is coming if life is this awesome right now. Classes are great, my job is great, the guy I'm dating is great, my friends are great, my calling as a Sunday School teacher is great, everything is great. That being said, so much good can be a lot to handle.

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for so many blessings. But with so many wonderful things to devote my time to, how can I manage? Sometimes I wish I had an extra day a week and that every day was about 8 hours longer. It's hard to feel that I'm investing as much as I should into all these wonderful pieces of my life. Sometimes, I'm left wondering if the effort I put in is enough.

Sometimes, I struggle to accept that my best is enough. I've gotten better at it, but it's one of those things that comes back to haunt you right when you need it the least. Nagging thoughts find you when you're struggling to find a balance between all the good things in your life, and coerce you to feel guilty for not doing more.

Whenever I feel the wave of commitments begin to overwhelm me--like this past week--I remember a lesson Brother Griffin taught me over a year ago from John 6. Christ has been ministering to a multitude, but it's nearing the evening. They're in a desert place, so there's nowhere to buy food for everyone. The disciples are concerned for the crowd, so they encourage Jesus to dismiss them to find food. Instead, the Lord asks a young boy nearby for his five loaves of barley, and two small fishes. Imagine how insufficient that young boy would have felt. In front of you is a crowd of four thousand people, and all you have is a basket with a few morsels. He would have known that his contribution wouldn't be enough, yet he chose to do as the Lord asked of him. Instead of refusing out of embarrassment, pride, or selfishness, the boy gave everything he had to the Lord. And then, the miracle. The Lord accepts the boy's meager offering and performs a miracle. He takes those loaves, those fishes, and feeds all those that had listened to Him.

The Lord only asks for what we can give, and then takes our sacrifices and makes them into more than we ever could alone. He sanctifies our sacrifice. He knows what we can handle, and will fill in the blanks when we fall short (if we're doing our part).

When I feel that I'm not doing enough, I remember that I'm doing what I can. I'm putting sincere effort into the good things in my life, and I know the Lord has let my efforts have a greater impact than they should have. So, what I've learned from this week is to always strive to do more, be more, be better--but remember that what I'm doing is enough.

John 6

You Decide How Hard Your Life Is

It's an unavoidable fact that life will throw some nasty curve-balls your way. Either it's happened to you and you know I'm telling the truth, or you will soon.

In the few years of experience I have, I've noticed how attitude is everything. That's a phrase that gets thrown around a lot, but I doubt that people really let that sink in. I firmly believe that attitude entirely governs your experience on this life. 

There are two people that jump into my mind that prove this point to me. One of them is consistently, persistently happy, despite the flood of trials that seems to follow her like her own personal rain cloud. Despite personal health issues, disease, surgery, her mother's death due to cancer, and various other challenges, I've rarely seen her without a smile. She takes life head on, and actively shapes her life into something positive.  

The other person I think of has been blessed in so many ways. She has it all; a good home, a loving family, a wonderful college education, etc. Yet she always finds something wrong with her life and fixates on that, rather than the positive. Her attitude drains the joy and energy from the incredible experiences she has. 

I've been reflecting on this for the past few weeks. It's not because I've been going through trials, interestingly enough, but because of the opposite. On the contrary, my life has been absolutely perfect. I have incredible people in my life, I know what I'm doing with my life and I love it, and everything is falling into place. What I realized is that I'm not marginally happier now than I was when my life wasn't a bed of roses. Because I don't let my circumstances dictate how grateful I am for the life I lead, but rather choose to be grateful for every experience I'm given, I find joy in every day. That includes the days that throw those nasty curve-balls.

Gratitude enables me to make more of my life because I'm living my life with my Heavenly Father in mind. With this in mind, I challenge myself to write a list of 20 things I'm grateful for every night (no repeats). Not only will this help me be grateful for the day I've had, but will instill a spirit of gratitude for the coming days as well.

If You're Going to Worry, Worry Right.

Today in my accounting class, my professor, Jim Stice, gave all of us some beautiful advice. He invited us to look back on the past five years and to look at the Lord's hand in your life. He asked us to contemplate how we've been guided, even when we thought we were on our own.

Often when we're thinking of the future, we become overwhelmed at the prospect of what we have to overcome. We only see the many challenges we face matched with our many inadequacies, and we don't see how we're going to be able to get through it. We forget that the Lord will be there with us in the future, just as he has been in the past. 

We're prone to worry. Where is my life going? What's going to happen? Professor Stice says, "Good.  Good is going to happen. It's going to be fine." And really, that's so true. God is investing in us, the future leaders of his church. If we don't make it into the major we were wanting, or if we don't get that job we wanted, or anything else happens in a way we were hoping it didn't, it's all fine. Maybe God is helping us dodge a bullet. Maybe it wasn't right for us. Whatever happens, we are in the Lord's hands, just like we always have been. 

Professor Stice asked us to learn the following simple truths from someone who learned the hard way. 

"Worry about the present. The future will take care of itself. Worry less. Enjoy more."

The simplicity of his message struck me. I know that the Lord is looking out for me. I know that everything that happens, the perceived good and bad, is all from His hand, and I trust Him. With that trust, what then do I have to worry about? Knowing that He loves me removes so much of the negativity from life. Every experience can become positive when we look at it with God's perspective of time, destiny, and growth. 

My challenge to myself is this: follow Professor Stice's words of wisdom. My stress levels have been slowly building up for the past two weeks, but I realize that though my circumstances aren't in control, my attitude about them is. I can choose what I worry about, and I'd rather worry more about the things that I actually have the power to change. I will take the actions I need to for my future, but I'm going to worry less about it. If I do everything I'm capable of towards my future, I should be calm knowing that I've done all I can, and that the Lord has helped me every step of the way.