Thoughts on Life

Life has been… complicated the last few weeks. Complicated is probably the best word for it. There’s lots of contention in my family now, but I feel I’ve learned a few things from all the troubles. I’ll summarize a few of the highlights below.

• Listen. Actually listen and learn from what you’re listening to. I didn’t listen at first, and things have snowballed out of control ever since.
• Think before you say. I’m still not very good at doing this one, but if you don’t think your thoughts through before saying them, it is very easy to say things that you’ll immediately wish you could take back. But you can’t take those things back; they’ve already been said.
• Find support wherever you can. There’s always someone willing to listen, and that can make a world of difference when things start to get overwhelming.
• Turn to the Lord. There is a higher power looking out for us. If we turn to him, we can find the support he’s willing to give us.
• On a related note, if you’re LDS like me, going to the temple can make things immediately better. Even if you don’t come away with all the answers you want, finding yourself out of the world for a few hours can make a large difference.

I’m still making plenty of mistakes right now, but I think I’m starting to learn from them. I think I’ve done more growing up (and acted more childish) in the last month than in many years, but I’m trying to make forward progress.