how do you eat an elephant?

My friend on the book posted this link and it immediately intrigued me. I can take no credit for any of the following context. But I can pass it along.

1. Let go of attachments: According to Buddhist Philosophy, attachment is one of the roots of all suffering. I can’t agree more. We attach ourselves to all sorts of things even the most self-slapping stupid notions in the universe. Are you attached to something? How much are you attached? Is it keeping you back from something? Is it making you suffer? Look at it straight through – break the illusion. Know that every attachment can be detached.

2. Let go of guilt: Guilt has absolutely no function whatsoever. Think about it – what could guilt possibly resolve? It just holds you imprisoned to self-mortification and sorrow.

3. Let go of Negative thinking: Pessimistic thoughts and negative attitudes keep you locked in a dark aura that permeates in everything you do. It’s a dangerous line to follow. Know that thoughts influence the world around us. Enough said

4. Let go of self-criticism: Many times we are our biggest pain in the neck. We criticize ourselves with the best of intentions but then go over the acceptable limit. Criticism then turns to disempowering messages. Let go of it and be kind and gentle to yourself.

5. Let go of prejudice: Prejudice keeps you bitter and resentful. It restricts your opportunities to connect meaningfully with others.

6. Let go of compulsive thinking: Do you keep on doing something just because you feel you have to do it without any apparent reason? It’s time to honestly reflect on its usefulness and its side-effects.

7. Let go of the need for others’ approval: We often tend to seek approval by others. This is an attention-seeking behaviour and one which threatens our self-confidence and authenticity.

8. Let go of limiting beliefs: Most of our limits are self-imposed. Life doesn’t have defined limits. Our beliefs do. Learn to identify those beliefs which narrow down your possibilities for action and let go of them.

9. Let go of grudges: Let me put it this way – grudges are bad for your heart. Keep them long enough or numerous enough and your health will eventually suffer. Research is showing the relationship between heart disease and emotions such as anger and grudges.

10. Let go of the “I’ll do it tomorrow” attitude: This is a delaying tactic of your subconscious saboteur trying to keep you from accomplishing important tasks. Try to be aware of it when you think it and consciously push yourself to do at least the first part of it. Naturally you will then continue the whole task because the hard part is only the beginning.

11. Let go of anxious thoughts: These are born out of our fear of the unknown and uncertainty about the future. The thought that something unpleasant may happen is only an unreal thought we have created ourselves. Ask yourself: “Is this thought based on real evidence?”

12. Let go of past heartbreaks: A heartbreak can take quite a long time to heal. Your heart is locked as your mind keeps on hovering over the same thought. The thing to realize is that in heartbreaks it is not the loss that make you suffer but the idea you create in your heads about that loss.

13. Let go of bad memories: Sometimes we remember unpleasant things that stir up some sad feelings in us. Bad memories make you relive those sad moments in the present. Keep them where they are – in the past.

14. Let go of useless things: We also attach ourselves to things of all sort. Sometimes we clutter our life with useless objects. Let go of them and simplify your working and living environment.

15. Let go of bad company: If there are people around you that are insincere, harbour envy, are highly pessimistic or disempowering, keep away from them.

16. Let go of the idea that you are a product of your past: One very common mistake we fall into is the belief that we are determined by our past experiences. This limits our view on future possibilities since we are stuck in believing that the future can only be more of the same as our past.

17. Let go of identifying yourself with your job/role: This is one of the risks of modern day life. Since roles are always becoming more specialized we think that we are part of our roles. This makes us lose perspective of our true nature.

18. Let go of counterproductive habits: These are the repetitive patterns of behavior that obstruct or distract you from constructive and productive behavior. They can be anything from watching too much TV and overeating to self-destructive behavior such as drug abuse.

19. Let go of taking things too personally: Very often we are disturbed emotionally because we interpret people’s words and actions from a very subjective perspective. When we take things personally we get irritated, hurt and disappointed. When you look at life from a more detached and objective point of view, we stay emotionally balanced and focused on our priorities.

20. Let go of the ticking clock: Time is one of our biggest sources of stress. Well, not time really but our perception of it. Sometimes we are enslaved by the concept of time even in our moments of leisure. This has devoured a lot of our genuine freedom and space. Learning to spend moments without the constant awareness of time can be liberating and finally productive.

Now the question is. Where to start?! So to answer my first question...how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Although....I'm not sure who would eat an elephant in the first place. just sayin'!

never can, never will, CAN'T HOLD US DOWN

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is always in the public eye. Well not always, but it appears pretty regularly. And usually not in a good light. At least the stuff that gets the most attention isn't the best light.

Recently a broadway play was created about LDS missionaries and the Book of Mormon and the faith as a whole. Of course it's dripping with sarcasm and falsities and everything you could possibly imagine.

I wasn't going to waste any more time with it, but I was grateful when I came across this article. Especially this excerpt.

“As someone of Jewish faith,” he began, “I take personal offense at this show….I cannot believe that New York, MY New York, where I was born and raised, would ever do such a thing. Shame on you, New York Times, shame on Broadway, and shame on all of us who stand idly by and do nothing while the faith of others is mocked. Religious and cultural Jews need not support such bigotry.”

I'm grateful for kind people out there. People who may not have the same beliefs as you but still understand the principles of human decency and respect that people can worship as they choose.

If anything this play and this event only confirms my testimony of the church of Jesus Christ.

So producers of this broadway play, if you were trying to get anyone to sway from their faith...

Sorry.

The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.

when life gives you lemons....you deal with it.

As I turned in my advertising final on Thursday morning I thought the stress of winter semester was finally over. I had fulfilled a majority of my responsibilities and was only left with a few more that wouldn't take too long.

I quickly learned that more responsibility was coming my way because other people decided to not fulfill theirs. I'm not going to go into detail or name names. I'll leave it at this: me, and a few other people had to pick up a lot of slack due to the choices of others.

But I want to focus on some thoughts that have been running through my head during the process. When did it become OK to totally tap out on all other responsibilities just because there is some stress coming from another part of your life? When is it OK to dump everything else on someone else just because you're at one stage of life and they aren't? Who are we to judge that we are in a more fragile state of mind just because someone isn't experiencing the same thing that we are? Don't you dare tell me that you are more stressed or more worried or more whatever, and that therefore you have less responsibility than me just because there's one event in your life and a different event in my life. And I'll do the same.

When did we forget about responsibility and agency? The right to CHOOSE. The right to dictate the choices we make?

Now I'm not saying that life doesn't get hard. I know it does. I've experienced it first hand and I've seen it in the life of others. But what I am saying is that no matter how hard life gets, you can always rise above. And you can rise above gracefully and not let anything get you down.

Helaman, a prophet from the Book of Mormon teaches his sons...

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Can't the same apply to us?

YES.

It can. I know it can.

When life gets stressful, when life hands you lemons, you make it work! You don't ignore other aspects. You solider on and rise triumphant.

You can look back and say...

"WOW!"

"Look how hard life was! Look at all the different things that were pulling for my attention and look how much I accomplished!"