Wednesday, September 1, 2010

{Just some spiritual thoughts}

Just some spiritual thoughts i want to write down...

1. I believe that the spirit world is closer than we realize.
2. I believe that the veil can be so thin sometimes that we can remember things from before when we were in the pre-existence. I KNOW it because i have experienced it.
3. I believe that we need to listen a bit more to know what the spirit is telling us. I believe the spirit is there confirming things to us often, comforting us often, etc. We just need to be aware of the spirit there. We need to be spiritually in tune.
4. I believe that if we remember HIM(just like it says in the sacrament prayer) then we may always have HIS spirit to be with us. When we remember HIM and what he has done for us, we can't help but be filled with gratitude in our hearts and have feelings of love for HIM. And when we have those feelings toward HIM we then feel a greater appreciation for our life and what we have. We then feel the want and need to do better, to love others, to serve others. When we remember HIM we are filled with LOVE. When we remember HIM and what he has done for us it gives US the strength to bare our burdens. It gives us the strength to do what we need to do b/c of what HE did for us. We do that because we LOVE him. When we remember HIM always, it makes us better. It invites the spirit. Thus, we may always have his spirit to be with us. That is the way i see it.
5. I believe we are SOOOO much better, SOOOO much stronger, SOOOO much more than we realize. We are more. But we are pulled down constantly by negativity, feelings of insecurities, incompetent feelings, and bad things in this world(satan) that we don't realize how great we can be. Satan see's WHAT we can be and works hard to prevent us from becoming GREAT(from becoming what we CAN be). Because it would stink for him if we did become great. Especially if we became spiritually great.
6. I was having a discussion with someone. It was about missions and how missionaries experience such spiritual strength while on their missions. And this person said to me "I think it's almost impossible to experience the same spirituality, the same feelings, like i did on my mission. I instantly thought "No way....there are NO limits on our spirituality!!" No limits. I truly believe that.
7. There are so many different ways to feel the spirit. There are soooo many ways. We need to stop limiting ourselves and how we THINK we should feel it....OR the ONE way we know we feel it....rather think about the fact that there are MANY ways to feel it. We just need to pay attention and be more aware and discover what those different ways are.
8. I believe there are people on the other side cheering us on. They are there helping us along the way. They are helping to push us along. They are telling us not to give up. They are telling us to keep going. They are proud of us when we do what's right. Those people could be family, it's our Savior, it's anyone in heaven who knows us. It's the spirit confirming to us of the LOVE our family and Savior has for us. I believe that b/c i have felt it so many times in my life. I have felt like there is someone cheering me on throughout my life so far.
9. If i had a few days to live the ONLY thing i would think about is my family. I wouldn't think about anything else. I would be sad if there were hard feelings, frustrating feelings that i had towards anyone. I would regret HAVING any of those feelings towards anyone in the first place. ANY of those feelings would QUICKLY disintegrate and would no longer be there if i knew i had a few days to live. How could i hold on to those kind of feelings in that kind of situation? I couldn't. Because none of that is what matters. It's all silly petty stuff. I would wish that i were a better mom, a better friend, a better wife, a better daughter, a better sister, a better EVERYTHING. I would feel not ready b/c i haven't done what it takes to be my BEST. Knowing that makes me want to live EVERY day as if it were my last. Family is EVERYTHING. That is all that matters in the end. That is all we are here for. Family...being together for eternity. Loving each other. Being there for each other. Growing together.
10. We need to remember our Savior during our times of GOOD and not just during our times of BAD. During our times of good we need to remember him with GRATITUDE. A heart full of gratitude will take you a long ways. A person who is a thankful person is a person who is a happy person. I truly believe that. During our times of BAD we can still be happy and thankful by using the atonement and remembering HIM.
11. Someone else always has it worse than you do. So, before you start to think how bad you have it and how bad your life stinks, think about people in third world countries. Then suddenly your life looks perfect. And truly it is a good life. You just need reminders often until it actually sticks in your brain that you do have a good life.
12. Trials are a good thing. Hard times are a good thing. We grow tremendously from it. AND hard times are something we will experience our whole life. So, we better get used to it and learn how to deal with it. And better to deal with them in a good way b/c if we are going to experience hard times throughout our entire life better to do it happy than grumpy, otherwise you will be grumpy your whole life.
13. If we stay close to the Lord, serve others, and do what's right, life will be so much easier to face. JOY. Jesus first, Others second, Yourself third. Things will look good even if they are bad. The light of Christ will be in us. We will realize who we are , realize our purpose, realize what's really important. And when we can do that life will be a wonderful journey.
14. EVERYONE is human. As long as you are human you are going to have your faults. You are going to make mistakes. It doesn't matter who you are. EVERYONE makes mistakes.
15. You don't know someone's story unless they have told you their story. Do not judge someone by what others say OR even by what you THINK you see. You don't know their thoughts, you don't know what is in their heart, you don't know what they have been through, you don't know anything about someone's real story unless you are them. Unless you get in their brain. Therefore, we just shouldn't judge. We should just LOVE. :) haha...that is one thing i have had to relearn over and over.

These are just some thoughts i have learned or have thought about a lot lately and things i truly believe. Some of these things are so hard to remember all the time. But what is great is that we can always strive to remember these things. We can try our best to put them to action. We will never get it perfectly right, but we can try.

1 comment:

Grams said...

Ashlee, You really are amazing. I am a Grandma and I don't have or don't take the time to think about these important things. I certainly don't write them down. I need to follow your example. Thank you for sharing some of your inner thoughts. Love Mom Jenks