The Power of the Mind...The Power of Gratitude

The Power of the Mind...

What an amazing thing our brain is.
This is the month of November and I was reminded that we should take advantage of this month to remember all that we have, all who love us, all of our blessings. When we can change negative thoughts into grateful thoughts, it will change us from the inside out. It can brighten our lives and affect other people for good.

We can kneel down and offer up a prayer of thanksgiving and it can turn a dark day into a bright one. When we think of all the things we are grateful for, I think the spirit affirms that to our hearts. He seconds the notion that we have SO much and we should be living with a feeling of gratitude as much as possible. Once we feel how important this idea is, and we apply it, we are filled with peace. When we are content with what we have, we can also be filled with love instead of anger, resentment, or even hate. What an amazingly simple, yet powerful action, the changing of one's thought is. If we just reverse an unkind or despairing thought to one of gratitude for that person or circumstance, it can change our whole perspective and demeanor. Our world could really use a lot more gratitude, don't you agree?

One example:
Since finding out about my boys' condition a year ago, I have gone through a lot of mental states. I've felt sadness and despair, anxiety and stress, and love and compassion. It's constantly changing, I'm a girl, let's face it, I don't stay in one state of emotion for long!! But hopefully, I'm much more stable and consistent emotionally now, then as a teenager!

I bet the first six months after finding out, I thought about my boys' shortened life span every day! It was something I couldn't escape, something I had no control over, something that seemed to loom over me each day.

Over this past year or so, I've realized the importance of living in the moment. I believe living in the moment is one key to feeling thankful. Seeing the beauty of the moment, taking time to breathe and enjoy our family and the beauties around us. And even trying to laugh and lighten up the mood during the stressful moments! I'm not the best at that, but there are some who are really amazing at it!! I think over time, our strength to handle difficulties gets better. As we handle tough situations well, our stress muscles get stronger, so that we are able to glide through those moments with much better ease and calmness, the stronger we get.

Changing my thoughts from "I am sad, this is terrible, I wonder what will happen....I wonder when....I wonder what I can find on the internet about.....Poor Eli....Poor Evan.....Poor Laya....Poor Brad....Poor me...!"

to:
"I am so grateful to have my children....this trial is a blessing in so many ways.....there are so many people who have done so much for us.....we are so blessed.....there is hope on the horizon....miracles happen....I am thankful for each moment I get with my children....this situation and my boys teach us so much.....God loves us.....whatever happens is meant to happen and I am going to enjoy this journey....I'm going to be the best person I can be......"

The power of thoughts....

I wish I could say I had beautiful thoughts all the time....I know my family knows how imperfect and kind of rude I can be sometimes! I do know that I am much calmer and happier now a days, especially when compared to last fall. I think overall I have better thoughts in regards to our circumstance. Really, there is so much we can be thankful for.....

Now for some pictures:

HALLOWEEN

I am...probably a vampire or Mrs. Addams (not sure if I pulled that one off!) Brad is a Zoo keeper or somethin'....Laya is a 50's girl, Evan is a super boy, (and no that is not supposed to be a treble clef on his forehead, It's supposed to be a handsome curl) Eli is a french artist. Laya literally placed all our outfits on my bed an hour before the trunk or treat and we went with it :) It was fun. I love Laya's creativity. 

 Monsieur Artist has his paint brush in his hat, ready to go to school!

Ready for trick or treating!

My cute Clark Kent. The curl looks more like an upside down bass clef this time...getting better!

A police officer on our block cleverly blocked off a crack in his cement. But the kids just had to lie down on it. 

Poor Brad, he was so young...and handsome...

Laya had a fever after trick or treating so she didn't eat any of her candy!! Poor girl. We knew something was wrong when she was adding pajamas to her Halloween costume. We didn't trick or treat long, Laya got really thirsty. So we came home and watched a Halloween movie. 

If you can't tell, Evan is really enjoying his Chocolate!!

CLASS FIELD TRIP

Marana Pumpkin farm field trip, I drove and brought Eli to meet his class there.

 A friend in Eli's class, Serena, was obsessed with helping Eli all day. She was by our side the whole time. She just loves Eli. There were also a few boys that came up to him and made him laugh. They are all so nice to him. They get so excited when he comes to school, since he is only there in the afternoon. 

You can kind of see Eli's face looking the wrong way! :) 

Trying to take some family photos. Here are the bloopers!

 Evan is such a good poser, don't you think? 

 He's always squishing Eli. 

 But I guess Eli likes it. 

 Yeah, Eli and Evan have no hair...unfortunately, we have to buzz them as quickly and painlessly as we can, once every six months!

RANDOM PICS

 At the Children's museum on Evan's birthday. 

 Eli all dressed up for church!

 Eli and Evan both LOVE this swing in our back yard. 

 Evan has a guilty look on his face. 

 Laya and Eli were both caught in the act at school, if you can see the stickers. It's a good thing!

 My cute little trouble maker. He is actually not really as much a trouble maker as he used to be. I find that he loves to help me with household tasks and can do a lot more than I give him credit for. He gets SO excited and feels very important.