morning thought

Now, I suspect this is not applicable to most, but sure enough as soon as I stopped listening to "health and wellness professionals" and started listening to my self and not worrying about if it fit any plan, but if I felt an urge to eat or do something, I did it. Needless to say, as soon as I did I began again to steadily loose excess fat, and actually I do not care. My idea was that my body was given to me, and it is a tremendous gift, I was going to care for it. As a latter-day saint, I knew that I existed much longer in waiting to receive this gift and I more than likely already accepted what I had been given and studied exactly how to best care for it, so I trust myself over "experts". Likewise when I play piano, I find that I do much better if I loosen up in my mental control, meaning there is a much wiser self that I would be wise to at least listen to. A popular concept is "a house divided" I was basically in a civil war with myself trying to mentally think my way scientifically through health. I learned alot from watching actual stories acted out where what seemed best fell far short of what ought to be, and in many instances others " let Jesus have the wheel." David v. Goliath, or even Moses and the red sea, or how about the fishing river in Missouri and the Mormon Battalion  even the story of the sea gulls and the locusts... they all demonstrate that God is able to do far more than the world's best, it is more sensible then to trust in him. Ofcourse, I have to add a bit about Iceland. But, in a video discussion the application to the EU, the hand of God was obvious when those speaking talked about fishing was the primary export and number one economic resource, until a huge volcano nudged tourism up to exceed fishing. It made me think of how it felt when the Berlin Wall came down. God is in charge, not governments. It is more profitable to know what he says is going to happen instead of speculating as to what is likely to happen.

Last of all I need to mention my decision to stop any ads from bombarding me. That choice was made after I realized how gullible and impressionable I was. There is a lyric to a Lisa Loeb song that goes, "You said that I was naive, but I thought that I was strong." I just thought it was how I paid for everything "free" that I used, until I was free enough from it's grasp to have the thought that my own ideas were not even my own, the cost of not paying cash was too high. I would rather do without, and since then, I have felt so much happier.  I got the notion from someone in Layton who mentioned how much they hated even going into Target these days because of the advertisements, and how I realized when talking to my parents about how it had been years since I saw MTV, but that when I got called into the Young Women in Gallatin I wanted to be aware of what their world was like and I nearly freaked out at how vile and disgusting it was and this was in the 90's. I believe that I am so out of touch because I just never followed trends and instead did what I felt was best... like starting each day with a prayer and scripture study, eating and exercising just comes naturally l.. it does not need to be planned. And if it doesn't then maybe ask yourself if there is something else you should be doing. Blah blah blah, I need to get dressed and clean the house, and make a snack 😋 I will still be thinking,  just not blabbering so much about it, toodles!

morning decision

As I was doing my morning routine, a thought flooded over me, and I realized what I was feeling as stress, and why?

To watch videos that guide me through my healthy ritual, I had to watch ads, and they are what trigger something inside me. Maybe I shouldn't say trigger, but offend.  I decided whether or not it was my body being extra good and trying to mirror what it saw, but it was  not real, thus, not working, despite how it ought in theory. Either way you want to argue, I decided to turn it off and not include any such media in my day. It will be hard, but, will be possible. I will just have to try to walk myself through each exercise from memory of maybe I will write out a cheat sheet today. The point is, I do not need to start the day with advertising.  

I recall a scene of "Lost " where a person was being tortured by being forced to watch a TV screen all day. And that reminded me of other shows using a similar propaganda technique to rewrite or reformat individuals, and something about any ad at all is offensive to my spirit, and I recognized that and need to put an end to it, right now.

Media is not any worse than a gun, but is dangerous when used for unclear purposes.

morning thought - creativity

I did not start this day thinking about creative endeavors, unlike most days. I began listening to the Book of Mormon, and in it Nephi was talking about how his older brothers were upset that he was trying to tell them what to do when it was the birthright of the eldest to reign. Naturally, I thought of all of the similar instances where a younger sibling sort of usurpes the birthright, and how the beauty of such happenings is the artistry of telling important things in a way like a parable, and how it is a humanity to be creative and express things cathartically. And so, that little story speaks more about things that are not spoken of openly, and yet, here they are causing a whole group of people to digest and accept the notion that a birthright may fall to a younger sibling without preaching anything about who they are or what is right or wrong ethically... oh, not at all what I was meaning to say. I will try again,  over and over again, are stories about a younger son ruling over the elder, and why would that theme be presented over and over if not to cause us to understand a greater truth so that if a similar situation becomes known to us, we would readily accept it habitually maybe. 

Also, it answered my personal question as to why creativity was so important to me...it was a moment when the bird realized they were in a cage and that it need not always be the case.... Aurora Leigh

morning thought

I woke up and was thinking of Joseph, and how much I have endured and will yet endure for him. Everything, practically it seems is for him. And I suddenly thought of Robert D. Hales. Such thoughts I have come to understand are divine, so I needed the thought and looked up what I could about him, which lead me to a talk on learning, and in it He bore testimony to the sacredness of motherhood and how it does  more for a woman in preparing her for eternity than anything else does. 

Then, I went back to sleep, and my thought now, is about Nephi praying to God on the ship which he and his brethren built. And I realized that he could calm the sea, etc. Because, if anything were asked of hom by God he could do it and likewise. It occurred to me that this is the very thing Jesus Christ repeatedly said over and over. It is true unity. He and the father are one. Ofcourse, it made sense. I comprehended perfectly through the lens of Nephi's journey to the promised land. That is why we ultimately pray, that we can come to kniw and embrace God's will, and thereby become extensions of him.

morning thought

Nephi said, " the words change according to the amount of faith we give." And that is what is on my mind this morning. I think of how Nephi went and built a boat, trusting the things that the Lord commanded him. Wow. That is a lot of faith! He did not even know how to build a ship, and that dies not at all seemed a likely thing for him to do, but just look at the result. Miracles follow faith, not proceed it. They are actually a result of it, an evidence, but not needed in the case of faith, but most helpful in the case of hope.

I wonder how often the Lord gets frustrated with us when he asks things in result of our praying and communing. But, the response qe give in reply is, oh that makes absolutely no sense. Especially the rising generation, they stand on the shoulders of those who succeeded before them, and so when asked to do something, they only do so with a confirmation of their parents/leaders. But, I wonder if Nephi asked Lehi if he thought building a boat was a good idea, and if he did would his choice be determined by Lehi's response?

Joseph Smith said, "I teach them correct principles and then let them govern themselves ." We let the youth teach lessons and spearhead their own meetings. But, they still need leaders to guide them and demonstrate how to Walk by Faith.

disposed comment from this morning study

oh man I needed to hear that this morning:

 " sometimes there is a selfish excess of exercising, dieting, makeovers, or spending money on the latest fashions..."

I'm seeing screwtape style scheming going on here, "oh that won't trip them up, try this! They will want to please one another. I have found that leverage most useful..."

morning thought

Gonna have to develop my prayer muscle, not to say exercise and protein is bad, just that turning to the internet for answers and information I absolutely know and have learned is not helpful. I have come to believe even well meaning loved ones may not always give the right answers.... sort of like how it is said, " will a father give you stone when you ask for bread?" Or better how it is asked if a mother will forget her own offspring, well, she might, as hard as it is to believe, but even so Heavenly Father will not abandon us. I am not literally referring to my own parents, but those whom we trust.

Every single avenue I traverse regarding weight loss leads me back to the idea that prayer is the only common denominator, not and expert, because regardless of how much success a technique has proven, every subject is unique and I thought knowing the laws that govern our function would be paramount to success.prophets have warned that borrowed testimony will not ultimately avail anyone, or that without establishing a conduit with our creator, we will fail. I suspect this is true with health. Ofcourse, it must be. This is not new, and even knowing this, and repeating it, I still repeatedly fail and pick up my phone when I want an answer as to why my weightloss goals are not working.

But, really, is not the peace I feel when I pray about it fat better that trying to accomplish it on my own? So sort of, kund of, I am re discovering the same thing over and over again: If I want true success in life, work first and most diligently on building a relationship with my Heavenly Father. That will avail me so much more that a stronger body could... I mean, why do we even have bodies in the first place? Surely,  it us not to impress anyone with it's beauty, though it is truly beautiful to us, but why? Asking that is good, asking the internet first is not. .y early morning thought is how the internet is not the source of Good information. I am reminded of the things said about trying to discern the true religion in early America, and that also lead to prayer. Ofcourse it did! If a man lacks wisdom, ask... not google.