Just like the Late Show has a Top 10, here's my Top 10:
Things People Said to me This Weekend...
10. "Do you have a bike? You need to get a bike." (3X) You find me the space, I'll get a bike
9. "We won't touch your feet." Sweaty hot mess of Swedish Twister
8. "Does this hurt??" Try sleeping on a sunburned back
7. "I'm not walking next to your skinny ass"
6. "Hi Lauren, it's Splashy!" Favorite part of my Sunday night
5. "Sacrifice your body!" beach volleyball encouragement
4. "You must be my daughter!!!" halfway across the country, dad and daughter both watching Stage 2 of the Tour
3. "I miss you tons and am sooooo excited to see you next week!!" we couldn't be more alike
2. "Your hair is so Long!" (2X) apparently, my hair is getting super long
And the number 1 thing someone said to me this weekend IS....
1. "Sorry, I didn't recognize you with clothes on." From beach babe to barbecue chic, I have many looks. Apparently.
My true colors came out in swedish twister. It's a game of touching.......Feet. Ugh. It's a flaw that I am pretty good at hiding, I hate other people's feet touching mine. I remember having a huge crush on a guy, for months, and I kept trying to get him hang out with me, one on one. He invited me over to his place, so I showed up with high hopes. I spent the entire time sitting on the couch with his giant hairy feet that he had placed in my lap. Sexy.
I love the word passion. It's exciting, full of energy, possibilities and hope. It's also, Intense. Intensity, in the right things, can be wonderful. Mmhmm. Like passion iced tea, delicious. You could say my life is pretty passionate. I try to follow my passions, do the things I love. Sometimes it can be hard because I love to do so many things. I recently came across this advice that I LOVED: Write down five things you love to do. Next, write down five things that you're really good at. Then just try to match them up!
Like most things (all things?) in life, for every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction. You can imagine that if I live my life so passionately optimistic, I also have passionate moments of discouragement. I like to think of life like a boxing ring. The opponent is obstacles, trials, hardships, whatever you're trying to beat. Sometimes, you're killing it, blocking punches, delivering knockouts. Other times, you're getting your butt handed to you on a platter. Looking up flat on your back with the wind knocked out. In between that you have what I call the freak of nature opponents, the ones that you keep hitting and hitting, and you might as well be brushing them with feathers.
In boxing, there's a rest period between rounds, to regroup. Wednesday, I reached that point. I was putting in effort and hard work with nothing to show for it. I didn't feel any bit closer to reaching my goal, after months. More importantly, I felt like a failure, with all of this passion bottled up inside. For over an hour I let it out, to a very sweet and understanding listener. To quote a book I recently read, "I think we cry to release the animal parts of us without losing our humanity." Either because I had nothing else left to say, or I couldn't breathe, I finally stopped. What happened next can only be described as what JK Rowling calls "the fringe benefits of failure." It's incredibly humbling. You face your weaknesses, worries and it's cathartic. It wipes the slate clean, and you start a new round, more energetic and more passionate than before. It worked, I bounced back stronger.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf wrote a great talk in this month's Ensign. I've already highlighted it, taken notes, everything short of framing it on my wall. He talks about life being infiniteless, and to always think of ourselves as being "in the middle." Whatever your goals are, don't worry about whether you are starting, finishing, stuck in a rut, work and act like you are in the middle.
"Yes, there will be moments of beginnings and moments of endings throughout our lives, but these are only markers along the way of the great middle of our eternal lives. Whether we are at the beginning or the end, whether we are young or old, the Lord can use us for His purposes if we simply set aside whatever thoughts limit our ability to serve and allow His will to shape our lives."
"Being always in the middle means that the game is never over, hope is never lost, defeat is never final. For no matter where we are or what our circumstances, an eternity of beginnings and an eternity of endings stretch out before us."
So here I am on a Monday morning, passionately living my life...in the middle. Life is good!
Love,
Lo
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