Forget Not To Be Happy Now

It seems like there is always one day of the year that people dread - birthdays, Valentine's Day, first day wearing a swimsuit after winter... ya, you get the picture.  Well for me, that day is the day I start driving back up to Provo Utah to start another year at BYU.

This Thursday I will start my long and dreadful drive to Utah to start my junior year at BYU.  Thankfully I will be driving up with my best friend Matt Billings, which I very excited about.  Majority of you are thinking right in this exact moment "If you hate BYU so much Shanette why don't you just transfer to a Texas school?"  Yes, I am fully aware that I have this option and trust me, the thought has gone through my mind more times than I can count, but I'm still choosing to attend BYU.  If you don't mind being patient, here's the method to my madness:  BYU is a very unique school with opportunities and classes that no other college can offer me. First reason are the religion classes offered. It is a private religious school and religion classes are a requirement to graduate. Because of this, I have had some of the most amazing religion professors that have changed and influenced my life for the better and I would like nothing else but to continue taking these religion classes, for they truly are wonderful. The second reason is due to my grades from last semester, I was given a half tuition scholarship.  Even though tuition is already a steal, I did work very hard for the scholarship and do not want to waste the money I was blessed with.

Hopefully now I don't sound as crazy as I did before.  But now you might say "OK Shanette, that still doesn't help you in anyway to like BYU anymore. What are you going to do about that?"  Well, one of my most favorite and inspirational speakers, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, gave a talk titled "Forget Me Not" in October 2011. I honestly believe that this talk was written for me because it was and still is completely applicable in my life. In it, he talks about 5 aspects we would be wise never to forget:

Forget Me Not flower

1) Forget not to be patient with yourself
2) Forget not the difference between a good sacrifice
    and a foolish sacrifice
3) Forget not to be happy now
4) Forget not the "Why" of the gospel
5) Forget not that the Lord loves you

I want to focus on his third aspect - Forget not to be happy now.  I don't think it's just me that has this problem of being happy where I am now, but I do think that this is probably my biggest and most tragic character flaw.  I'm always telling myself that once I have my diploma, things will be better and I will be happy.  As that may very well be true, getting my diploma won't solve all my problems.  In fact, once that day comes I'll most likely be thinking "Once I get my perfect dream job, I'll be happy."  Ha, can you see the pattern?  So this year at college my biggest goal is to try to be happy where I am, whether that be in the classroom, testing center, ski-slopes, my bed - wherever!  To help me do this, I'm starting a "Grateful Journal" where everyday I will write down 5 things that happened that day that I was grateful for.  I'm going to try very hard not to put my happiness on hold for a future event.

Dieter Uchtdorf states the "lesson here is that if we spend our days waiting for fabulous roses, we could miss the beauty and wonder of the tiny forget-me-nots that are all around us".  The happiest people I know are "are the ones who, thread by daily thread, weave a tapestry of gratitude and wonder throughout their lives".
So even though I'm not the happiest camper at BYU, I can find happiness each day by looking at the small wonders all around me.  A wise friend once told me that happiness is a choice - not a set time.

I pray we all take a little time to slow down and see the beauty in the small and simple things in life. Please take a minute to listen to this talk - I promise you it will help with whatever is making you unhappy.

http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/general-relief-society-meeting/2011/09/forget-me-not?lang=eng&query=forget+me