Boxes weren't made to be lived in

This week I am learning more about how to get more of what I want in life.  I didn't like last week too much, so I am opening myself up to new ideas - ones I would not even consider a few months ago.  I am also remembering that the more I give, the more I get back.  The adage - "You get out what you put in" rings true once again.  I am learning however, that being as strategic as possible in where I spend my energy is important, that I just can't do everything!

This new life of mine is pretty exciting.  I am liking this new person I am becoming (getting older really has its perks!).  I believe I will accomplish things that the younger Cathy would never have dreamed possible.  In fact, the former me couldn't dream at all.  Life was a small box for most of my life.  In many ways, I loved my box.  I thought perhaps I was that box.  It had all of my favorite things in them, my family and children, my home, my friends, my blessings....but to ask me to envision a life beyond being a stay at home mom was way beyond my abilities at the time.  In that box I also collected and held close many "I can'ts" and "I'm scared of's" beliefs.  Beliefs I learned as a child and reinforced in my adult environment.  I didn't know I could be any different.  In fact, I don't think with the circumstances I was living under that I could have believed any differently.

Over the years, aspects of that small box - that had always hurt and scared me, began to really bother me...it became suffocating.  It was confusing since it also held my most precious possessions, yet I could not envision a happy future anymore.  I still believed that box was my identity.  The Good Lord gave me direction and courage, and I climbed out of that box.  I left behind the things that were destroying me, and saw the world for the first time.   Instead of being a scary place, I found a great world out there!!  Over the last few years I've noticed that my vision is improving little by little - and the future looks better and brighter.  I had to let go of some of the things I held dear, but that were not good for me.  Luckily, I got to keep my favorite blessings and even add to them.

So, now I look back and love the box because it gave me perspective.  I gained what seems like an unquenchable love for life in all its ups and downs.  I love each and every day now that I am free of the darkness in the box.  Some days bring disappointments and frustrations - BUT..... I'm not in a box!  I am able to choose to value even the occasional stinky day and be happy and grateful anyway!

This week, I put myself out a little more, and I got more out this week.  It is a miracle of the Atonement that we can overcome the difficulties in our lives and choose happiness, a miracle I could not do without and will be forever grateful for.  I LOVE my life!

Boxes weren't made to be lived in, anyway.