Never Found the Needle Nose Pliers but this was much Better!

I needed to unclog the vacuum the other day so my husband said to look in his desk drawer for some needle nose pliers. I didn't find the pliers but I came across a quote from a book that my husband has kept typed up on a piece of paper.

"Let me tell you something that you haven't learned yet, something you haven't learned yet, something you learn only by living awhile. As you get older, you find that life begins to wear you down. Doesn't matter who you are or what you do, it happens. Experience, time, events--they all...steal way your energy, to erode your confidence, to make you question things you wouldn't have given a second thought to when you were young. It happens gradually, a chipping away that you don't even notice at first, and then one day it's there. You wake up and you just don't have the fire anymore.

Then you have a choice. You can either give in to what you're feeling, just say 'okay, enough is enough' and be done with it, or you can fight it. You can accept that every day you are alive you are going to have to face it down, that you are going to have to say to yourself...that you are going to do what you have to because otherwise you are defeated and life doesn't have any real purpose left...How did I manage to keep on going?...It's not so hard really. You just have to get past the fear."

-Terry Brooks, author

"The Elf Queen of Shannara" pp. 164-165

The "fear" that one needs to get past can be anything...the fear of failure, not measuring up, etc. I know that when I'm feeling depressed I say to myself, "Alright, enough of this. I don't want to feel this way anymore." And then I do what I need to do to combat it. And it works every time! 

Meet Al Fox

In Al's blog post about her conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ I love how she says to, "Keep going always." Her story is about not giving up and to keep going forward because as she said, "...the moment you stop- the moment you take a break, even a short one- that is when fear- and doubt- and anxiety- and temptation start to creep in."

My favorite quote in the video?

When she said, "Forget not whose hands your are in...to forget not that you have a God, you have a god and He is yours, yours to keep, yours to turn to always, and the power behind that when you remember that, because God, how powerful, He has all the power and if He is for you, if He is yours, you can overcome and conquer everything. And it is so easy to lose sight of that. It's so easy to lose sight of that love that's real, for us...to lose sight that He will do everything to allow us to return home. That was part of His plan the whole time is to return to Him...

Hard times will consistently be there, 

                                                    

BUT 

                                                           

SO WILL CHRIST."

I really needed to hear this today. I love things that are uplifting and positive.

Green Smoothie Night was a BIG Success!!! And Lou Lou had a great weekend.

YEAH! I think I heard my volunteer "waitresses" who helped pour the different smoothies into cups count 43 every time. My good friend was such a big help in the kitchen and it was thanks to her that everything went smoothly. She was awesome in knowing what ingredient I needed next and would prep it and set it next to the blender. Thank you!

People asked a lot of questions, we laughed, I was gentle in the amount of greens I added, I taught them a lot about nutrition and they surprisingly enjoyed the recipes (surprising to them, not me, lol)!

It turned out to be a fun girls night and a good way for the Relief Society sisters in my stake to get to know each other.

I chose to trust that people would come and refused to take counsel from my fears that no one would show up. (:

 Life is so much better when we choose to trust.

I'm going to experiment. I will drink three green smoothies this week and choose to eat "healthified" treats and see if it makes a difference with how I feel emotionally and mentally. I already know that eating "crud," also known as sugary or highly processed foods that my body craves when I am depressed, actually makes my depression worse.

***My daughter had a lot of fun spending time with her cousin this weekend. We spent a night at my parents house and on the couple of hours ride back Lou Lou and my nephew laughed the whole way. They were being goofy and it made me happy to see her laugh and have fun. My hubbie and I both agreed that this was the best car ride ever. No fighting. Everyone got along. I LOVED IT! Thank you, nephew!

Fear Challenge: Post my picture on my Blog...

Oh dear.
This is such a huge step for me because it is so easy to want to hide this disease 
from those who I know and associate with.
There are so many myths about mental illness.
Part of that comes from Hollywood and part comes from ignorance.

A LOT of FEAR and some thoughts of anxiety are racing through my head...

Will I be judged?
Will my friends stop trusting me?
Will they stop being my friends because of something their brother's uncle's mother's daughter-in-law's next door neighbor who "is" also bipolar did? (:
Will this affect my kids and how they are treated? (I certainly hope not because there is a mother bear in me who wants to shield my "cubs" from hurt and teasing. Plus, I don't see what my disease has anything to do with them and how they should be and deserve to be treated).

Years ago I lost a close friend when I told her about my disease and that really hurt. Another person my Mr. and I invited into our home told me how horrible bipolar people are because of something someone else did. As she was ranting, my husband gave me one of those looks that said, "Should we tell her what you have?" I slightly shook my head that said, "No." Looking back I really missed out on a great opportunity to prove to her that not all people who have a mental illness are like that or behave that way. I know that I have some hurt that I need to let go of. I know I need to trust people, be confident, & not allow others' opinions dictate how I feel about myself.

It is amazing to me when I look back a couple of posts that I had blogged about not taking counsel from my fears. So without further ado, here's a picture I took of myself today. My first name is Amber.

Aren't I cute?

I certainly think so!

See, I'm normal looking, but my husband thinks I'm quite hot.

**Oh, it was so hard to hit that PUBLISH button.

Push Past Your Fears

To not take counsel from our fears means that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ overrules our fears and that we can press forward with a steadfastness in Him. To not take counsel from our fears means that we trust in God's guidance, assurance, and timing in our lives."

—David A. Bednar, "Christ Overrules Our Fears"
Topics: Fear, Faith

This is very applicable to my life right now.

My hubbie  & I have decided to 

take a huge leap of faith

with regards to how 

he provides for our family.

Surprisingly, I have been 

very much at peace, 

which is huge for me. 

Normally, change is a trigger 

for my depression. 

I feel that my hubbie & I are 

pushing past any fears

& we're definitely NOT 

taking any "counsel" from them...

also known as 

letting your fears stop you 

from obtaining your dreams .