some thoughts about service and self-care

 happy Sunday, friends!

today in sacrament meeting the talks were aimed towards service. This got me thinking a lot, most of my thinking happening during sacrament meeting and after the (surprising) nap that happened afterwards (daylight savings, amiright???). And so now I have some thoughts to share with y'all.

I think the Lord's idea of self-care is different from the world's idea of self-care.

(Yes, this thought stemmed from me thinking about service- hear me out, oki?)

I think the Lord sees a strength and potential in us that we do not see in ourselves. And He recognizes that for us to get stronger and for us to meet the potential He sees in us, it's not gonna feel great all the time. When you get done with a really tough workout, how do you feel for the rest of the day? (And the next day...and maybe even the next?) Answer: really sore! Your muscles aren't used to doing this much work, and so they start to feel uncomfortable- maybe even hurt a bit.

But when this happens, how do you react? Do you say, "Oh no, I hurt too much- I must be injured. Guess I'm never working out again."

Maybe you do. Maybe you don't. I myself would keep going, because I'm pretty sure I know the difference between soreness and a legitimate injury. (emphasis on pretty sure.) But do you see my point? When you start to get physically uncomfortable and sore, you don't give up, you keep going. 'Cause you know that's how you get stronger.

And the exact same thing applies to us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We can feel mentally sore if we're learning something new we just don't understand. Or if we suddenly move to a new location and have to adjust to a new environment. Maybe you can feel emotionally sore if you move, too- your heart hurts because you miss your friends. Or maybe you're worried about making new friends. Or maybe you don't have friends, but there's that one person who just seems to hate you...which can also affect you emotionally. And (still on board with the "moving" thing) we can feel spiritually sore, too- it's hard to trust in God when life just plain sucks! (Trust me, I know.)

And there's sooo many other challenges life will throw at us- both bigger than moving and smaller. It would be very easy to give up. After all, we don't have the same perspective God does- to us, this is all we know, and it sucks, we should just give up. We hurt too much, we must be doing something wrong.

But that's not all God has prepared for us, friends.

If we were sore physically, we'd keep working out (or, that's the plan- hey, life happens) because that's how we get stronger. If we were mentally sore from, say, learning to do something new- we'd strive to keep learning it and get better, 'cause that's how we get stronger. If we were emotionally sore from trying to be kinder to our siblings- we'd keep trying to be kind to them, 'cause that's how we get stronger (and how we make our parents reeeeaaally happy- hi mom and dad😁). If we were spiritually sore from our faith being weaker- we'd strive to strengthen it, 'cause that's how we get stronger.

The world would have you believe that it's necessary to take a step back every time things get painful, but that's just not true. Sometimes we have to endure pain to get ourselves to an even better place.

But please understand friends- I am not saying that means we need to neglect ourselves in the name of getting stronger. Like I said, there's a difference between being sore and being seriously injured. If you were physically injured or ill, working out would actually make your condition worse. You'd need to rest and give your body time to heal. The same is true for your mind, heart, and spirit. If you're mentally hurt or ill, you need to get help and give your mind the rest it needs. If you're emotionally hurt, you need to let those emotions out in a healthy way and let your heart heal as it will. If you're spiritually struggling, you need to get help- both from your Father in Heaven and someone on Earth you trust- and help your spirit heal.

There is a balance between when we need legitimate help and when we are just getting stronger- and most of the time, it's pretty easy to tell the difference. You can tell the difference between a sore arm and a broken arm. But I think when it comes to mental or emotional injuries, those like to hide under the surface. We can't tell if we're hurt or not. But there's someone I know who knows you exactly, and knows how you need to take care of yourself.

Ask Jesus, friends. He will help you. I promise.

That's all! Have a lovely Sunday!

oxoxo,

blissfully yours,

Emma💛

some encouragement for you

 edit: this blog post is actually from yesterday. I thought I posted it but apparently??? I didn't??? anyhoo enjoy:

so fun fact about me: I get really tired (physically and emotionally) when I'm around people for an extended period of time. How long it takes for me to get this way depends on (a) my mood (b) how long you intend on keeping me around people and (c) my circumstances/if things are changing quickly.

fellow introverts ya feel me???

Okay, but maybe you're not an introvert. If you're not, I'll attempt to emphasize with you, but I really don't understand how y'all can just people people people and STILL feel as energetic as a shaken can of Coke by the end of the day. No offense. Perhaps not being around people a lot gets you really tired? Maybe that's it? For me it's the exact opposite. But sometimes it randomly switches. And if it does, you'd better do something with me quick, because my extroverted moods are very precious and deserve to be cherished. (my family can testify to this.)

but no matter what gets us tired, we all know the feeling of lying on our beds and just feeling drained. The silence is too much, but no music will suit our tastes. Is there anything that would feel good for us mentally right now? Well, yes, there is that one thing...but to do that we'd have to do this thing first...and to do that we'd have to get up...no, no. It's too much. *pulls blankets up over head and contemplates crying*

*or maybe actually cries*

In moments like this...it's very easy to get mad at ourselves. Why is it so difficult for us to get up? Why are we like this?

And in the same vein, it's very easy for us to get confused with ourselves once we do get up. Why did it take us so long? Why are we suddenly somewhat okay?

Because, like it or not, healing takes time. There is absolutely no reason to get mad at yourself when you just need to lie in a heap feeling all of your emotions and just feeling too drained to get up. And then again, there is also no reason for you to push down feelings of getting mad! Because your feelings are valid, dear one. There's literally nothing wrong with feeling sad. Or drained. Or mad. And there's nothing wrong with taking a little while to get up and start taking care of yourself. Whatever happens happens. You're doing your very best. You're still learning. And that's okay! It's not one event, it's a process, that makes up the learning of our lives.

Let yourself be as you are. You are valid. You are safe. You are loved.

You can rest. You can rest. You can rest.

(now repeat that to yourself until you really believe it.)

oxoxo,

blissfully yours,

Emma <3

PSA: the "forgiving" part of the atonement applies to you too

 this, guys. THIS is why we can forgive ourselves.

because the atonement applies to ALL people.

every single person!

so whyyyy

are we excluding ourselves

from that equation?

aren't we people, too?

aren't we also among God's elect?

aren't we just as loved by Him?

(the answer to all of these is YES, btw.)

so that means

that not only must we forgive others

but we also must forgive ourselves!!!

we've been asked to forgive everyone- and hey, we're part of the "everyone" equation.

but uhhh...how do we do that?

well, how would you forgive someone else?

you'd look at what they did wrong- you'd acknowledge it- and then you'd let it go.

you'd strive to love them regardless of mistakes.

sooo that means

we do the same thing for ourselves!

you've gotta start talking to yourself, baby. you've gotta start being your own life coach.

so listen to me, baby. you don't know everything right now, and that's okay. if you were to look back on your life and how far you've come, you'd notice that true growth takes time. and I know, I know, we don't want it to take time, are we really sure we'll make it after that long?- no. we're not. we have no idea what the future looks like. but God does, you hear me? He knows the answers to all the unknowns. so listen, babygirl- it's gonna be okay. I hate to spoil the ending, but it is! just keep trying- really trying- every day. just keep at it! shake off all the stress, the anxiety, and keep going. it's gonna hurt. it's gonna be hard. but it isn't life's job to makes you feel worthy- it's yours.

go smash your goals, sunshine.

I love you.

oxoxo

miss girl-who-apparently-only-blogs-at-night

blissfully yours,

emma <3

little happy thoughts

 LOOK I LEARNED HOW TO PUT IN PICTURES HAHAHAHA

ok all joking aside, this is one of my favorite posts ever. and I think, if I may add to that...maybe happiness isn't the absence of sadness or depression or any other upsetting feelings, but perhaps it's choosing to keep living and having a positive outlooks in spite of that.

you know, just  a thought.

imma wrap it up 'cause I wanna keep this short and I think that's a good and simple way for me to summarize how I've been surviving the chaos my head and my life keep throwing at me.

that's all! have a great night, lovelies!

oxoxo,

emma <3