Gratitude
What a week to be able to reflect on gratitude. President Monson's talk seems to be especially fitting to my feelings this week. As I write this, I'm currently on my own journey of gratitude. Currently, I'm sitting in a beach house right across the street from the ocean in Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand. We took 3 planes, traveled over 1000km, and endured a 100 year storm. One day we had to back track several hours because Hasst Pass was closed due to flooding on the road. We were planning on traveling up the west coast but had to take a detour all the way over to the east side. We had to book new accommodations, cancel some activities, and spend several extra hours in the car. When we arrived at our Airbnb, we learned that an entire bridge and been swept away in the storm. I couldn't help but feel grateful that we were not able to travel that road. We were safe and we weren't stranded.
Not everything had been a disappointment. Because of the intense amount of rain, Milford Sound was absolutely spectacular. There are only 2 permanent waterfalls but we saw thousands. We couldn't have chosen a more incredible opportunity. Sometimes when it rains in our lives, extraordinary things come from it.
While anyone would be grateful to be in New Zealand, it's especially poignant for me. I'm traveling with all of my siblings to the land that my mother grew up in. I never dreamed that we would ever all be able to make this trip happen. We've been able to meet distant relatives and hear stories about our ancestors. I always thought that we didn't have any pioneer ancestors but my ancestors were pioneers in their own right. My great grandfather was the first person to build a holiday home in Queenstown and my great uncle is responsible for the Oxenbridge tunnel that he made trying to divert the river looking for gold.
My husband lost his job shortly after we made arrangements for this trip and I thought that there was no way that I could still go. We've been blessed that he quickly found another job. I'm grateful for all of the spouses that were willing to stay home and take care of the kids so that we could enjoy this time as a family.
On the business side of things, I loved learning that choosing your first job should not be that stressful. People keep asking me what I'm going to do when I graduate. I feel like I need to have some kind of answer. I should know exactly what job I want to do the rest of my life. Now, I feel less pressure to choose the perfect career. I can always change jobs. We also learned that there is more to life than "striking it rich" Life has so much more meaning when we have balance in our spiritual, physical, personal, and career aspects. Finding something that we want to do shouldn't be too stressful.
Not everything had been a disappointment. Because of the intense amount of rain, Milford Sound was absolutely spectacular. There are only 2 permanent waterfalls but we saw thousands. We couldn't have chosen a more incredible opportunity. Sometimes when it rains in our lives, extraordinary things come from it.
While anyone would be grateful to be in New Zealand, it's especially poignant for me. I'm traveling with all of my siblings to the land that my mother grew up in. I never dreamed that we would ever all be able to make this trip happen. We've been able to meet distant relatives and hear stories about our ancestors. I always thought that we didn't have any pioneer ancestors but my ancestors were pioneers in their own right. My great grandfather was the first person to build a holiday home in Queenstown and my great uncle is responsible for the Oxenbridge tunnel that he made trying to divert the river looking for gold.
My husband lost his job shortly after we made arrangements for this trip and I thought that there was no way that I could still go. We've been blessed that he quickly found another job. I'm grateful for all of the spouses that were willing to stay home and take care of the kids so that we could enjoy this time as a family.
On the business side of things, I loved learning that choosing your first job should not be that stressful. People keep asking me what I'm going to do when I graduate. I feel like I need to have some kind of answer. I should know exactly what job I want to do the rest of my life. Now, I feel less pressure to choose the perfect career. I can always change jobs. We also learned that there is more to life than "striking it rich" Life has so much more meaning when we have balance in our spiritual, physical, personal, and career aspects. Finding something that we want to do shouldn't be too stressful.
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