I am grateful for failure, trials etc.---Post 16

Okay, don't think I am crazy that I am grateful for trial etc,  but I am.  Yes, I know trials stink.  They are hard.  We worry, we wonder and we stress.  But we aren't alone. 

But the truth is that trials can be some of our greatest teachers. They cause us to  realize how  strong we are,  to have more gratitude, and they help us realize we are capable of great things.   My mom had a little saying that she said to me whenever I left my home. She would tell me that she loved me and then she would often say to me, "Forget yourself and find someone to serve today."  Honestly, it use to drive me crazy when she said that, but she was right.  One of the best ways to help ourselves when we are experiencing trials or failures is to forget ourselves and go and help another person.  

I find when I help another person  through one of their trials, that I have a fresh perspective towards my own. It also helps me realize that we aren't alone, but that we are all in this together.  

I am grateful that we can learn from our mistakes/trials.   I have failed at many things I have tried.  But I know if I failed that I have at least tried and  eventually if I keep working  towards something that I will learn.

We are asked  to be thankful in all things.  That  use to bother me.  We are supposed to be grateful for failures, sickness and all the storms of life?  Hmmm

But I realize that when we are thankful and experiencing trials that it is the time when we can become even closer to our Savior if we choose.  I believe we can choose to either turn our hearts away from Him or we choose to turn our hearts towards Him while we deal with our pain. 

  I remember right after my mom died, that my friend Veronica Evenson Blaylock said something to me that was life changing. She told me that  she had a friend who had lost a family member through a mistake/accident like my mom.  She said that this friend had become bitter and angry.  She said you have a choice to either move towards the Savior or away.   When she said that, I was definitely moving away.  Life felt very bleak to me and just too difficult. However, when she said this, it gave me a jolt  and it truly helped softened my heart.  I will always be grateful to her, for being inspired to share this with me.   

 Both of these quotes I found on Veronica's blog. :)