Smile!

Whew, ok, doing good on the homework so far. But I'm getting bored so I figure I'll take a break and blog. Yes, thats.... just weird I know, nobody else may blog on their breaks but I do.

Recently I was on Facebook, and well, I was looking at some pictures from a prom date my friend in the youth committee went on. As I kept shuffling through the pictures, I landed on on some band ones, and some other miscellaneous pictures and then I landed on this:

Yeah, a little big and huge, but flippin' refreshing. I dont even know the kid on the left, but the kid on the right smiles all the time. And even though I dont know everyone in this photo, its just great to see such legit smiles. Call me weird for appreciating the expression of such an abstract noun, but really, a smile is the most common way to express an intangible emotion - happiness. I couldn't help but text him and tell him how awesome he is that he smiles so much. I think he gets that a lot, because its true.

I love making jokes. Not because it makes me look funny, but because I love to see people happy. In fact I have a way of feeling the emotions of people around me, and when people feel awkward or sad, I tend to feel that with them. So when I see people smile, especially those I care about, it just makes my day better, and not just mine, but really it does a service to everyone!

Im pretty sure if we all just smiled, legitimately, like that photo, the world will become better! Truthfully how can it not. When you smile you simply leave no room for the enemy of your soul to dictate how you feel, and you put light in the souls of others.

Please don't be mad... it makes me laugh

I'm a laugher. Always have been, always will be. I laugh at a lot of things, even if their not funny. Even if I don't necessarily think they're funny. I think laughter often makes people more comfortable, so even if they tell a stupid joke, I laugh so they don't feel dumb - usually. But I legitimately laugh at a lot of things... Angry people is one of those things.

While there are appropriate times to share concerns with a peer or even a mentor, getting angry in public, or on a regular basis just seems unnecessary. You really had to get

mad at that person in front of all of his/her friends? You really had to talk about it right then? Wow, I'd hate to see you at home... but thanks for the entertainment... I really enjoyed it.

One of my favorite scenes on a Disney movie is on A Bugs Life. I love the part when hopper is getting super upset at one of his mercenaries because he wont shut up.When Hopper gets in his face, the guy starts laughing a little bit. That makes Hopper even angrier which makes the scene funnier after he says "I swear, if I hadn't promised your mother - on hear death bed - that

I wouldn't kill you I would... KILL YOU!" To which his mercenary grass Hopper replies "And trust me, nobody appreciates that more than I do."

To put this feeling in perspective, have you ever had that time when you're getting lectured by a parent or a teacher and something they do, say, or just a random thought makes you start to laugh? Sometimes what your laughing about isn't even that funny, its just the fact that you're laughing in a terrible situation. I've had it happen to me so much I have artfully mastered making my laugh look like a sneeze or a cough.

I can remember one time in particular - In Mr. Battani's Middle School band. We were playing a song, and it was probably the best run through we'd had so far... but then a trumpet player plays one wrong note and sits on it for the longest time, in ignorance. Suddenly when he looks up, he sees an irate Battani dramatically silencing the band and hopping off his chair to run at the trumpet section. When the player finally noticed, all he could say is "Woah! WOah! WOAH!!!"

I've never seen a cool angry person. You just end up making a fool of yourself. Just be happy. Laugh, have fun, life may not be great but you can still find the good. If its an off day, just keep to yourself, but whatever you do, please don't get mad... you'll make me laugh.

Of seeming wise...

I have come to find I am a pretty easy going person. Even as a leader, you'll rarely find me getting upset about somebody stepping out of line a couple times, or maybe even several times. Trust me, I make mistakes and many of them. I've been through a lot of embarrassment as we all have. I can sympathize with people who feel like things in life don't come easy. I feel the bitter feelings of kids who get yelled at or chastised because they are unintentionally ignorant. We're human beings, we make mistakes and we don't know everything. Isn't it great that we have established that common principle among ourselves: that we are human beings and we make mistakes? I think many of us have used that shibboleth for an instrument of comfort for a friend or acquaintance. In fact the Apostle Jeffry R. Holland once said:

“Perhaps your life has been different from mine, but I doubt it. I’ve had to struggle to know my standing before God. As a teenager, I found it hard to pray, and harder to fast. My mission was not easy. I struggled as a student, only to find that I had to struggle afterwards too. In this present assignment, I’ve wept and ached for guidance. It seems no worthy accomplishment has ever come easily for me, and maybe it won’t for you – but I’m living long enough to be grateful for that.”

If you've ever read about the Elder Holland, he is probably one of the most successful people you will ever hear of. He's been the president of BYU and has been on every board imaginable. He gives some of the best speeches and talks you will ever hear and yet here he is admitting that He doesn't have it easy.

While we make mistakes, we step out of line, we slip up or mess up, thats all fine. Where I become uneasy is when you cannot admit it. There is somebody who simply cannot take the blame for something everywhere you go!

Firstly, there are those people who will only kinda feign knowledge here and there when they are

put in tight spots. They're usually not that bad because they at least have good intentions, they want to prove to the teacher that they at least have the brains to assume they know what is being taught or have ways of figuring it out. Thats good. At least they don't have life spoon fed to them. They can usually pass without annoying anyone as long as

their attitude is good while they speak.

But then, there's those kinds of people who nonchalantly flaunt their knowledge. That bugs me. Especially when it is previous knowledge or skill that is previously forgotten or at the moment latent so that they don't have to follow it up with proof. You know, the kinds of people who say "yeah, I used to be really really good at basketball, but I'm not now" just before you play a game of basketball or they'll say "yeah, right now, I'm only a saxophonist, but I used to be one of the best at clarinet and trombone." Great, so you're seeking praise and awe without anyone expecting you to back it up.

My band director taught us all really good solution to avoid that: "Be cool, but don't talk about it." Thats right exactly! Just show it! That way you show it and back it up at the same time. If people don't like it, don't explain that it used to be good, just make it better! You might find they like you!

Then there are those with a serious problem of a propensity to argue with everything, along with the fact they cant admit they're wrong. They seem to just combine all my pet peeves into one person. I encountered such a person about a week ago, here is my tale:

I was simply minding my own business in physics, just doing my work, when this kid randomly blurts out "You know what is really crazy? The Mormons actually believe Christ came to the Americas, what a bunch of ****."

At first I just ignored him but then I found out he was actually talking to me when he looked straight at me and said "How can you honestly be so dumb to believe that? There's no proof."

I just smiled politely and said "You know, since you were there, I'd love for you to explain what really happened."

And then I just simply went along with my physics homework hoping he got that it was just a joke, and actually assuming he thought he was joking. But then five minutes later he said "Its just absurd for you guys to believe that after getting killed he just showed up to some Indians."

By that time I was annoyed and said "Wow, what a crazy concept, a religion that believes that God loves all His children. How dumb, right?"

Then he began spouting out random facts that I really didn't pay attention to and then he finished with "ya, so you go to a dumb church, Stupid F***** Mormons."

So I explained to him that he could make fun of what I personally believed in all he wants and I wouldn't care, but that I couldn't sit there and let him talk about my church that way.... That shut him up, until thirty minutes later when he said "Well, having used to be the best forensics debater, I've come to learn that you can't argue with stupid people."

"Yeah, you just proved that." I said

I swear, he was the triple kill of typical stupid people! Not only was he unceasing, but he couldn't admit he made a mistake, or may have been wrong, then he did that whole "oh I used to be the best" thing. I like people, even if you're stupid, but I don't care how cool you think you are, if you're a high school orchestra teacher or a used-to-be-the-best-forensics debater, you make mistakes! Just admit it! Make mistakes and make friends! Please!

I'm glad to live in this wonderful world...

There have been a couple of times the primary song "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" has been recalled to my memory. Many of us have sang it and primary and probably remember some of the words. "Whenever I hear the song of a bird, or look at the blue blue sky. Whenever I feel the rain on my face, and the wind as it rushes by..." I never thought much of the song when I was in primary, but sometimes during time of peace when I have seen the beauty of the earth, I have particularly remembered the ending stanza of the song "I'm glad that I live in this wonderful world, Heavenly Father created it for me."

I remember first thinking about this song during a week up at BYU's music Summerfest. I actually had really hated the first couple of days. But as I made friends, things became bearable. Even with my poor attitude, however, I think Heavenly Father had a lesson to teach me up there. I had grown so concerned with being better than people, and whether or not I was first chair, that I was missing out on everything else the Lord had given me. I do this a lot! Thankfully the Lord still teaches me this lesson to this day. On the last day of the trip, Roger, one of the head counselors took a couple of us on a trip up the mountain to hike up to the big Y. I thought that would be kinda cool, just to show off that I'd been up there. I was still a little bitter at the thought of hiking since I was so tired from the week. The hike was a little bit of workout, it had a lot of switchbacks and it was not very short. But boy, was it worth it! It wasn't even the big Y that was so cool. It was look down at Utah from the Y during the night and seeing the lights of the city illuminate the beautiful earth! (Not to mention you couldn't even see the air pollution since the city lights were not that bright.) I can remember that song coming back to me when I was up there and the spirit confirmed it was a lesson from God.

However, I'm not perfect. I eventually got caught up with school, and teacher's expectations, music, and all that good stuff. As everyone knows, that gets pretty frustrating sometimes. In fact, these last two weeks were near boiling point! I was in a bad mood because of things that were going on, and my best friend, Dallin, I knew had been having it rough too. So I invited him along with my family to go to my grandfather's ranch up in Utah for president's day weekend! It was a good place to let most of the stress of school just roll off. We went snowmobiling, single sledding, bobsledding, and built some snow caves. The snow was awesome! By the second day of our vacation, most of the snow was complete powder and was really soft! The inside of the ranch was cozy as well, especially the fire Dallin and I helped build after a couple of failed attempts. After we built the fire, I remember Dallin and I just sitting there getting warm after having been out in the snow. I recall Dallin saying after a while "Fire is such a phenomenon." As I thought about that, the song "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" came back into my head. I thought of the beautiful snow, the peaceful fire, the love of friends and family. Its a wonder, with all these blessings how we could ever get stressed out.

Maybe, we can all do well, when we feel overwhelmed, frustrated, or burdened, to just take a step back, look around and the world and its beauty and say "Im glad to live in this wonderful world..." and then look at your family, and your supporting friends, teachers and mentors, and then say with a surety "...I Know Heavenly Father Loves me."