Something to think about--Movie Experiment

Cody and I have had four movie passes burning a hole in our pockets ever since July!!! Unfortunately, nothing good has been in the theaters lately except for a couple weeks when we wanted to go but couldn't. Last week I saw that Prisoners was coming and I thought it looked good so we planned on going to see that. I thought the movie was PG-13 but Cody noticed that it was R when we were driving by the theater a couple days ago. I was disappointed that it is R but glad that we didn't unknowingly try to go see an R rated movie. When I thought about that I got thinking, what if we had gone to see the movie and never even noticed it was R, how much of the movie would we have sat through before we walked out? Would we have even walked out? I hope we would have. As I was thinking about that the Pysch Major came out in me. What would be the result of an experiment where you take people who don't watch R rated movies, and show them a movie that is rated R but tell them that it's PG-13? Would they walk out? At what point would they walk out? What would be the factor that would make them decide to leave? Or would they stay the whole time because they thought it was rated PG-13? I would postulate that most of the people would stay, though I hope I would be wrong. It would depend on the movie though because some R rated ones are way worse than others, just like some PG-13 movies are way worse than others. Movies are getting worse as more sex, violence and language are becoming acceptable in PG-13 movies. When I watch movies that are PG-13 sometimes I think that there is no way I would want my 13 year old watching this stuff, a lot of it is too inappropriate for me! But because it's so acceptable we just...accept it. It's okay that they said the f-word once, because it's PG-13 and I know they won't be saying it again. Oh wait, now they can say it twice in a PG-13 movie?? Well, that's okay, as long as it's only twice. Boobs in the Total Recall remake? Oh that's okay, too, because obviously three boobs is fake and it only showed it for a second. Sex in Twilight? That's okay because it's Twilight and they're finally married and in love and that's what happens in the book!! But what if your 13 year old was sitting next to you?? Gives you something to think about. How much will I put up with because I can close my eyes or fast forward or because, hey, it's just a little bit and it's not R so it's okay, right? When someone says "This movie is SO good and it's only rated R because of one scene and we can just fast forward through it" it can be pretty tempting to watch that movie. Reminds me of the visual aid given at a fireside where the speaker put a little bit of dog poop in a burrito and then said, "it's okay, it's just a little bit, right?" Would you just eat around the dog poop??

This also got me thinking about the music I listen to. When I'm listening to Pandora and Elise is with me and the song is bad I change it, but not always when she isn't with me, cause it's just a little bit of language and sexual innuendo and I'm old enough to listen to it, right? Plus it's such a good song to dance to!

Which then also got me thinking about how we are supposed to be like little children, and probably if it's inappropriate for my child it's inappropriate for me. That's kind of hard to swallow because if I think really honestly about it, the shows and movies I watch and the music I listen to isn't always stuff I'd let Elise watch. Not that it's really bad, but it's bad enough that Elise doesn't need to be exposed to it.

And I think about the books on my book shelves. Is every single book on my book shelf one I would be okay with Elise picking up and reading? That I can almost certainly answer yes to. I need to go through them and make sure but awhile ago I did go through them with that purpose in mind. Books are a lot easier to give up than shows and music.

Something to think about. Definitely something for me to think about.

When it rains it pours

Without getting into details let's just say that last week had more down points than is normal for me. They weren't huge or awful or end of the world things, but just a lot of little things. Saturday the thought came to me, "When it rains it pours." And then I started thinking about why that is. Why is it that all the bad things happen at once? A couple thoughts came to me. 1) When we are focused on the negative we see more negative. 2) Sometimes it's a test and/or to strengthen us or to teach us something. 3) Sometimes we bring it on ourselves. Part of my bad stuff last week I think I was kind of bringing on myself, but the rest I think may have been teaching me patience and turning the other cheek. Did I learn it? Well, I don't know, but I passed the test pretty well! Still really bothers me when I think about it though. Argh!

But getting back to #1! I try to stay really positive and look for the good and the blessings in things. I know that when a trial happens that God is right there making the trials a little easier than they would be without Him. I look back on certain trials and I think how grateful I am for the timing or circumstances of them and how lucky I am that they happened they way they did. For example this morning, I do not feel good and Leese does not want to nap but she's not up there screaming and I'm feeling well enough to take care of her. The last time I was sick I was WAY sick but it was a weekend and Cody was home to take care of the babe :)

I keep getting off track! My point is, that whatever you're looking for is what you're going to see. If you think that everything goes wrong then even when something good happens you're probably going to see the ways in which it could have been better. I know, I've been there. And you're less likely to notice when things go a little bit better than they did the last time around, or that they are better than they were yesterday or last week or last month. But when you try to focus on the positive and see the good in the bad, then that's what you'll see more of! I took a Positive Psychology class in college--a class I think EVERYONE should take and if you aren't in a situation to take it then you should at least read "The How of Happiness." I have it if anyone would like to borrow it. But getting back on point, one of our assignments was to write down three things we were grateful for every night before we went to bed. What I found was that when I was looking back on my day trying to find the tender mercies, I thought of so many that some nights I could have been up all night writing them! Even though I had some not so good moments last week, I can still see the good in them and I am grateful for that. And you know what, I not only learned that from my Positive Psychology class I but also from the hardest trial of my life. Look, I am learning! Go me :)

So my main point is that yeah, when it rains it pours. When bad things happen sometimes they happen all at once. But that also goes for the good things. When it rains blessings sometimes it just pours blessings! And that makes it worth going through the bad rain. I would walk through bad rain anytime to get to the marvelous blessing rain that is promised to us if we are faithful.

Do any of you have a special trick you use to see the positive/tender mercies in a bad situation?

Counting my blessings

Elise is on CHIPS and it's time for her year review so the last week I had to go down to DWS to turn in some paperwork. When I was there and saw the other people who were there to get assistance and heard them tell the DWS employees their stories I was struck by how lucky I am. I know that if anything every happened to us that our families would be there for us. We would not be homeless, we would not go hungry. Because of the great blessing of tithing and the great blessing of family I know that we would be taken care of and I am so grateful for both of these things that the Lord has blessed us with. Putting us here in families was such a great idea! If there was a feedback box to heaven, I would be writing that on the card. Instead maybe I'll just mention it in my prayers tonight ;) So thank you to those family members who may be reading this. We love you and very much appreciate all that you do for us, and we count you among our greatest blessings :)

Bad Day

The other day I had a bad day. Emotionally I felt raw, like Satan had been following me around with a cheese grater all day. By the end of the day I was done. After praying that night, I realized that I hadn't read my scriptures that day. It was late and I was tired so I pulled out my scriptures and started reading the highlighted verses on the first page I turned to. I wasn't expecting to get much out of my brief and thoughtless study session and then I read the first part of Isaiah 51:12.

"I, even I, am he that comforteth you."

My Savior is the one who comforts me. Even Him. On days that I feel like Satan is there, I need to remember that my Savior is also there, putting Himself in between me and that cheese grater, so that it's easier to bare. He knows exactly how I feel. He is always there. He is there listening to me pray at the end of a bad day, and guiding my scripture study, so that I can get out of it exactly what I need at that moment. He is amazing. And I matter to Him. He is intentional in the way that He cares for me and loves me and is there for me. He knows what is coming, He knows who I am, He knows my heart and that my intentions are good but sometimes I just mess up. He knows when and why I hurt and how that feels and He knows how to comfort every little hurt, individually. He knows, and He is there. And He, even the Savior of the world, is He that comforteth me. And I matter to Him. And at the end of the day, that's what should matter to me. I love Him and I am so grateful for Him and for the knowledge that He is always there, and He cares.

Catching up with myself

I don't know why but I seem to always be sooo busy. Plus I've lost my mind and can't remember anything. So the last couple of times I blogged, I blogged more than one entry. I have so much going on in my head that I want to get down and I don't always have the time to blog what's in my head when I want to, so when I finally get a chance-and remember to do it-I usually end up blogging my brains out!! Which results in multiple entries. So, I hope that doesn't turn anyone off. One of my many goals is to blog more frequently so as to now have this happen.

What do you do to make time to blog?