I was listening to my second cousin, the amazing Stephanie Tarnasky, she owns Olive Ave: A women’s clothing store, @oliveaveboutique if you want to follow her on IG. She is basically one of the most positive and uplifting people that I know. And she does it all while being super real.
Anyway, she was talking yesterday about how she has suffered from hair loss for years. She started losing it after she lost about 60 pounds and before she had any children. It has been a tough journey, but she handles it with such grace and has been really open about it this past year as she started wearing wigs because she was just tired of not having good hair. As I listened to her yesterday as she was talking about it, at one point she became emotional, I could sort of relate.
Not that I have had to deal with the same trial but there are definitely days when I say, “I hate that this is what I have to deal with in my life every day (having bipolar). I hate that it’s always at the top of my mind and even though it’s not something that can be physically seen (maybe especially because it’s not), it’s still really, really hard! And just talking about it can sometimes make me emotional.
But as I was listening to Stephanie, I thought about what she was saying and you know what? We all have HARD things to deal with in this life. Rarely are they the same things that others around us struggle with. But hard nonetheless. And the truth is we can choose to handle it with a positive words and actions or negative. Easier said than done, right? Right! It’s kind of like a muscle that we have to work out to get tone and developed. We can’t just wish it to be, or workout once and hope it gets developed and beautiful. It takes a lot of hard work. And to be honest, a lot of focusing on the positive aspects that come from what ever hard thing you are dealing with.
It’s the same with our attitude. It takes hard work to develop that positivity that seems to come naturally. And it takes an extreme amount of focus to catch yourself when negativity creeps back in.
It’s funny because I had this dream the other night and when I woke up I was thinking about a couple of scriptures that I had read in the Book of Mormon this past week, (We are studying it as a worldwide church this year in a program called Come Follow Me). I dreamt that in one of our youth organizations, the girls (teenagers) were being really mean and ugly to their leaders and just disrespectful with their words and actions. And the thought came to me, “be careful of the “manner of language“…. which you use”. Immediately I recalled my study that had used these exact works a few times throughout the study for this week. I had noted it which is probably why it was on my mind. It is found In 1Nephi 5:3,6 and 8. You can view the story of this family here.
In this particular part of the story the mother and father are probably having a somewhat heated discussion. This story is being told by one of their sons.
1 Nephi Chapter 5:3 it reads And after this manner of language had my mother complained to my father. And then in Chapter 5:6 it reads And after this manner of language did my father Lehi comfort my mother, Sariah… And then once again (after the ordeal they were arguing about was over), Sariah says in verse 8 And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons,…..and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak.
So as I pondered that I thought about the way we use our words (language). Do we use them wisely? Are we kind, loving, positive and hopeful like Lehi was in verse 6? Or do we use those words to be unkind, belittle people, disrespect and be negative to ourselves and others?
I feel strongly that this is a tool that Satan is using, and most effectively I might add, to cloud our thinking and cause distress and anxiety in our lives. The manner of language that we use can be a force for good and abundant living. Or it can be a thorn and a hinderance for all that we are meant to do.
My point is that I want you to consider the “manner of language” that you use to speak to others and to yourself. We have a great opportunity with the rolling in of the New Year to make a resolution that we will build our positive and uplifting muscles so that the “manner of language” which we speak and the actions that we show, will draw others toward us and toward God, rather than away from.
Just think of the good that we can do, not only for others, but for ourselves if we build, respect, love, and speak kindly. Let’s build that muscle in 2020!
Remember, we all struggle with HARD things but positive words and actions can change everything!
That’s it for today. Make it a great day!
XO Wendy
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Pointing Toward Hope 