Uncovering the Book of the Left

Tomorrow is regional conference and I'm quite excited for it.  Unfortunately, leadership meeting is about 4 hours from now and I've only moderately slept.  oh well, such is my life.

The amusing thing is I decided to look through my old missionary notes from meetings in order to sort of mentally prepare myself.  I really could have been doing better with my gospel studies considering the free time I have.  There are a lot of really good things in those notes.  It made me happy to read them.  But the funniest thing is on the last page I have a whole bunch of what looks like a kindergartner's handwriting of the alphabet.

It is:

The Book of the Left

I hadn't really forgotten I'd done this, but it was really funny to see.  It was when one very boring P-day with nothing to do out in the middle of nowhere's nowhere.  I practiced writing with my left hand.  It was interesting as an understatement and left me with a headache worse than the first time I learned calculus or quantum mechanics.  I did ultimately do it a few more times I think in my daily planners.  All things considered, it isn't that bad of handwriting... at least in comparison to my dominate hand.

Odd I know, but then... it's me so what would you expect

Life and Lessons

Psalms 119:105-- Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path

“I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’ And he replied: ‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way."

Minnie Louise Haskins “The Gate of the Year,” The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, 2nd ed. (1953), 239 

Elder Boyd K. Packer said: 

“Shortly after I was called as a General Authority, I went to Elder Harold B. Lee for counsel. He listened very carefully to my problem and suggested that I see President David O. McKay. President McKay counseled me as to the direction I should go. I was very willing to be obedient but saw no way possible for me to do as he counseled me to do.

“I returned to Elder Lee and told him that I saw no way to move in the direction I was counseled to go. He said, ‘The trouble with you is you want to see the end from the beginning.’ I replied that I would like to see at least a step or two ahead. Then came the lesson of a lifetime: ‘You must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness; then the light will appear and show the way before you’ ” (“The Edge of the Light,” BYU Today, Mar. 1991, 22–23)

The Savior said:

I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (3 Ne 9:18)

School's Out Forever...?

So, it appears that this may be in fact for the first time in nigh unto 20 years, that I will not be starting school in the Fall.  Yes, for other than the two years I spent as a missionary, which most certainly was not a break, I have been in school since kindergarten.  It is really an interesting feeling to not be prepping madly for classes, organizing binders and notebooks, buying books and other school supplies.  No, in fact the real challenge is watching all my friends do so, and not be doing the same.

This is in many ways good.  I'm not a very emotional person, and I don't think it ever really registered mentally the stress that school put on my system.  It really probably only registered in my body.  Let me tell you, my body is excited to not have to deal with school again.  No more long hours and late nights studying.  No being demanded to run in peak condition for much longer than it should.  No, for now, i can run until I am weary then rest, and begin again.

That's not to say there won't be demands placed on my mind and body.  But nowhere near the former 60+ hours a week of schooling and working that tended to be necessary.

Sometime, hopefully soon, I'll be back in school, but I'm glad to have at least one fall semester off

ASICS

I've spent a fair amount of time in life running.  I suppose in many ways I really enjoy running, but usually only once I've started doing it.  That's because before I go running it's easiest to remember the pain and suffering that will result from going running.  My problem with running is I either push myself to the extreme or don't push myself at all. The other reason I don't often go running, is that I play plenty of sports to keep myself active and healthy.  And yes, Ultimate frisbee is a sport, and it does involve lots of running, even if soccer involves more and is better.

There is an important part of running, and that is shoes.  Most runners take their shoes, VERY seriously.  I personally like Saucony, I have a pair or two that have lasted me a very long while and they fit very comfortably.  But another pair of shoes I recommend to people is ASICS.  Both are quite good shoes and very long lasting.  It's a matter of foot shape to me which one people prefer.  The reason the shoe is so important though, is because that's were you interact with the ground.  Without good shoes, you slip, or hit the ground too hard, or your feet aren't comfortable, basically, you're not as effective as you could be.

The reason this post is called ASICS though, even though I prefer Saucony?  The name of the company "ASICS" is an acronym of the Latin phrase "anima sana in corpore sano" which translates to "a sound mind in a sound body".  This phrase conveys something I feel I've learned fairly well over the past few years.  It's that to put it in scriptural terms, "spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy" (D&C 93:33)  It truly is a marvel that we have our bodies, to use to interact with the wonderful world.  That we are not just mental or spiritual beings, nor are we just physical beings, we are a  combination of both.  The body enabling the mind and/or spirit to act and do things it would otherwise be unable to do.  I love the feeling of strength that comes from exercise or building things.  I may not have the world's greatest body (shocking I know, close though), but it is good enough to do so many things, and for that I am thankful.  Now, to let it rest before I go and push the mind and body again.

PS Yes this post has random comments unrelated to what's going on.  Welcome to my thought process.

Graduating... isn't about time?

Still working on the final details of graduating.  That and finding a real job or a graduate school to go to.  At this point I'm not very picky, although I most certainly will be going to grad school as soon as possible.

Education

As my formal education winds down in the next few weeks, I've been pondering the privileges and opportunities I've had as a student.  I can honestly say, I've learned a lot.  A lot about the world around me and how it runs in particular.  I've been reminded of many things about history and the arts that I'd learned once upon a time.  Ultimately, I've learned a lot about myself.  Although, that is still very much a work in progress, along with the rest of my education.  Hopefully though, the road will have fewer detours than it seems to have had up to this point...



Something that has recently struck me though, is the example of my professors.  As I've had to run around to various professors and departments to deal with paper work to allow me to graduate, I've noticed the sincerity and goodness in the men who have been my instructors over the course of my Chemical Engineering career.  They are not perfect, but they are in my opinion some of the best representations of what men of God should be.  Men who stand in the world, and do their best to make everyone and everything around them better.  It definitely has given me something more to aim for.  In addition, it's made me appreciate more my father.  He, like me, has his flaws, but his heart is always in the right place.  Not to mention as I've learned more secularly, I've come to understand how much more he knows about so many subjects, and that he is in fact one of the few geniuses I've been able to know, and fortunately for me has been helping me to grow my whole life.  For which, I am incredibly grateful.

Of course, none of these people started out this way, they step by step, line upon line, grew in knowledge and stature, and favor with God, just as our Lord and Savior did.  This concept, more than any other gives me the thing I need most in life, hope, and along with it faith.  I know someday, if I keep pursuing the course that I currently am, I will someday be the man I hope to be, and the man I want and need to be. 

Guns, babes, and miracles

I think this song and youtube video are awesome.  It was something my dad sent to me.  Guns are fun, and I also like guns.  I think it would be fun to collect them. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TC2xTCb_GU&feature=player_embedded






In other news, I have adorable nephews.  They are both so cute.  I babysat them Friday and it was exhausting, but cuddling with each of them felt so good.  I have so much respect for what mothers do.

 Plus, aren't they both dang cute.  Holding them made me feel part of what I'm sure fathers feel for their children.  Which led me to think about life and my Heavenly Father.


This reaffirmed my testimony that there are miracles in life.  Evidence of this fact is that, I will baring strange events, graduate this spring.  It's been an interesting road, and it has taken some mental effort to stick with it.  Mental effort that I never would have suspected would be required of me.  Not in obtaining an education at least.  However, I'm grateful for the many other things I've learned and expreinced and grown because of the trials I've faced.