Welcome back! I don't imagine anyone has really been here since I last wrote. It certainly has been longer than I intended.
I have been thinking about and experiencing new starts recently. For anyone reading this who doesn't know me personally, I was married recently (three months ago) to my best friend Cora. She and I have been undergoing many many changes and fresh starts recently. First is the transition from engagement to marriage. It has been remarkably simple and smooth, but it has been a change; an improvement. I have been more conscious of her needs and desires than before. A large part of the change can be attributed to the marriage itself.
Cora and I are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, and were married in the Temple. This is a sacred building where ordinances such as Eternal Marriage (also known as Sealing) take place. I will be sure to talk about temples more in depth at another time. In any case, we have been married not only for our life while here on earth as mortals, but we will continue to be married after death. Because of this, we have even more motivation to put energy and attention into making our marriage wonderful. In any case, it requires more selflessness than I was used to, and I like the change.
That's the thing about new starts and fresh situations; they make it much easier to grow and change into who you would rather be. I experienced this over and over while serving as a missionary in Colorado and being transferred (usually every three months) to a completely new area with people I'd never met. I found it was very easy to start fresh and get better every time I had a fresh start.
Life has thrust upon me many of these types of changes, and they have helped me grow. However, there's a secret I'd like to share with you. You don't have to wait for life's changes to change you. You can create the change. Your own character can change instantaneously- just as soon as you decide.
Really.
This can go either way, actually. You can improve or digress in a moment. These events and decisions can also be reverted or corrected, of course- again, sometimes instantaneously- but they do change your character immediately.
Here's my recent example. Cora and I have been thinking about doing consistent exercise for quite a while now, but haven't done anything about it until recently. Having both been in excellent shape at one point, we wanted to return to that. One day we chose to become healthy, exercising people. So we did. One morning we got up to run, and just like that we became runners. The real key is the mindset. If I go off on a run thinking, "Oh, now this is just dreadful. See how tired you are? That just hurts! See how far from fit you are? You are a lazy couch potato and shouldn't be running," then of course I won't ever try it again! That sort of attitude is as good as a death sentence for any goal you claim to want to achieve. Since Cora and I went on our first run thinking, "What a beautiful morning! That burning in my legs and lungs shows just how much stronger I'll be for next time! I'm so glad I'm a runner," it actually was enjoyable! We became runners in a heartbeat (okay, maybe a few heartbeats), and the attitude we chose to have dramatically affected our next time running.
I have many more situations of improvements I have immediately implemented, but I'll save you the tales. What I'm getting at here most of all is that each human being is totally and completely capable of improving and becoming much better, often much faster than they think. Get out there and be the new and improved version of you!
