Positive thinking, That's all it takes.....Right?

So there I was, sitting in church yesterday when a thought came to me. This thought was nothing unusual, and probably something really obvious to most people; the thought was "Be Positive and Happy."

When I was first starting out on my mission, I had a companion Elder Baadsgaard (yes, that really is his last name, and sounds just like you would guess). He was a good kid, and ended up being an assistant later on during our service. We were only companions in the MTC, but he really helped me change a lot and it was through this same idea. He helped me to always see the positive and happy side to things, rather than the negative and unhappy. Again, this is a very obvious solution to some of life's biggest problems, and although it doesn't ACTUALLY solve anything, I truly believe it can be a great influence on anyone's life.

Skip Warner is a guy in my current ward, BYU 206th, BYU 21st Stake (this is just so i can remember, plus I want to start actually remembering people for when I go back and read this 20 years from now). I've NEVER seen him in a bad mood, sad, or down, or just being alone. Of course I've really only seen him in social/church settings, but even in those people sometimes aren't in a good mood or make it apparent they don't want to be there. To me, he is an amazing example of one who is truly trying to (how about that alliteration) follow the Savior. He often gives his testimony on fast Sunday, and did yesterday, which is where this post is stemming from. I didn't realize it at the time, but as I sat in my room last night planning out my busy week, this realization came to me; be positive and happy about my life and the things going on currently. There's just no valid excuse or reason to NOT be happy. He talked about school, and how so many people complain that school sucks and it's hard and annoying, and etc. He said something along the lines of "I enjoyed school while I was in it, sure it was hard, but I had fun. I don't know why anyone else can't do the same." It really is....baffling why I let school get the best of me. It's just school, not like it's going to affect my future at all....ok maybe that's the ONLY purpose. Nevertheless, I'm trying things different this week; I planned my week out, with the things I will do during the day, and am having 3 different people, maybe 4, monitor what I'm doing during the week and checking up on me sporadically, just to make sure I'm on top of things. This may seem somewhat "high school ish" and like i can't be independent, but I really think it will help keep me motivated. It also makes me wonder about the future. There are stats out there, I don't know of any real ones or anything confirmed, that once a person gets married, generally their grades go up. I think it might because of this reason.....they have someone who can be vigilant of their progress, and help them get things done.

I don't love my job, more specifically what I'm required to do everyday; answer phone calls from people in various countries. It's nothing glorious, it's monotonous and tedious, but it pays the bills. The few bills I have. There's just no reason for me to essentially not be happy about being at work. My job REALLY isn't that bad, I make pretty good money to answer the phone all day, the company is amazing, I have a lot of friends here, and with such a high unemployment rate, I HAVE A JOB. I'm blessed, and there's no reason for me not to be positive about that. Plus, I'm only here at work for....5 hours or less a day, not really a sacrifice at all. I just need to learn to organize my time better, and be more productive, efficient, and effective with my time.

Along with this new positive line of thinking, I'm going to start implementing the "Yes" theory. The movie "Yes Man" really has many implications of how much fuller and exciting a persons life could be if they started to say yes to things where they would normally say no. I'm not going to say yes to Persian Wife Finder, but a Yes to a party or a Yes to writing a Paper for no reason other than doing it (BYU has regular writing competitions), would really change my life in so many ways. It would make life feel more productive, more meaningful, and more exciting. Too many times I've found myself sitting at home on a weekend doing nothing more than staring at the wall, or my computer screen. Along those same lines, even IF I am in a home alone situation, hopefully with all these new things, that time would be used more effectively as well.

Along with these new things, I've decided to not be intimated by girls. No one really has any VALID reason to be intimidated; we're all human, we're all imperfect, no one is actually better than anyone or deserves anything less than the best. There's a girl in one of my classes who I've been wanting to ask out essentially from the first day of class. However, because of her obvious intelligence, she scares me more than anyone I've ever wanted to ask out. She's in a pretty intense major, and at BYU where everything is intense ANYWAY, It's not like it's any surprise that she's smart. Plus, being a girl in a heavily male populated major, in an already competitive field, she has to be even more of a genius to fit in. Yesterday in church I attended a "Dating and Relationships" class they have every once in a while. The teachers were the second counselor and his wife, whom have been married probably just over a year. This was the last week of a 4 week session, so they had everyone write down questions they had for them and for the class in general. I asked the question "How do I ask a girl out that intimidates me?" The answer they gave was basically what i wrote above in Bold. There's just no reason to be intimidated. What's the worst that's going to happen; she only has two options: Decline or Accept. Either way, life will move on and that's just how it goes. Jamund (teacher, wife is Carrie....Ferguson) made a good point too: what if everyone else thinks the same thing about her, and she never gets asked out because of this "Intimidation factor?" Break the chain, break the ice, break the cycle. Be different and confident, and things will work out for you.

I guess this post has turned into making some new goals for my life, and even though they aren't specific and don't have time frames, they really are things that I'm going to change which in turn will change who I am. I don't not like who I am currently, I just think there's so much more Jefe for the world to know and discover, and for myself to discover, It's unfair I've been this pent up for so long. Having these goals, these changes, is really making me excited and gives me something to look for. I'm really interested in other ways i can improve my life, to be better at it, and to better the lives of others around me. Isn't that one of our main objectives here on Earth? To progress and better ourselves and those around us? Seems simple enough, so why don't I or other people do it constantly? I guess that's part of figuring out who we are and what we stand for. I'm 25 and just barely starting to figure it out.