Thirteen Things

So I know I'm a little late, but I wanted to post about thirteen things I've learned in 2013.

1. People can be trustworthy.

2. I like myself.  After the roads that I've been down in the past, I found myself in a position where I honestly didn't like who I was or who I was becoming.  Now, I can say, honestly, that I like myself- I like who I am and I like who I am turning into, I even like where I've been.  I like that I am my own unique person.

3. The Lord knows what He's doing; trust Him.  Many times this last year I received revelation about different things (i.e. jobs I should take, where and when I should attend school, people I should share an experience with, answers to prayers, motivation to get me back on the right path, people I should and shouldn't trust and the list could go on and on) and I found that every time that I listened to that revelation, things worked out.  I don't know how they did, but they just did. 

4. Life is fantastic.  Where I was at last year at this time, was a really kind of dark place.  It was a time when I began changing a lot, but I still wasn't so sure that life could be fantastic.  I now understand that life is so precious and marvelous.  It takes months to create life, but it only takes seconds to take it away. 

5. I learned that I love horses!  Who knew?  I was given a chance that was more therapy for me than work.  The answer I received to a serious prayer, about where to work this summer, came to work in Jackson WY, a place where I knew absolutely no one.  Who'd have thought that I would meet people and horses, and have experiences that would change my life forever. 

6. "No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, show up and never give up."  For me, some days are really hard to get out of bed.  One day, I found this quote and now I have it taped next to my bed, so everyday when I roll over after I wake up, I see this.  Some days, this is the only thing that gets me out of bed.  But I get up, and that's the important thing.  I get up and I LIVE, truly live, each and every day, but I had to learn to do that and learn to tell myself that I am not going to waste another precious day of life doing nothing.

7. I love wearing a watch.  Who knew that I would soon find that telling time off of an analog watch is much better than telling time off of your phone.  When I look at my phone to find out the time, I often realize that I have missed calls, text messages, emails, Facebook notifications, and other distractions that take me away from the people nearby.  Which leads to my number 8.

8. It is healthy and okay to unplug from everything.  It's okay to not answer phone calls and texts right away.  It's okay to put the phone, computer, tablet and all electronics away and just take time for you.  Read a book, go for a drive sans radio- a nice quiet drive, take time to have a real conversation with the people around you. Sometimes you can't always unplug because of school and actual responsibilities that you have to fulfill, but I found that over the summer months or weekends the days that I stayed completely unplugged were the days that were most memorable. 

9.  I learned that it's okay to start over.  Several times, I felt like I hadn't learned anything through the programs that I was working through, and so what I did was I started over.  I decided that I was going to try again.  I wasn't going to fail- I wasn't going to let myself fail.  I wanted to succeed.  No matter how many times I failed I decided that I was going to succeed, and someday I will.  I'm not there yet, but I sure as hell am trying. 

10. I learned how to become an EMT. There's so much learning that goes along with this- learning about the body, basic first aid, laws, and other things. 

11.  I learned that I can't lend my brain out.  Let me provide you an old Facebook post to help you understand:

"Erin I'm so bored, I'm all caught up on Facebook, pintrest, blogger. What am I gonna do for the next hour?
Erin: uh, you could do my physics homework for me
Me: um, I could teach you how to do your physics homework
Erin: actually I just have to study for a test
Me: Well, I'll rent you my brain at the rate of $5 an hour, then you don't have to study
Erin: .... uh... well I just got ten dollars.... yeah I think I can make this work... the test probably wont take me 2 hours.
DID THIS REALLY JUST HAPPEN?!?! You can't actually rent my brain out, cause its kinda stuck in my head!"

12. I'm not alone. Other people are facing the same/similar things that I am.  And even if no one else in the entire world knows, or if I wont tell them, the Savior does.  He knows exactly what you're going through, because the atonement isn't just about repentance, it's about happiness, comfort and peace. 

13. I've learned more about myself and about what I enjoy and what I want to do with my life.  I've learned more about life than I ever let myself learn before.