Thoughts of a Megan 2

After reading my siblings blogs here and here, I felt inspired I guess you could say to share some thoughts that have been on my mind recently. Lately I have been struggling without actually having any struggles, outside of feeling like I have no time. My classes are nice, work is....work, I love my roommates and I am home among the people of Rexburg. Not to mention meeting lots of cute guys lately....but I digress.

Lately I have been thinking about what makes me happy. When I say happy, I don't mean buying something cute or wearing an awesome outfit. I mean what makes me GENUINELY happy. The first thing I thought of was making dinner. As most would know I am not a cook, I don't do anything fancy. Tonight however, I was able to make dinner for my roommates as well as 2 of our guy friends that "just happened" to show up as we were sitting down to eat. And something about having everyone sitting down to share a meal and making everyone else happy and satisfied brought me joy. Out here it seems hard to find ways to serve, but my little attribute to feeding my friends gave me a good feeling.

Another thing is making new friends. I feel this past week we have met TONS of guys, by tons I mean 10 or so. We even played phone charades with some of them last night, and then those guys plus some came over tonight for game night. But I digress, it has been fun to meet new people that we may never would have met if we didn't go to the concert last night or if my roommate hadn't drawn on the guys hand sitting in front of us at church today. There is something about building friendships with people who live all over the country. Everyone comes from a different background with different experiences and that learning process is fun.

And finally just enjoying the friends you do have. I got the chance to talk to a friend tonight for two hours. I have NO clue what we talked about, I only remember laughing most of the time. But it was fun, it gave me joy to continue to build that friendship and to build the friendships I have here. I am surrounded by some amazing people, whether they live in my apartment, a block over or several blocks over, some even several states away. But we all come together and bond no matter how different we are, we get to enjoy the company of people we may have never met if it weren't for this school.

So think about it. What makes you TRULY happy? Do you enjoy laughing over silly stories, meeting new people, cooking, learning, trusting? I hope you enjoy the small things, a funny story or joke, whatever it may be. Because without those small things in our lives, we could be pretty unhappy. We're all blessed in our own ways.

But to see the blessings, sometimes we have to face challenges first. I know I have had some lately that have really tested my strength. I have had to face fears that I didn't want to deal with but I did, and I know I am stronger for it. My teacher once said we are the sculptor and the sculpture. We have to hammer away at our imperfections to become better. Is it going to hurt? Heck yeah it will hurt! But in the end we will be perfecting and creating something worthwhile.

So hammer away, but know you'll be better for it in the end. Along the way look for happy moments that make it all worthwhile. Joy is not the absence of pain, but the presence of God.

Chin up and hold strong
because you are worth it.
Meg