Scatter Sunshine

This morning I passed a student going down the stairs, a young man I have never met or seen before, and he greeted me with, "Have a great morning!" The tone of his voice carried as much cheer as his words and I found myself walking away from that simple encounter feeling empowered enough that I could fly--I could do anything!

Too often we vastly underestimate the power we have to lift and encourage others. Simple words spoken with sincerity to complete strangers or friends and family can change their day--maybe even their lives.

Lines from the hymn "Scatter Sunshine" come to mind: "How much joy and comfort you can all bestow, If you scatter sunshine everywhere you go."

So make this a day of scattering and watch the world glow!

Give Goodness

It’s a proven fact that when we make other people happy, we make ourselves happier.

When we hear that statement the tempter usually counters with thoughts of having to take a lot of time to do kind deeds or wrap up and give presents or write letters or notes or other "burdensome" things. (Burdensome is the way the tempter presents it!)

But you don’t need to go out of your way or do special things to make other people happy. There are many ways in normal every day interaction that we can spread goodness.

One thing we can do is to concentrate on how we react to the people we encounter every day and then make sure we share happiness and cheer. Do we smile at people? Do we share encouraging news and keep the bad to ourselves? Do we compliment people we are talking to? Are we sincerely interested in our associates and their families? Do we really listen to them? Do we respond to what they say in ways that indicated we really are interested?

Sharing goodness and happiness doesn’t have to be a burdensome, time consuming task. We can share goodness any time we want and in many different ways..

Love Languages

We all start life out desiring to be loved and desiring to love others. Because of those desires you'd think that love would abound in this world, but it doesn't.Things go wrong and people don't love. Or, what is sadder, people love but the love doesn't communicate to the loved one.

One of the problems is that we all experience love differently. Naturally when we love someone and want them to know it we express our love in the same way we feel loved. But if the way we feel loved isn't the same way they feel loved, the love doesn't communicate and the person goes through life feeling unloved.

Dr. Gary Chapman explains that there are five "love languages" and that when we want to express love we need to express it in the other person's language. He has a wonderful web site that explains the five love languages and has a short quiz so you can determine what your love language is. You can find his site here.

These five love languages are (1) affirming words, (2) physical touch, (3) gifts, (4) sharing quality time, and (5) acts of service. When working with our spouse or children if we don't know their love language, we can use all five languages and through trial and error discover which love language communicates best to them. The import thing is to learn how to communicate the love we feel so that it is felt by the people we love.

Share Your Wisdom

An old West African story tells us that Nyame, the sky god, once gave a spider named Anansi a huge pot filled with all the wisdom in the world. Upon giving Anansi the great gift, Nyame instructed him to share the wisdom with everyone. But when Anansi looked into the pot and saw all the wonderful things it contained, he became greedy and determined to keep it all for himself. But keeping it meant he must protect it and hide it from others so he determined that he would hide the pot on the top of the tallest tree in the jungle. Surely no one would find it there.

Holding the pot full of wisdom, Anansi began to climb the tree, but even with all his arms and legs climbing was difficult while trying to hold the pot. Anansi’s son, Intikuma, watched his son struggle up the tree and shouted to his father, “It would be much easier if you would tie the pot to your back.”

At this, Anansi became angry. “A young spider knows more than I who have the pot of wisdom!” and in his rage he threw the pot to the ground. The pot burst and pieces of wisdom flew everywhere. Many, many people gathered up the bits of wisdom and shared them with their family and friends and that is why to this very day no one person has all the wisdom in the world. Instead each of us has a little piece that we share with everyone else.

Spread the Good!

How did you do with your five compliments or words of gratitude yesterday? 

You might not think that giving five compliments does much to change the world. BUT. . . if each of those five went out and because they were feeling better made just two more people feel better and those ten then made two more people feel better and those twenty people made two more people feel better that means you were the catalyst in making forty people feel better yesterday. 

Now that’s a lot of people!

Try it again today and let me know how you feel. 

I love this endeavor because it keeps me constantly looking for the good around me.

The surprising thing is that even on the worst of days

there is always something good to discover!

We're Giving Life!

A few weeks ago I heard a talk by the General Sunday School President, Russell T. Osguthorpe, in which he said, “I love the way Tahitians greet each other. The literal meaning of their greeting word—ia  ora no—means ‘life to you’ or ‘that you might live.’ We are either giving life or taking life from each other as we move forward on our way.”

To me the word life has usually meant the period between birth and death which is what is meant in Alma 34:32; “For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.” So Brother Osguthorpe’s words, “We are either giving life or taking life from each other as we move forward” made me stop and think. Besides the act of birthing, how can I give life to others? And besides the act of murder how can I take life away from others? But these thoughts brought several scriptures to mind; “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6), and “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10”10). Previously I’d just thought these were talking about Eternal Life, but Bro. Osguthorpe’s words made me wonder.

This sent me to my trusty dictionary where I found 20 main definitions for the word life. I searched through them and found two that apply to these scriptures. The first defines life as, “an animating and shaping force or principle.” The second defined it as, “providing interest and vigor.”

Yes, our words and the love we share with others does give life in that it can animate and shape the lives of others. We also can be an influence that provides interest and vigor. I like that idea that when I am sharing good and loving others I am giving them life.

What Can I Share?

The Savior taught us to follow Him and to do what He does. Most of the things He did are very apparent. We should be obedient to God. We should teach and help others. And we should love one another just like Jesus did. But other things He did are much more subtle.

One of the subtle things I have been thinking about is the fact that Jesus was always concerned with what He could give to others—never with what He could get from others. In today’s world everywhere you look people are crying out, “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” They want rights and privileges. They want status and money. They want pleasure and easiness. And they cry out for these things to be given to them with the least amount of effort on their part. Young people choose for their heroes some of the loudest of these selfish people.

But Jesus was all about sharing. Of the 45 miracles he performed 19 were requested by the person or friends or family, and in two the unclean spirit within the person actually asks Him not to perform the miracle and in the remaining 24, Jesus simply sees a need and works His power to heal and help.

This is an important thing to realize if we want to be like Him. But it is also important because when we are always crying out “Gimme!” the universe seems to pull away from us and withhold all that is good. But when we cry out, “How can I share?” the universe seems to open up and share all it has to offer. We get back what we give out.

Bread on the Waters

There is a passage in Ecclesiastes that I love. It says, “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth” (Eccl 11:1-2). What we are taught here is to share. Give what you have and it will come back to you. Give to seven (the symbol for completion or perfectness) or even to eight (eight is completion or perfection plus one and thus represent beginning again or regeneration and resurrection). I’ll let you ponder on how the numbers add significance here, but I want to talk about what happens when we “cast our bread.”

The logic of the world tells us that we will have more if we hoard and save. But the gospel teaches the opposite—to share and to give. The Savior taught us that if we would give alms in secret, God would then reward us. (Matthew 6:1-4). And His rewards are always more than what we give away!

The other day I read something that illustrates what happens when we follow the logical ways of the world and hoard. It seems that in the beginning of video recording and play back equipment Sony developed Beta technology and kept its invention top secret in order to “corner” the market. Across the ocean the Japanese company JVC developed the VHS format, but instead of keeping their technology secret, they shared with many other companies. As a result everyone began using the shared information to manufacture goods that uses the VHS format. The first year of VHS, Sony lost 40% of the video market and eventually dropped to a 10% share in the market. Eventually the Beta format died altogether and to survive Sony was forced to manufacture VHS products.

This concept of sharing is true for companies, families, and individuals. When we share, give and help in any way we can, we find that all we need comes to us. When we hoard or are stingy with our talents, resources, or time, we find ourselves in dire need.

As it says in Ecclesiastes, we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. We don't know what we will need. But if we are selfless and generous today we can be assured that the Lord will send our way whatever is needed for us to thrive tomorrow.

Being You

I hope each of you awakes each morning thinking, “It is so great to be me!”

God made you to be you. He put you where you are in order to serve the people that surround you and to learn from those people. Of all the situations in life, the situation you are in is the very best situation for you.

The problem is that we look around at other people and begin to doubt God. Surely He made a mistake! We should be as energetic as a friend down the street or as pretty as the lady in the grocery store or able to sing like the next door neighbor. We think life would be so much better for us if our children behaved like our sister’s children or that our husband was as considerate as our best friend’s husband. We think we aren’t as capable as the friend who owns the boutique or as the cousin with the Master’s degree. We cower and hide the talents God has given us because we deem them not as good as what everyone else has. What a mistake. Just thinking those thoughts keeps us from discovering what we are supposed to be doing. But more than that thinking that way chokes the joy right out of life!

In 1 Peter 4:10 the King James Bible reads, “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” That same verse in the NRSV Bible reads, “Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.” And the NIV reads, “”Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms."

Between these three translations, you can’t miss the message. Whatever God has given YOU, use it to bless the lives of others. Don’t fret about whether you have more or less or would be better off with something different. The truth is that you have all you need to do what you were sent here to do. So USE it. If you are a good listener, listen. If you have a sense of humor, laugh. If you have a beautiful smile, share it. If you see these wonderful things in others instead of coveting write a note and thank them for making your life better by sharing. If you are healthy, serve others who aren’t. If you struggle with relationships, ask God what you are to learn from it. The list goes on and on. There is a reason and a purpose for everything. Don’t waste time fretting about it. Learn from it. Grow from it. Use it to bless others!It really is great to be you!