I still remember sitting in my truck, parked on the curb outside of Dairy Queen, just about to start my shift. It was hard to tell my friends this news. But hey, I was headed to a place where I could make all the free ice cream I wanted. And free ice cream makes everyone happy, doesn't it? Just kidding.
One friend in particular, I had become close with that semester. She and I had been on a date, and the best quality I think she has is her overwhelming love of the gospel- it radiates through her attitude, and she is always smiling. When I told her the news, she was sad. Just like I was. Her perspective really helped me in light of the news.
She called me and said, "Erik! I have a little present I want to give to you. Do you want to stop by sometime and get it?"
I explained that I was about to go to work, and I'd be done around 11:45 that night. She said, "Okay, well let me know when you are done!"
When she said that, I knew it was going to be something pretty neat. Neat enough to want to give to me at just about midnight. But really, what college student is asleep by midnight on a Saturday night?
After work, I gave her a call. She lived in on-campus housing, so she told me to meet her down by the lobby doors. She handed me a little envelope, gave me a smile and some well-wishing words and told me goodnight. I walked back and got in my car, and just sat. I opened the envelope and the top of the page said "10 Reasons to be Happy!" and was filled with reasons of blessings that I have, despite the bad news I just received.
That list has been hanging in my room for the last two years. I look at it a lot. It reminds me that there are always blessings. All you have to do is look.
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The first reason on my list of "10 Reasons to be Happy!" was this:
I have
1. You are alive, and the sun is still shining! (Well, depending on what time of the day you read this)
I have looked at this list many times in the last two years. Just last week, it hit me.... the sun is still shining!
And the more I thought about it, the more I realized: the sun is always shining!
Think about it: the sun never stops shining. It is us that think the sun isn't there, when in reality, it is just shining on the other side of the world. So the question is: where in the world are you?
Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of the Father. I don't think that the word "sun" was just randomly made up. I know that our Savior is the reason that is is always sunny, spiritually speaking.
Have you ever been on an airplane? Think of an overcast day. You arrive and it's not too bright outside. The sky is a whitish/dark blue. Once you are on your plane, it backs off from the terminal. It heads to the runway, and slowly, lifts off the ground, and you are traveling away from the airport- that quick. Slowly, it ascends, through the clouds and higher in the sky. For a minute, the clearance is barely anything. All you can be seen outside the window is cloud. But when you have risen above all the clouds, higher into the sky, you see the sun. It's still bright. The sky is bluer than blue. And below, you see nothing but the clouds you just rose above. The sun was shining the whole time.
When the world seems dark, when trials seem unending, when it seems like there is no light in your life... remember that there always is! Just do one thing: change your thinking. Think happier. Think brighter.
Thanks, Nicole. I don't think you realized how deep your advice was.
Keep running.
