45 Ways to Have a Happy Life

Life is great. At least, I think so!

As I was putting my room together, organizing boxes, reading through old papers, and putting up pictures, I noticed a piece of paper I've kept since my senior year of high school. In Adult Roles, I learned so many applicable lessons, and this paper was my favorite takeaway from that class.

Mrs. Leavitt gave us a paper entitled "Great Recipe," and it's just that: a great recipe for a great life. I read through this paper every now and then, and something different seems to jump out every time. So without further ado, here's some life advice:

 Great Recipe

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Talk to God about what is going on in your life. Buy a lock if you have to.
3. When you wake up in the morning, complete the following statement, "I am thankful for __________."
4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
5. Eat plenty of green and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.
6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead, invest your energy in the positive present moment.
8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
12. You are not so important that you have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
17. Forgive everyone for everything.
18. What other people think of you is none of your business.
19. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
20. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch!!!
21. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
22. Each night before you go to bed, complete the following statement, "I am thankful for __________."
23. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
24. When you are feeling down, start listing your many blessings. You'll be smiling before you know it.

Plus a few more I added from my experience... 

• Go to the temple regularly. However often that is.
• Have a picture of the temple in your room.
• Have a picture of Christ in a few places: your room, your car, your wallet?
• Thank Heavenly Father for your trials. He trusts us enough to give us these hefty things to deal with.
• Say a gratitude prayer every so often: don't ask for anything, just say thanks. Try setting a timer, too. (I tried it for 15 minutes once... a lot easier than I anticipated!)
• Tell your parents you love them.
• Talk to your mom. Tell her about your day.
• Send a nice text to someone you haven't talked to in a while.
• When someone makes you angry, try seeing things from their situation.
• Change the radio station to uplifting music every so often.
• Celebrate the small moments.
• Make a memory. YOLO.
• Do something awesome, however small, every day.
• Relive something from your childhood.... play Nintendo? Play a board game.
• Do something completely out of your comfort zone.
• Instead of sitting in silence (on the bus, before class, etc), talk to your neighbor. I dare you to find something mutual between the two of you!
• Learn how to say no. You don't have to say yes to ever single thing.
• Go buy ice cream and eat it straight out of the carton.
• Find a reason to be happy, rather than a reason to be unhappy.
• When you're given a bad situation, make the most out of it.
• Shorten your time on social media.

Keep running.

Quick Update- Radiation, GRE, Logan, and Alaska

• I finished radiation. We did 10 treatments, mostly to control the pain. (It worked)
• SIDE NOTE- My radiation peeps are amazing. We started radiation literally two days after I moved home. Champs.
• Chemo update: number one down. I get more chemo in two weeks. I haven't felt very nauseous, just bloaty and tired. Oh, and tired.
• I still have hair. If I had to bet on the day it would fall out, I'd say next Tuesday (14 days post treatment).
• I hate mornings.
• Tuition is due today and I don't have to pay (suckerrrrrs).
• I also realized that I was going to take the GRE today. Since I'm taking a year off, I also get to push that back a year. Looks like I dodged that bullet!
• I'M GOING TO LOGAN THIS WEEKEND AND SO EXCITED.
• Alsooooooooo.... I'm going to ALASKA next week!

PS....... To all who have reached out in some way: sent a HAT, a package, even a text.... it REALLY helps. And your effort has not gone unnoticed. Thank you.

Keep running.

Start of Treatment

It's crazy what can happen in a month.

On the 4th of July, I had just gotten off of work and went to go visit my parents and brother, Justin, who had come up to Logan for the evening. Things were well. We had an appointment with the Huntsman the next day, but expected good results.

Like I said, it's crazy what can happen in a month. In that month, we went to a doctor's appointment at least once a week, found out my cancer was back, and I moved back home to Cedar City. Completely not what I expected.

In fact, it's crazy what can happen in 10 days.... that was when I had written my last blog post. In that time, I've found out that my cancer is in a few spots (my right rib, left shoulder and right hip) and that we're jumping on the treatment train now.

I started radiation yesterday (Happy birthday, Dad), and I start chemotherapy next Tuesday (Happy birthday, Ashley).

People have told me that I have a lot of optimism, and that is true, but let me tell ya.... this whole thing sucks. So bad. I don't want to do chemo again, lose my hair, experience nausea, experience pain, not live in Logan, not do A-Team stuff, and not go to school. But let me point out some awesome things that have come out of this:

• I am living in Cedar City..... now that I'm home, I love it. It's nice to be back with my family, nice to see old friends, and nice to be around my siblings and their families. I think the reason I love Logan so much is because it reminds me of Cedar!
• I got a lot of love and support... from everyone.
• On Monday of last week (the 25th), I spread the word of what was up. I got SO many texts, comments, messages that really meant a lot to me. For all of you who did something for me that day, thank you.
• The next day, a SOAR day, all my A-Team family wore blue ribbons... in MY honor. :')
• On Friday of that week (just six days ago), some of the A-Team shaved their heads, again in my honor.
• My cousins shaved their heads.
• My aunt started a little Facebook "uplift Erik" thing for me.
• My ward wore blue ribbons for me.

The A-Team wearing blue ribbons

Some of the A-Team shaved their heads

I love the 18th ward

• Some friends and roommates helped me pack my car
• My parents helped me take my stuff home, and unpack (I got a port in on Monday, so that the docs wont have to start an IV in and destroy my veins. For that, I'm supposed to take it easy for a few days, and that's why they got to carry in the heavy stuff)

(video idea credit: Jenna and Isabel)

As most of you know, one of my jobs this summer was being on the A-Team and working on Student Orientation and Registration (SOAR) days. As an A-Teamer, I get to welcome students, get them excited to come here, have my own small group, answer any questions they have before they start school, and just help them in their quest for awesomeness. A few weeks ago, when I knew something was up, my biggest prayer was that I could still finish out the last SOAR days. Things worked out perfectly, and I finished the last SOAR day last Friday. I don't get to be a TA for the Connections course a week before school, and I'm done with the other A-Team stuff once the semester starts, but as far as SOAR, I got to do it all.

And let me tell you: BEST JOB EVER.

Thanks for letting SOAR work out. :)

So, the plan. Like I said, I started radiation yesterday. I'm in a little bit of pain, but still able to function at about 80%. We are radiating a few spots on my shoulder and rib, followed by some chemotherapy which starts next Tuesday. The chemo rounds will be every 3rd week, and we'll go four cycles right now and see where we're at. As it's been this whole cancer journey, it's a waiting game, so I'll update you later. For now, we just wait and see!

I mean it when I say it: Life is good. God is good. Every day is an adventure, and every day is amazing!

Keep running.