Surrender

There is just one quick thing I want to bring to your attention.

Or rather to share with you. 

I've had an awaking of sorts, a epiphany if you will. 

Now I am a Christian. I believe in God, his son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost.

I don't necessarily believe that we all have a destiny. 

I do not believe that our lives are set in the stars.

But I do like to entertain these thoughts. 

I love to look up my horoscope and see what is in store for me!

Im a Sagittarius  

In 'A Knights Tale' Williams asks his father if he can change his stars.

I believe you can. 

Your life is what you make of it. 

You decide your destiny. 

Now like I said before, I love to play with the idea of fate.

I mean you control your life yes, but really in the 'End' I think God knew you'd make it to where you did. 

That was where you were supposed to be. 

There are no "If only I could have done this..." or "It was supposed to be better..."

No. There is only one place we are gunna end up.

So play along with me. 

Lets play with 'Fate'.

Now if you will, hear me out on this.

In life how many decisions do we face a day?

Experts say up to 35,000 at least a day, most being rather simple.

My good friend, Master Oogway once said, 

"Quit, don't quit? Noodles, don't noodles? You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the 'present.'"

And he is totally right! 

Live for the day! 

Seize the moment! 

Don't sweat the small stuff.

And as for those decisions that aren't so easy and require better judgement,

Don't waste your time thinking about the 'what ifs'.

This is where I'm going with all this build up.

I want you to take a coin. 

I don't care what kind, but lets go with a quarter.

Carry this quarter with you everywhere you go.

This is not to be spent.

It is to be used to help guide you to your 'destiny'

Any time you come to a crossroad in your day and you are faced with a choice.

Should I or should I not?

I want you to reach inside your pocket and pull out your mighty quarter of destiny.

take the opposing choices, give them a side of the coin and then give it a toss...

and no matter what, Whichever face it lands on, do it.

Surrender yourself to the hands of fate, to destiny's desire.

http://www.youtube.com/user/SlideshowArt#p/u/5/6-r3JsXfSg0

Watch this video...I think you'll get what I'm desperately trying to say. 

Waiting Game

Waiting is hard work!

Joseph B. Wirthlin once said,

"Sometimes the hardest thing we can do is wait. The Lord has his own timetable, and although it may frustrate us, his timing is always perfect."

It seems we are always waiting for something. Waiting for the bell to ring to let out class, waiting for the week to slip swiftly into the weekend, waiting for your ride to pick you up, waiting for your sister to hustle up and free the bathroom (I mean can't you do your make up in your room or something?) Sometimes we are waiting to hear from loved ones, sometimes we are waiting for them to come back home.

Sometimes we wish we could wait a little longer. We pray earnestly while we wait to hear back from a doctor. Or when you didn't quite make it to the bathroom on time, if only you could've held it a little longer, or maybe that is just me.

This last month has been driving me absolutely out of my mind! Waiting has never been more of a challenge. Now usually this time of year the only thing anyone is waiting for is for Christmas to hurry up and get here already! And it also happens to be my birthday this month as well! But I couldn't care less about both of those things right now. they could wait another two months as long as that made what I'm waiting for come sooner!

What is it that I'm waiting for you ask? Haven't you heard yet?

I'm waiting for my mission call to come in the mail! Everyday grows further and further from the day it was supposed to come. Everyday becomes more and more torturous! I wake up thinking to my self "today is the day" I go to work and wait for that phone in my pocket to ring out, and the voice on the other end will say those three words! "Its finally here!"

But I'm getting used to disappointment. Last week Thursday was the two week deadline, the day it was supposed to come. There was no phone call at work, but my family was probably didn't want me to have to suffer through work knowing it was here but I couldn't open it until I got home. But then, on the car ride home, my phone lit up. a sign that said I had missed a call during the day and more importantly a TEXT! from my sister.

"Where are you?"

"on my way home.."

"oh ok"

.......

That was it! Nothing else! My heart was racing! I was almost sweating with nervousness. "Today is the day!" I thought to myself over and over as the car took me home through the icy streets. I jumped out and thanked my driver as I ran to the door. As I walked in I glanced to my the floor on my right, where the mail usually sits under the chute. Nothing. My eyes snapped to the counter, the second place mail usually sits. Some flyers and small envelopes, nothing big enough to be my call but the mail HAD come! But did it bring with it my call?

My Mom made her way up the stair to the kitchen where I was, talking on the phone, the usual.

"Oh I gotta go, Reids home!" she said as she hangs up and smiles at me.

..... "wait for it" I say to myself

She just stays there smiling at me, waiting for me to say something. She obviously wasn't gunna spill the beans, so I run-I mean cooly walk to my room. I gently shut the door then franticly scurry around searching everywhere for that envelope. Under the pillow, on the dresser, in the closet, under the mattress. Nothing, Nowhere! I slunk to my floor as it all set it. It wasn't here. Today was most definitely not the day!

That happened about a week ago and here I am doing the same thing everyday. Waiting. Sometimes more patiently than others but waiting all the same.

"... His timing is always perfect... instead of worrying or grumbling that our prayers have gone unanswered, we should delight ourselves in the Lord. Be grateful. Be happy."

Yeah Boy

Yessir This Is Happening!

I am posting pictures of me planking!

Yeah we are awesome I know :P

Its actually more fun than it looks!

and really the photos aren't even that funny or anything but going out and planking is what is fun! I know you're all secretly jealous! Get out thurr and Plank! BOY!!

Knock You Down

BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!

Its been a long week. I started a new job framing houses and this week we were building a roof. If you know Alberta weather you know that it is windy nine times out of nine, and having to hold huge 10 foot tall by 20-30 feet wide trusses(like rafters) while balancing on a 2x4 that is sitting 12 feet off the ground, is no easy task! In fact it wears you right out! so for the past week I've been beat up by the wind and have been waking up way to early. I'm tired. I'm physically drained of all my energy. And to top it all off, I hammered my finger and it hurts like the dickens! I can hardly keep my eyes open and I can't focus my mind at all! My brother who lives out of town came to visit which is great! the only down side is I never see him until late when I get off work and by then I just go to bed and have to listen to his three kids cry as he tries to get them to bed, and when they cry, THEY CRY!!!!! I'm talking high pitch screeches and hour long tantrums! And I just realized I haven't ate a real meal in the past three days. So things aren't really going my way. Why write about it then right? Why waste my time plus your time telling you about what a sucky week I've been having, everyone has a bad week once in a while! So who cares? Well you're right! except there is one important thing I forgot to mention about my week.

Amongst all of this turmoil and havoc I was able to accomplish a very important task this week. I submitted my application papers for my mission! And you know what? this week has been a great week for me! I haven't been angry or upset, I haven't felt sad at all. This week has been a great week! "But Reid, what about all that crap you said before?" I'm gunna come right out and say it was worth it! Do you really think I'd let something as silly as the need for more sleep or a bruised finger and a swollen thumb get me down? Well then you don't know me very well because i and no quitter during the hard times. I keep my chin up and I keep on smiling! I always look for the good in all things that come my way. Nothing is ever too big for us to accomplish. No task to demanding, no problem to hard. I believe and know with out a doubt, that our Lord who is our Father in Heaven loves each and every one of us. And what loving father would ever ask something impossible of his children? So yeah, we whine and complain about life thats okay. As long as we never let the world get the best of us. Never let those winds blow you off the roof top. Just hold on tight and plant your feet on a sure foundation and I can guarantee you, no wind could even bring you down.

Happy Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!...Or is it?!?!?

Well of course it is. There can never be anything wrong with stuffing smothered in thick gravy. The aroma that fills the air as the turkey or in this years case the turkey and two chickens cook in the oven! That part makes this years thanksgiving a success. What wasn't so great about the whole event, or what I should say, what was lacking from the evening and holiday was the family part...and the holiday part! let me explain:

Saturday October 8, 2011

I make my way to work by 8 in the morning. I'm the only one on for the weekend besides the lady who runs the till and club house (I'm a greens keeper at a golf course) There is absolutely nothing to do at work so I make use of my time picking up leaves for the first 4 hours and the second half of work I spend driving a mower cutting grass that really doesn't need to be cut. Finally 8 hours pass and my shift is over. I head home to find my house empty. My family has left for the weekend to visit my sister and to have thanksgiving dinner at their place. I would have went except I had to return to work on Monday again.So after I cry alone in a corner I shower and get dressed in my finest suit and head on over to my old friends wedding reception. Now I know you're thinking. You're going "Weddings are nice and fun and filled with friends! That so nice for you!" well maybe I left out on important detail, the man my friend was being wed to is not the man it was supposed to be. And the man it should of been to also happens to be my best friend. so I'm sure you can imagine the pain and anguish I held inside as I smiled and shook the hand of the bridegroom. I mean I was happy for my friend and all and I know that she made the right choice and that I know she is truly happy, but I was in a grumpy mood to start off with and whining and grumbling made me feel better. He was just no Brent thats all!

Sunday October 9, 2011

The Dinner

My cousins conveniently live next door to me so they graciously invited me over for supper. Sure their family would be there and I have never met them but I could deal with that... at least I thought I could. my cousin went into labour Saturday night and thus had to skip the dinner and stay in the hospital. but the show went on in their absence. So now I was down two people that I actually knew. What i was left with to socialize with was my aunt and uncle who didn't know the family either, and Jackson. he was my only real good friend there...he's also 2. And to make everything worse the party is moved to my house because we had more room for more people. so i had no where I could go and hide any more. So I was stuck having to find a place in my own house to sit down. I end up with the head of the table and on the other side is some dinosaur aged man. I introduced myself pleasantly trying to make nice and be sociable "Hi I'm Reid Walters!" to which the old man replied "Which hudderite colony did you escape from?" I decided after that to not communicate with the old man. Jackson was much better company as he chewed his chicken and then spat it up back onto his plate, then he'd move on to the next course, stuffing, then potatoes and his corn. I think the only thing he actually ate was the sparkling apple juice I slipped him under the high chair's table. "How old is the hudderite?"

the great great great grandpa yelled over the table. How old are YOU? I wanted to ask but I didn't want to cause the old man a heart attack as he realized he was over 1000 years old. So I just answered his question and then went immediately back to my food to fill my mouth to avoid talking some more. Pretty soon dinner was over and I was left all alone in my house again. The silence was glorious!

Monday October 10, 2011

I woke up for work Strangely cheerful and awake. Arrive at work and address my boss with a whole hearted "G'Morning!" he shook his head as he walked towards me and gathered his thoughts. "I don't know what to say Reid, I'm so sorry!" he said in his thick English accent "I had no idea that today was a holiday! you don't have to stay here! I'm sorry I made you get up." Well at this point nothing surprised me. I got back in my car and drove home and once again I went to my corner to cry. This just wasn't my weekend I guess. So here I am Wishing everyone a better Thanksgiving than me. And hopefully your attitude is a whole lot better than mine! I do have lots to be grateful for. Like I am so grateful that not every weekend is like this one and I'm grateful for my family returning home! I miss them more than I thought I ever would!

Connect The Dots

You know how people say "Its the little things that matter most"

Well there is this certain girl I know, some of you might know who I'm talking about.

Needless to say she is absolutely fantastic!

She takes this motto or saying and puts it to shame!

I don't think anyone expects what she would do!

One day she came over to return something of mine

I soon discovered that she had hidden a little some something with it.

in my hand I held a zip-lock bag full of what appeared to be paper dots.

I was very confused!

Then after closer inspection I noticed that the dots had writing on them,

some with words and others with numbers.

I cleared a space on my bedroom floor, opened the bag and emptied the contents.

Turns out the dots had both words AND numbers!

numbers on one side words on the other, and to my horror I realized what would ensue!

So long story short, after about half an hour and 100 paper dots later,

I had all the dots in order on my floor

I took a deep sigh of relief, regretting it immediately as all the dots were scattered.

Round two.

While holding my breath this time I read the note made of dots.

My eyes puked tears as the emotion welled up within my soul!

I'd tell you what it said but I don't have an extra hour right now to put the dots back in order!

But it doesn't even matter what the words were,

What was so amazing about this note was that she took the time to make me a special note,

and to let me know how much she cared!

She's so sweet and the absolute best!!

And I love all the small things she did to make me happy!

"Its the little things that matter most"

Story of a Lonely Guy

I'm gunna be straight with you here... I feel pretty lugubrious right about now! For the dull minded out there, that basically means down in the dumps. Now before you quit reading this on account that you may think I'm going to go out on another self pity rant I'd like to tell you why exactly I'm feeling so low.

Have you ever lost some one you love? Had to say goodbye to a person who made you feel exceptional, got you to see yourself for who you truly are? You try so hard to stay with that loved one and be the best 'you' that you can be and sometimes we stumble or we lose our way. We easily forget what we were fighting for. other times we are able to succeed and are able to achieve our best. Yet every time we lose that person every time we are forced to say goodbye we want to quit. To give up. We get the feeling that we're just not good enough and are seemingly unable to move forward. When we feel this way, we often lose purpose. We feel useless and abandoned, cold and alone, black and empty...

But some times we get lucky. Eventually after we have mourned our loss we come to reason and we see the light at the end of the tunnel. Motivation springs hope into our dismal lives through the absence of them that we miss. The need to do better as to not let them down fuels our recovery. Of course we miss them, we miss them terribly however we know everything will work itself out. The sun will always rise no matter how black the night is. Hold on to that faith and finish. This is some thing I still have to learn and I encourage you to do likewise. For some it may take longer and it may take a few more reminders for others but eventually we all see it...

The Light at the End of the Tunnel.