20 day Journal Challenge - Day 4, better late then never!

I am a slacker!  A pure slacker.  I couldn't even make it to day 4 without skipping a day of journalling.   Better late then never I say.  At this point I need to do day 4, 5, and 6.  Lets just start with day 4 and hopefully I can catch up if I have time later.

Day 4.  

Write about a time when you were so happy.  When you were so sad.  Did you learn anything from those experiences?

Let me first say that I have been sad, extremely sad at some points in my life, but I don't want to dwell on those things in this journal.   Everyone is sad at one point or another,  it's part of life, it's the nature of the beast.   Things happen in everyone's life bringing a person down, even where you hit rock bottom, but the important part is the lessons you learn from being there.   What lessons have I learned from my experiences?   Well ALOT of lessons.   Learning to persevere, move on/forward, and being highly optimistic about things is SOOOOO very important.   Learning to turn to Heavenly Father through prayer is another lesson learned from my experiences of sadness.  He has guided me through and over the sad times.  I have learned that sometimes letting things go and move forward is the best thing because sadness is apart of life.   What makes a person is how they deal with the sadness presented to them.

Now happy times... I would like to focus on not only 1 moment but many.  I have had many happy times in my life, more then sad times for sure.  

Here is a list of my happy moments (there is no particular order, I am just randomly putting stuff down:

-  Marrying James in the Temple 18 years ago (yesterday was our anniversary!)

-  I was happy when all 5 of my kids were born,

-  Graduated from nursing school

-  When I got my BMW Z3 (smiles)

-  when EJ drove for the first time

-  when the kids rode their bike for the first time

-  Going to college for the first time when I was 18  (being on my own)

-  I am extremely happy when I watch my kids pass milestones 

-  When my kids play sports and I can watch them

-  Snuggling with my kiddos and James

-  Cruise to Carribean (belize, honduras, cozumel, and bahamas)

-  Cruise to key west, Play de carmen, cozumel

-  Pacific Coast cruise with Rae on our mom/daughter

-  Our 16 day trip to Europe (Stockholm, Sweden, Copenhagen, Denmark, Berlin Germany)

-  Every Week at church makes me happy, I love going to church and serving.  

-  Journaling makes me happy because then I can reflect on life.

-  Date Nights!!!!  

-  Going to movies with my family and spending time with them.

The list can go on and on.   What have I learned by my experiences?  That sometimes we tend to focus on the negative when there are SOO many more positive and happy things that happen in each of our lives.   The journaling experience have open up my eyes to the extreme happiness I have lived in my life.   I am grateful for that!!