The greatest takeaway from last week and #standupandshinechallenge was how truly interdependent we all are. We’re each blessed with gifts and talents from our Heavenly Father that are unique to each of us but that are irreplaceable to humanity as a whole. We need each other in order to be successful and THRIVE. We are here on this earth in order to combine our gifts (and superpowers) to be the change in the world. This challenge has connected me to so many strangers who are also searching for ways to serve. I’ve been excited to get on social media because I know I’m going to be uplifted and inspired, which is a welcome difference online! Other people, with struggles, who are human and flawed have shown up this week ready to work on themselves and take a deeper look at things that can be uncomfortable. But vulnerability is beautiful. It shows us our strength. This group of people has been spreading kind words and encouragement rather than negativity. Together, WE are contributing our light to the world (versus comparing ourselves to each other) and dark days are feeling much brighter. I am not diminished when another person shines. It’s just more light. This group gets that. I hope to continue developing some real and lasting relationships with all of you. Thank you @theshineproject Ashley for bringing us together, for challenging us to shine and for sharing with us a little piece of your soul. Also, I feel truly blessed to have been a prize winner. The prize never arrived but the real connections I made are what I cherish the most. 20 minutes a day for five days truly changed my life. The support I felt made every day easier. 

To anyone who sees this post, you are not alone. You have something beautiful to give to the world. When you need a boost, DM me. I’m here to listen. I’m here to uplift. I’m here to pour out light. We’re in this life together for a reason. 

I stand with you. 

✌❤🕉 Jesica

I started a challenge yesterday called the Stand Up and Shine Challenge. It's about recognizing the good in ourselves, celebrating our own successes and healing ourselves and the world around us through love. I love these challenges. They give me something to focus on that's positive and that inspires change for good in the world. Today's challenge is to do something else whenever I feel the urge to get on social media. I realized how much I check my phone out of boredom, curiosity and just that nagging urge that I might miss something WAY TOO OFTEN. But it hasn't been as tough as I thought not to give in, probably because I'm finding more productive things to do.

I started a new book recently titled Forgiveness: The Greatest Healer of All by Gerald Jampolsky. It's an amazing book! It's small, but packs a lot of powerful wisdom! If you don't have a copy and have never read it I'd definitely recommend it. I just read chapter one, "The Root of Unhappiness." There is a story of a woman who loses her husband and consequently loses herself in bitterness and self-pity. After years of this she is given a copy of one of the author's books and she decides to change her outlook on life. She takes back control, forgiving the people who have hurt her, forgiving herself for actions that may have hurt others and she gives up her judgments. How simple the formula for happiness is! If only it were that simple in application. I think the one thing that is key in this formula is letting go. That's what I struggle with the most. I remember the things others have done to hurt me and therefore do not have entirely whole relationships with any of them. I'm always waiting for them to hurt or disappoint me. I also remember everything I've ever done to hurt someone else and feel like unless I get the chance to apologize to them face-to-face and receive their forgiveness I will carry the burden like a load on my back until the day I die. This is wrong thinking!

We are children of a loving God and have a Savior who sacrificed everything for us! Whenever I feel alone I just have to remember that he has experienced every pain, every angry thought, and all the sadness I feel, as he voluntarily took these on himself, for me. I do not have to carry the pain around. I can choose to forgive others and myself. The ability to forgive is a miracle.

I teach a Sunday School class at my church and this past week we talked about miracles, specifically a talk entitled "Has the day of miracles ceased?" by Elder Donald L. Hallstrom (you can find this on lds.org). He shares the story of a man who goes on a hiking trip and falls off of a cliff and survives. Every person he encounters, everything that happens after his fall is nothing short of a miracle. It's a very powerful and moving story. Miracles happen every day.

I read stories and see videos of people like Nic Vujic, born without limbs and wonder how they get out of bed in the morning, let alone inspire millions of people around the world. Life is a miracle. Bearing children is a miracle. Having all of my senses and all of my limbs is a miracle. Access to modern medicine and healthcare is a miracle. Having an education is a miracle. Living in a country with some freedom is a miracle. Food, shelter and the choice to do with my life whatever I'd like to is a miracle. All of these are things I've been blessed with. I am so grateful! It's not often enough that I really take time to think of the miracles big and small that occur in my life every day. I can choose to be happy; only I am in control of my happiness.

My favorite quote from this book on forgiveness (so far) is something we can all take with us today: 'Why is it so difficult for us to see that our search for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is only hiding the fact that we are both the rainbow and the gold (1)?"

You are beautiful. You are worthy of love and forgiveness. Forgive yourself. Let go. Stand up and shine! #standupandshinechallenge

Peace, love, om to you all.

It's been a while. I have been receiving repeated counsel from many sources lately that I can be more mindful. In fact, the lesson this past Sunday in Relief Society was literally "Be mindful." The sister described it as "thinking about your thinking." She reminded us that we naturally live on autopilot, mindless. She told us it is hard work to be conscious-aware. It takes energy and focus, but its rewards far outweigh the challenge it can be. Being mindful improves our attention, reduces stress, increases our empathy and compassion, gives us confidence and helps us keep perspective. Mindfulness allows us to live fully in the present, in tune with our senses, both physically and spiritually. It allows us to commune more effortlessly with our Creator and hear His will and whisperings in our lives.

I believe that God truly wants us to be happy. There are silly, seemingly unsubstantial things that happen in my life every day that attest to this. When I contemplate how ridiculous they must seem to Heavenly Father, I can't help but laugh. But what is important to us is important to Him. We always have what we need. Everything always works out. I can't think of a time when it hasn't. I believe that in every trial is an opportunity - to grow, to serve, to be served, to obey. Everything has a time and a season. We must struggle if we want to reach our ultimate end goals. Today in a course with John Maxwell he said, "When we are given something it's more difficult to hold onto. It's impossible to lose something you grew into." So I suppose my most difficult moments are my becoming. They are the difference between my success and increase or my moving backward. 

God loves us. He gave His son for us. As a mother of a young son I cannot imagine anything happening to him or giving him up. Our Heavenly Father has already done this for us. That sacrifice means more to me now than at any other time in my life. How do I honor that sacrifice?

I am often too distracted, too busy, afraid or angry. I pick up negativity like static electricity. It deeply affects me. I'm aware of this but often I don't do anything to counter it. Marianne Williamson, on "A Course In Miracles" reflects: "we are far too indulgent of mind-wandering. Meditation disciplines the mind." I must be more mindful and a lot more generous with myself. 

This evening in A Return to Love, Williamson reminded me of my unlimited capacity vs. potential. "Capacity," she said "lies not in what we have inside of us, but rather in what we own that we have inside of us. There is no point in waiting until we are perfect in what we do or enlightened masters, or Ph.D.s in life, before opening ourselves to what we're capable of doing now" (277). She talks about how our ego, by its very nature criminalizes feelings of self worth. It tells us that because someone else is doing something great, we cannot also be great. Williamson reminds us of abundance. We can bless each other and celebrate others' success.

There is more than enough to go around. We are, after all, created in the image of an infinite, omnipotent and loving God. Let's remind each other of that! 

We are here, together for a reason. I cannot die with my fire still inside of me. I refuse to. Williamson lends: "...you don't have to be a virtuoso at everything you do, in order to be a virtuoso at life. Virtuosity in life means singing out - not necessarily singing well" (279). Amen to that. Let's raise our voices and sprinkle kindness around like confetti. 

Love to you all.