Do you feel loved? Or, like many in this world today, do you feel a hole in your heart? A lack of completeness? A constant tugging, tearing, subtle reminder that you still are searching for something you haven’t found yet? I remember sitting at my desk one day while I was working in my home office. It had been a rough time for a little while, and there was emotional pain in my heart from the circumstances. I remember consciously thinking that things would feel better if I cou

Do you struggle to find hope in the world around you? Take a moment and ask yourself these next few questions: What is your reason for getting out of bed each day? Why do you go to work? What are you working toward? Where would you like to see yourself in 5-10 years? If you struggled to answer any of these questions, then you could probably use some help strengthening your belief. We go to work so we can pay our bills and or provide for our families, but why? Maybe we're look

Our names are an incredibly important part of our identity. They carry personal, cultural, familial, and historical significance. They also give us a sense of who we are and the community we each live in. A person’s name is the greatest connection to their own identity. Some might say it is the most important word in the world. Our names are a way to get someone’s attention, it’s a sign of courtesy and a way to recognize them. Where does your name come from? Along with our gi

“Are you ready to have a baby?” That is the question that I have repeatedly been asked for the past couple of months with growing frequency as the due date gets closer. My wife could go into labor any day now, so the baby is coming whether I am ready or not. Am I ready? Yes, and no.   Yes, because I am twenty-six years old. That is older than my parents were when they first had children.   Yes, because I have thirty-seven nieces and nephews, so I have spent a lot of time with

There I am, standing at the top of a ladder, about 20 feet from the ground. I am so confident that I could put this large bounce house up on the garage shelf for my friend. She is afraid of heights, but I am not and am happy to help her. I get ready to set it in place, but it slips slightly. I don’t drop it, but I don’t have the best grip on it and the other items on the shelf have now shifted. I try again, unsuccessful. At this point, it is getting heavier. My friend stops t

I recently have been reading an excellent book, Atomic Habits . It teaches powerful principles to help build good habits. It changed the way that I think about many topics. The principle that is impacting me the most right now is that preparation is not motion. The following might sound familiar to you. How many great ideas have you had in your life? An object you knew would sell and make you rich, if only you knew how to create it or had the investors to do so. Maybe it is t

“I’m almost there. Less than 500 meters now.” Jill gritted her teeth as fatigue coursed through her body. The triathlon is a grueling race and it was taking its toll on Jill. Her knees felt weak, her lungs were burning, and her feet screamed for relief. Relying on her years of sacrifice and training, she searched for the resolve she needed to maintain the slim margin she held over the other contenders. Jill could see the stadium now. Her energy was nearly spent, but the thoug

Have you ever heard the adage, “It takes more muscles to frown than to smile”? I’ve learned recently that claim depends a lot on definitions and perspectives, but let’s just take it at face value for now (pun intended). The adage is generally used to try to encourage people to smile, as – according to the adage – it’s so much easier than frowning. Doing things merely because of their simpleness or ease never gained much traction with me as being a desired activity, so perhaps

As an attorney, I still often feel saddened or overwhelmed at many of the conditions my clients find themselves in. A mother with cancer who also has young children is left by her husband, even though she is unable to work. A father caught in the middle of a business partner’s theft of client funds. A daughter not being allowed to bury her mother next to the mother’s infant daughter that died at birth because the daughter’s brothers refuse to consent to the burial due to bein

Life is full of opportunity. Most of us can relate, though, to passing up on an opportunity, thinking “I will get to that tomorrow.” Tomorrow can be a powerful illusion that tricks us into thinking that at some future point in time, we will have more energy, time, money, or something that will make us do what we should have done today.   Perhaps tomorrow’s illusion is more powerful because it feels so close, so within our grasp. Perhaps it is powerful because it is an easy wa

You’ve felt the whisper. You know the truth. You are more than your past and your current situation. You came here to do something important. You know you have the capacity to help shape and change this world. That whisper within pushes us to be someone we are not now. It prompts us to start on a journey, one whose destination we do not know and one whose path we do not fully see.   You are not an average person. You are not here by mistake. You are the change the world needs

Jim stared at Steve, the company’s vice president. “Really?” he thought angrily. “You really want us to double sales before the year ends? It took twenty years to get sales to where they are, and now you think it’s possible to just double that in a little over five months?”  Glancing around the room, the reaction of his co-workers appeared mixed. Dave looked tired as usual. Cindy looked excited and Gerald looked as angry as he felt. A mixture of the same emotions appeared in

The day had finally come, Jill and Tom were moving into their first home. They had spent many years in apartments and living in many different locations, but they were finally settling into an area where they could make memories and lasting relationships. Some of the apartments they had lived in were small and less than ideal, but they were able to make it work. The excitement of all the possibilities this new spacious home offered seemed surreal.   There were many things tha

In Utah and much of the West, reservoir levels are dropping to an all-time low. Many people are praying for rain, hoping that the reservoirs can be refilled and people have the water they need. I too have prayed for rain and tried to cut water usage at my home. As I have done this, I have realized that my prayers for rain can create problems elsewhere.   In a simple example, I had a painting project to do outside to help improve an area of my home. I booked time in my schedul

“You are here to do something important.” This whisper has gone through our minds and hearts, teasing us amidst the doldrums of work, life, and the busy days and nights we often face. The whisper may come while reading about others, in quiet moments of reflection, or at random or unexpected times. Yet, no matter how many times we let the thought pass without further action, it seems to come back, weaving its whisper into varied thoughts and feelings we experience.   We believ

Did you know there are 273,000 headwords in the Oxford Dictionary; 171,476 of them being in current use, 47,156 being obsolete words, and around 9,500 derivative words included as subentries? This brings to question, what words are we using? Is there power in words? Let’s explore this thought. As a child, I remember hearing, “If you can’t say something nice then don’t say anything at all.” The other one I grew up with was, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will

There is a story of an old horse that fell into a dry well. The old horse was mildly injured from the fall, and, due to the shape and size of the well, the people trying to help the horse could not get it out with the limited tools they had. After some discussion, they decided it would be best to put the old horse out of its misery. They could not safely fire a gun into the well, as they could not see the horse or the bottom of the well and the chance of a ricocheted bullet w

Your Story Can Shape Others Our stories matter. Our experiences can shape the future, if we take time to record the things that actually helped make us who we are. The things that we thought about, cared about, and worked to achieve. We can leave a legacy through the records we make, and this can help our posterity or family at future points. I have always struggled with journal writing, as I have often viewed it as a record of mundane tasks that I did that day. However, I am

Becky was given an opportunity to go with a youth group to hike and camp for several days. She was not excited about it and had early on decided she was not going to go. Many of her family members and friends encouraged her to go; expressing their love, support, and even their need for her to be there. She was grateful to hear that people liked her and wanted her to come, but she expressed that nothing was going to change her mind.   As the day of the trip drew closer, her de