My Daily To-Do List

I don't know about you, but I love lists. I write lists for everything. Grocery lists, to-do lists, wish-lists, project lists, you name it! I write lists because they keep me organized and productive. I feel like I am in control of my day and can better manage my time when I have structure. But despite all of these lists, at the end of the day I feel that there is never enough time to accomplish everything I'd like to. There is always one project left unfinished, one more item awaiting completion, the last checkmark calling my name. A woman's work truly is never done.

But maybe it's ok that I am only human. Maybe it's even a good thing that I will never have a finished to-do list in my life. President Uchtdorf says it best:

Isn't it true that we often get so busy? And, sad to say, we even wear our busyness as a badge of honor, as though being busy, by itself, was an accomplishment or sign of a superior life. 

           Is it?

I think of our Lord and Exemplar, Jesus Christ, and His short life among the people of Galilee and Jerusalem. I have tried to imagine Him bustling between meetings or multitasking to get a list of urgent things accomplished.

I can’t see it.

Instead I see the compassionate and caring Son of God purposefully living each day. When He interacted with those around Him, they felt important and loved. He knew the infinite value of the people He met. He blessed them, ministered to them. He lifted them up, healed them. He gave them the precious gift of His time.

These inspiring words by an apostle really put life into perspective for me. I realized that I don't want to live my life at such a fast pace that I lose the time I am so frantically trying to save. I want to live each day purposely, and as a result I decided to make a different kind of list today.

Although this new to-do list seems daunting at first, I know that it will be worth every effort! Below is one of my favorite video clips of all time. The simple message has done a lot for me over the course of my life. It especially lent me inspiration for this blog post, and I think it will help get me started and properly motivated for this new to-do list of mine. I can't wait to see how my week goes! Enjoy lovelies :)

The Science of Happiness

So I was on Facebook the other day (with a beginning like this you KNOW this story is gonna be good) and a Youtube video that one of my friends had posted caught my eye. The title was "The Science of Happiness." Quite the eye-grabber, eh? Somewhat skeptically I clicked the play button, and by the end of the video I was smiling ear-to-ear, wiping away little tears of joy. Are you dying to know the secret to happiness yet?

 

The answer is gratitude. Crazy, right? I feel that in today's society, happiness isn't about wanting what you already have. It's about chasing what you don't have. That is, society projects happiness as obtaining something - money, popularity, success, beauty. But in the end, the greatest source of happiness lies in appreciating the people and things you have had from the very beginning.

The funny thing is, I already knew this answer. Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have been taught gratitude since my first day in primary. In fact, our current prophet Thomas S. Monson has stated "gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues." As a result, I felt almost stunned that this answer was "breaking news" to people! But then I felt overwhelmed with a deep sense of gratitude that I have known "the science" behind happiness my entire life. Specifically, I am grateful for my testimony of this gospel, which literally means "good news," and for the knowledge I have on how to live my life in such a way that I can be happy and make decisions that result in ultimate joy. I am so grateful for a loving & merciful Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ, who know me personally, listen to and answer my prayers, and bless me and my loved ones on a daily basis.

Regardless of belief, I know that recognizing and expressing gratitude will make a huge difference in anyone's life. Gratitude has a funny way of putting life back into perspective. In one way or another, we have all been blessed with incredible beauty in our lives; it's evident in the bodies we have, the relationships we build, the talents we possess. In that sense, I am going to make it a goal to express my gratitude more often, so that I can keep focused on what matters most in life and spread the joy to those around me.

So what do YOU think? What are your views behind the "science" of happiness?

I love my job.

I have the best job in the entire world. Nothing brings me more satisfaction or joy than knowing I made a positive difference in someone else's life, and my role as orientation leader allows me to do just that. My responsibilities as an orientation leader include taking a group of timid, anxious strangers and transforming them into confident friends by the end of the day. I start each orientation session with a new group of students with totally different backgrounds and dynamics. My first goal is to help these students find common ground with each other, and I do so by leading group activities and discussions to get them to open up and make connections with each other. After that, I take my students on a tour to orient them with campus, present in workshops of multiple topics, and answer any questions they or their parents may have about making the transition to college. Throughout this process, I have been making a concentrated effort to learn each one of my student's names by heart as well as an interesting fact about them so I can maintain the connections we have made and help them find their place at SUU. I can't wait to see my students again at Flight School in August, which is a conference we host the week before classes start for first-year students. My hope is that they will use the resources and knowledge from orientation as they grow to become independent and take charge of their college experience. I am also hopeful that I have inspired them to take advantage of all the opportunity there is to get involved and make SUU their home away from home.

Name tag :)



Writing postcards to my students
 

Me and Thor

Some rowdy o-leaders and overnight orientation students
after a grueling Zumba class.

 

 

Introducing ourselves to first-year students and their guests.

Group ice-breaker activity

Taking my wonderful pre-nursing students on a campus tour :)

 

The o-leaders teaching the students the "Thunder Train,"
one of the many traditions at SUU.

 Of course my type of job requires lots & lots of constructive feedback, and the following comments I have received so far make all the hard work and long hours worth the time!

"      She was great! She was able to answer questions for me about the school, and help me build more confidence about my choice to attend SUU.

She was absolutely fantastic! I was impressed with all that she knew about the school. Genuinely friendly and felt like she cared about our experience.

She was so sweet and helpful and made me very excited to become part of the t-bird nation!

She didn't come off as a superior  . . . she was a student like us and treated us like friends. She was easy to talk to and very understanding.    "

I am also grateful for the incredible orientation staff that I get to work with. My boss Sheena, and our graduate intern Kol, have both made huge impressions on me and make me want to always improve my performance and ensure all incoming students feel valued and prepared. That being said, my fellow orientation leaders amaze me more and more every day. I feel that I learn so much from each of them, and I know there is still much yet to learn! Each one of them is so uniquely talented and bring so many wonderful qualities to the team. I honestly don't know what we would do without every single one of them, and my goal is to make sure that they all know how much I appreciate and look up to them. I have a favorite success quote by Oprah Winfrey that says, "Surround yourself only with people who are going to take you higher.” I can honestly say that the friends I have found through orientation take me higher and farther than I could go on my own. We have come so far since the beginning of the year; I can't wait to see how far we go!