The mind is a funny thing...
It can wander or focus depending on its owner. The mind can be strong and powerful, or weak and fragile also depending on it's owner.
The other night I was giving into a wandering mind. Not always a bad thing, depending on where you wind up. There were some things bothering me and I was allowing my mind to wander and stop in a place I didn't want it to be but allowed it to linger anyway. I was pondering a wrong I felt had been done to me and trying to figure out why it hurt so much and what to do. It wasn't long before I was feeling angry and wound up. As I laid down for bed my mind was still in that place. It was keeping me from sleeping and enjoying where I really was. It was taking my peace.
Peace is one of the greatest gifts we can have. It comes from God, but must be earned. As I longed for sleep I knew I couldn't do it in the place my mind had wandered to. I began feeling like I didn't want to feel that way anymore, but how? I knew I couldn't do it on my own and I began to take control again and focus and ask for help. A strong impression then came to my mind, "Be grateful". Be grateful for the lessons you learn through your trials. Be grateful for the wonderful family you have. Be grateful for your good friends and those who love you. Be grateful for those who challenge and help to shape you. Within no time I felt the peace I longed for and was able to fall asleep.
Later that week as I was studying a lesson, it was teaching that we should know what our modern day prophets are saying to us today. It's as important for us to know what they're teaching as it was for those of Noah's time to listen to him about entering the ark. I had watched General Conference, but it had been awhile and the words were no longer etched in my mind. I found the most recent talks all in one place by President Monson and decided to study them. One of them was "The Divine Gift of Gratitude". It was a great talk and gave me so much to ponder. He went on to say,
A grateful heart, then, comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives. This requires conscious effort—at least until we have truly learned and cultivated an attitude of gratitude. Often we feel grateful and intend to express our thanks but forget to do so or just don’t get around to it. Someone has said that “feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
I am grateful that even when my mind is wandering to places of unrest, that when I think to pray and feel most undeserving, my Heavenly Father loves me enough to remember me and speak peace to me. When I remember Him I feel peace, I feel loved, I feel whole.
