Tag Archives: anxiety

Want To Be Happy? Try A Dose Of Nostalgia

If you want to be happy try a good old dose of nostalgia. For those not familiar with that term it is defined in the dictionary as, “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.” With all the madness in 2020 I’ve thought quite […]

Go To Bed, Get A Good Night Sleep. Tomorrow Will Be Better.

After an incredibly long busy day today all I could think about was wanting to go to bed. As I sat down to write a blog the thought came into my mind that I should search past blogs I’d written that had the phrase “go to bed” in them. So I did and it brought […]

Come What May And Love It

Joseph B. Worthlin shared the following story that has had a huge impact on my life: “When I was young I loved playing sports, and I have many fond memories of those days. But not all of them are pleasant. I remember one day after my football team lost a tough game, I came home […]

If We Can Just Get Through This Month

My older sister in California and I were talking on the phone tonight about how frustrating it is not to know how or what we can plan for the rest of our summer given all the COVID madness. She and her family are hoping to come out to Utah to stay with us for a […]

Feeling Better Inward Takes Turning More Outward

Last week I spent a few days doing both speaking and mentoring session via video conferencing on Zoom with groups of students from multiple Universities across the country.   During that time I was serving those students I wasn’t worrying about the pandemic we are facing, or the riots still going on, or the wildfires, or […]

The Fear Of Childishness and The Desire To Be Very Grown Up

Having been sucked into an endless hole all day of gathering receipts so my accountant can get my tax return prepared in time for the upcoming tax deadline, I asked my son Dalton if he’d write tonight’s blog post for me. Here’s Dalton’s post: “When I became a man I put away childish things, including […]

Only In The Darkness Can You See The Stars

Our family has been going to Lake Powell in the summers every year from the time my children were little. It’s literally one of our very favorite places on earth.  The water is amazing, the red rock cliffs are incredible, and there is nothing in the world quite as beautiful as a Lake Powell sunset. […]

Some Days You Just Have To Do The Best You Can And Call It A Day

Today was one of those days where you are bombarded with things from the moment you wake up until 1am the next morning without so much as a two minute break. My day was absolutely packed today and as I sit here writing this at 1am its all I can do to keep my eyes […]

Some Good News

We’ve all spent the last few months hearing pretty much nothing but bad news…from the coronavirus pandemic, to earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires, severe storms, stock market crashes, cancelled graduations, and on and on and on…with every news station full of stories of gloom and doom is it really that surprising that people are struggling with feelings […]

Focus On What You Can Control

“One of the happiest moments ever, is when you find the courage to let go of what you can’t change.” There are a million aspects to life that are out of our control. And focusing on things you can’t control is absolutely pointless…no matter how much you focus on them you can’t control them so […]

Sometimes Words Can’t Adequately Describe

I’m not even sure where to begin tonight…. this last weekend has been one of the most spiritually powerful and uplifting experiences of my life.  I spent 6 hours on Saturday and 4 hours Sunday listening to a semi-annual General Conference that was filled with inspirational talks, messages of hope, and indescribably beautiful musical performances […]

Be The Light (guest post by Dalton Anderson)

To mix things up a little for y’all I asked my son Dalton to write today’s blog post: I was talking to a good friend of mine today – I’ll just call him “Kurt” (to respect his privacy). Kurt was sharing some of the trials that have been occurring in his life recently. Summed up, […]

Speaking Of A.D.D.

I have so many things to tell all of you about and yet each time I’ve tried to sit down to write a blog about them I get interrupted – From my husband being hospitalized unexpectedly last week, to me needing to fly to Washington DC this week for some really important meetings and to […]

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing…

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” – Victor Frankel Sitting in a hospital all day today while my father-in-law was getting surgery I watched as families would bring a […]

Why Is It That When It Rains It Pours?

Seriously, why is it that when it rains it pours…why can’t it ever just be a light drizzle?! If it was someone else asking me that question I’d probably respond with something motivational like – the harder it rains the bigger the rainbow – but after the week I’ve had I’m thinking I might just […]

How To Have A Mental Breakdown

Some days…especially days when you are still awake at 1:45am in the morning working on your taxes that are due in less than a week …well, let’s just say those days are NOT a whole lot of fun. Days like that you’ve gotta find something to laugh about or you will lose your mind buried […]

God Doesn’t Care If You Serve In Marble Halls Or Stable Stalls

Today I had meetings with a non-profit organization called Bridle Up Hope that helps to build self-esteem and self-confidence in young women through teaching them to work with horses in combination with learning Sean Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens principles. This organization s making a huge impact in the lives of many young […]

Advice For The Overwhelmed

Today was one of those days where when it comes to an end you just want to curl up in a ball and cry because you’ve had one thing after another pile on you so fast and furious you don’t even feel like you have time to breathe, let alone catch a potty break or […]

The Difference One Very Determined Person Can Make

Today I had a luncheon and board meeting for the Stella H. Oaks Foundation board that I serve on.  The mission of the foundation is bringing hope to single moms through education. Let me explain why the foundation bears Stella’s name. Stella H. Oaks was a single mother of three after her husband died of […]

Look Up And Enjoy The Lights

December is here and it just happens to be my favorite month of the entire year! I love Christmastime SO MUCH!  I love singing along to Christmas music on the radio. I love watching Hallmark Christmas movies with my hot cocoa and whipped cream. I love the spirit of Christmas in the air. I love […]

Kindness Is Free. Sprinkle That Stuff Everywhere

“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.” -Oscar Wilde I was in the airport when I saw her – a young mother with her small baby strapped to her chest in a carrier and her little two year old boy by her side with a car seat in one hand […]

An Evening With Josh Groban and Idina Menzel

Tonight I was able to attend Josh Groban’s AMAZING concert which had Idina Menzel as his opening performer. Talk about two amazing performers. It was seriously an amazing concert! If you get the chance to see it in your local areas I would highly recommend going…unbelievable show! What I was most impressed with was that […]

Reframing How We View Social Media

“The opposite of depression is purpose.”  –(a blog post from Ashley, daughter of Amy Rees Anderson) There was a book I read as a child called “You Are Special” by Max Lucado that I think perfectly teaches this principle. It’s about a wooden doll named Punchinello, who lives in a town full of Wemmicks (other […]

Not That You Should Own Nothing, But That Nothing Should Own You

“Stuff”…we all wish for it, we even work really hard so we can have the means to get it, but the truth is that often times the idea of having it turns out to be much more exciting than the reality of what having it entails… I’ve been as guilty as the next person when […]

Ten Rules For The Good

Starting off any new week,  it’s always good to have a really good motivational poem or quote that can help put things into perspective and motivate you to want to be better.  A perfect example of one that works well for any given week is these ten rules written by Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson’s Ten […]

You Can’t Depend On Your Eyes When Your Imagination Is Out Of Focus

“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” – Mark Twain Just as you can’t trust your eyes when your imagination is out of focus, you can’t trust your emotions when your body is physically spent.  Sometimes we get moving so fast and furious through life that the terrain we are […]

Keep On Keepin’ On

The weekend is just around the corner, which in and of itself is something to get excited about.  Some days things go fantastic and other days can be a struggle just to make it through. When times are tough the best thing to do is remind yourself to just keep on keepin’ on: Keep on Keepin’ […]

If It’s Your Job To Eat A Frog It’s Best To Do It First Thing In The Morning

“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” – Mark Twain I tend to struggle with wanting to take on the big tasks first thing in my day. […]

Work as if everything depends on you, Pray as if everything depends on God

I must have been out of my mind to think it was going to be possible for me to be gone for a week to London and then come home for a few days and go right back out of country again to Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Vienna, and Budapest for another full week and then […]

Give people the benefit of the doubt

“A lovely little girl was holding two apples with both hands. Her mom came in and softly asked her little daughter with a smile: my sweetie, could you give your mom one of your two apples? The girl looked up at her mom for some seconds, then she suddenly took a quick bite on one […]