Tag Archives: appreciation

Moments That Matter Most

Rather than writing much tonight I wanted to share a really short 3 minute video that has a message that is sure to inspire you today: And that says it all….perfectly…. Have a great day everyone! ~Amy Rees Anderson

If your future self could speak to you…

I have been out in Washington DC for the last few days and I was reminded of how beautiful Virginia is.  I lived in Vienna, Virginia when I was a teenager in High School and during this visit I was able to drive past the house I used to live in while I was there […]

What would you do if you were exactly the person you’d like to be?

Too often in life we have a tendency to discount our own potential. It is often much easier to recognize other people’s talents and abilities than it is to see our own. But there is  a trick you can use to help yourself rise to the level of person you want to become – some […]

Put-off Town – Where Procrastination and Unhappiness Reside

PUT-OFF TOWN Did you ever go to Put-Off town, Where the houses are old and tumble-down, And everything tarries and everything drags, With dirty streets and people in rags? On the street of Slow lives Old Man Wait, And his two little boys named Linger and Late; With unclean hands and tousled hair, And a […]

There isn’t a person you wouldn’t love if you could read their whole story

“There isn’t a person you wouldn’t love if you could read their whole story.”  – Marjorie Hinckley I love that quote. When someone reminded me of this quote the other day I couldn’t help but stop and think how true it is. We see people through a certain lens…we make snap judgments…we make assumptions about […]

What creates that sparkle?

Last Saturday would have been my Grandma Pearson’s birthday if she were still alive and I have been thinking much about her.  She was one of the most beautiful people that I have ever known.  Not so much because of her external appearance, although she was a very pretty lady, but because of the woman […]

Living Far Beneath Your Privileges

One of my very favorite speakers is Dieter F. Uchtdorf. He has a way of using stories to help teach messages in a way that resonates so clearly.  In one of his talks, “Your Potential, Your Privileges” he shares the following story: Here is the text of the story itself for those who are unable […]

Pretend You’re In Magic Land Where Everything Is Guaranteed To Be Successful – What Would You Do?

If you could do anything you wanted and be 100% positive it wouldn’t fail, what would you do?  Have you ever asked yourself that question?  Try it…it’s an interesting exercise to do with yourself. I was talking with a friend tonight about what they want to do with their life business-wise. I asked them what […]

The Optimists Creed

“Promise Yourself To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet. To make all your friends feel that there is something in them To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. To think only the […]

What’s not to love about Labor Day? We get to celebrate work by not working! Perfect!

I mean really…you gotta love Labor Day – it’s the day we celebrate work by doing absolutely no work at all!!! YAY for Labor Day! I love holiday weekends. I love holidays period. I love that everyone else is willing to stop working at the same time so you don’t have to have guilt that […]

Leave it all on the ice

These last few months have been a roller coaster for me. Between my family and both our extended families we have experienced some of life’s highest highs and some of its lowest lows all within a matter of just a few months. In those months there have been days of being happier than I could […]

No one has the perfect life and thank heaven for those who are willing to admit that

It all looks so perfect….people’s social media posts with photos of their fabulous trips and their perfectly gorgeous family picture photos where every child is sitting up straight and smiling into the camera. There are photos of people’s beautiful new sports car they just bought, and photos of their perfectly decorated dinner table for the […]

Miracles Happen Every Day All Around The World

Today we saw an awe inspiring eclipse take place…last Friday I saw the miracle of my new little grandbaby being born into this world… Miracles are happening every day and they are happening all around the world…we just have to recognize them. “Miracles happen every day, change your perception of what a miracle is and […]

It’s not distance that keeps people apart; it’s a lack of communication

Communicating in relationships (whether at work, at home, or with friends) isn’t easy…in fact it takes a lot more effort to communicate with the other person then it does to avoid communicating, because communicating takes WO-ORK!  Yet what may have appeared easier (avoiding communicating) in the moment, will prove to have made your life far […]

The Common Law of Life

Good Timber   -by Douglas Malloch The tree that never had to fight For sun and sky and air and light, But stood out in the open plain And always got its share of rain, Never became a forest king But lived and died a scrubby thing. The man who never had to toil To […]

“One you have experienced excellence, you will never again be content with mediocrity”

Dr. Charles H. Malik, former Secretary General of the United Nations, once shared: “I respect all men, and it is from disrespect for none that I say there are no great leaders in the world today. In fact, greatness itself is laughed to scorn. You should not be great today—you should sink yourself into the […]

Do Parents Have Favorite Children?

I have two children, a 24 year old son and a 21 year old daughter. They are the best of friends until it comes to one particular argument that they have been having for the last 19 years since they were both old enough to debate it….who is Mom’s favorite child? And regardless of how […]

That Moment You Realize That You Are Watching A Video of, Well, Yourself?

Last week we were preparing to host a group of people on our houseboat down at Lake Powell. I was running around like crazy trying to make sure every throw pillow was perfectly positioned and every bit of dust was off the floors so that everything would look absolutely perfect for our guests who were […]

The Energy That Comes From Doing What You Love

“The only great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs Tonight I was asked to give a keynote speech to a group of entrepreneurs at Startup Ignition, a startup Bootcamp program for entrepreneurs. Truth be told as I was driving down to give my speech I was feeling exhausted from having had […]

8 things to remember when going through tough times

I found this the other day and absolutely loved it! I have no idea who wrote it but it is awesome! For those who can’t load the image let me repeat the 8 things to remember when going through tough times: 1. Everything can – and will – change 2. You’ve overcome challenges before 3. […]

The Power of Jimmy Johns

Today I’ve got a fun guest post from my 21 year-old daughter Ashley to share with you called “The Power of Jimmy Johns”: For those of you who don’t know… I have a borderline OBSESSION with Jimmy Johns Gourmet Sandwiches. And when I say obsession… I mean I found 12 Jimmy Johns wrappers in my […]

If parenthood came with a GPS it would mostly just say: RECALCULATING

The other day my son Dalton, whose wife is expecting their first child in August, called me sounding a little stressed and said something to the effect of, “Mom I just realized that I am going to have a kid here soon  that’s going to be with me forever and that I need to parent! […]

Nice People Are Awesome!

I have spent the last several days in meetings with a group of the nicest people you could imagine. They are people who are kind, genuine, down to earth, and generous beyond measure and it was refreshing and invigorating to be surrounded by people who have a mutual passion for helping others.  There is something […]

If we all took the summer off none of us would get behind on work

I love summertime. I love the sun and the water and everything about summertime. The only thing that is hard about summer is that for every week you take off and every trip you go on you have to carry the stress of coming back home and facing all the work that has piled up […]

The Importance of Dads

“A daughter needs a Dad to be the standard against she will judge all men.” I was blessed with a Dad who set the bar unbelievably high as to what to expect from the men in my life. And it was his example that led me to choose an amazing man for my husband and […]

The Time Bank

The Time Bank: Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course!!!! Each of us […]

The Glory of Friendship

“The glory of friendship is not in the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is in the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him.”     -Ralph Waldo Emerson When someone believes in you and trusts you […]

You can have what you want, just not all at once.

We all have dreams and hopefully we’ve all set goals to help us to achieve those dreams. But too often people become discouraged when they can’t achieve their goals as fast as they’d like and as a result they begin to give up on their dreams. The reality of life is that most things end […]

An easy experiment that will make you HAPPIER!

Many years ago I wrote about something called “The Open Your Heart Experiment”. This experiment stemmed from a challenge suggested by an author named Virginia Hinckley Pearce, who wrote the book, “A Heart Like His: Making Space for God`s Love in Your Life”. Here is what I shared about The Open Your Heart Experiment: “The […]

We are all equal in the only way that truly matters

One of the greatest stories of all time is the story of the Sneetches by Dr. Seuss.  In this story we read about these creatures called Sneetches. There were two groups of Sneetches, one group had stars on their bellies and the other group had plain bellies without any stars.  The Star Belly Sneetches were […]