What the beauty of winter taught me

Winter has always been painful for me.  The cold hurts and I get nervous from driving in the snow.  But I remember something that someone told me last year.  It has been on my mind now and then but especially when winter arrives.  This person said if you don't like something, look for the good in it.  Do things that are fun. So, that is what I did. The other day I went up the mountain to take some pictures of the snow.  I took a photography class last summer and I wanted to practice and have fun taking a few shots of the scenery. I saw winter in a different light.  It truly is beautiful in it's unique way.  I came to the Pineview Reservoir and saw this beautiful shot.  So, I took a few.  My mother suggested I submit some pictures to the KSL weather photo contest.  I thought about it and the next day I sat down at my computer and chose my favorite ones.  Later that night, I received a text from my sister stating that my photo had been featured on the KSL 5:00pm weather.  I couldn't believe it.  I had just submitted my photo just hours before.  I looked on line and sure enough, there it was.  I am so grateful for the risk I took.  It reminded me that you never know what might happen.  You just have to try.

A clip of the weather report when my photo was featured.

Joy: The Light of the World

Since I was young, one of my favorite parts of celebrating Christmas is the lights.   They make me feel so happy.  I love to see the lights that decorate trees, yards, and streets.  I started thinking deeply about this tradition last year, since every tradition has a reason.  Why lights at Christmas?  And, do they have a significant piece explaining the true meaning of Christmas?

Many of us know the character the Grinch in the story “The Grinch that Stole Christmas” by Dr. Seuss. In the story, the Grinch was very concerned about the good feelings that came from Christmas.  He being, well, a Grinch, didn’t want anything to do with good feelings.  After failing at stealing Christmas, the Grinch realized that Christmas doesn’t come from a box.  It doesn’t come from a bag.  The Grinch said it himself, “Maybe Christmas means just a little bit more.”  To me, that “little bit more” comes in the symbol of the lights.  In fact, the lights are the whole reason for Christmas.

So, what is light? Light is the agent that stimulates our vision to make things visible. So, of course without light, we couldn’t see anything. Objects are visible to us when the light reflects off them and enters our eyes. In a completely dark room, there is no light and thus no stimulation. The neat thing is, light and dark cannot exist in the same space.  If there is the tinniest of light, it starts the process of defeating darkness. Light is a valuable resource we use every minute of every day.  We need it in more ways than just one.

The sun, the greatest natural source of light, does more than give us light.  It warms our beautiful earth and its sun-rays give us a much needed vitamin to lift our mood: Vitamin D.  The sun is a literal source of happiness. Without it, we have feelings of depression, sadness, and hopelessness. And speaking as a person who has been there, this is not a desirable place.  But sadly, our world makes us think that we should get our source of happiness from places that don’t produce real happiness.  They can actually cause more depression if we rely solely on them because most of the sources are temporary.  The Grinch thought Christmas came from the store. The world thinks we can get joy from similar places.  I like to call them the Three P’s: possessions, positions, popularity.

The dark place where only temporary happiness is found is undesirable to most. Scrooge in The Christmas Carol lived there a good portion of his life. His soul, the combination of the spiritual and physical being, was deficient in spiritual Vitamin D. This spiritual Vitamin D, the true source of joy to our soul, is love.  In fact, without the light of joy, our thinking enters a different kind of reality.  The kind of reality that stops us from making any kind of progress.  Because, you see, without light we cannot see.  And when we cannot see we have no direction.  If there is no direction, we do not move.  And when we do not move…. we are stagnate. 

So, the question is, how do we get that love?  How do we find the light?  How do we find true happiness?  First, we need to stop striving to get it from the wrong places.  We need to stop worrying about what we have... our possessions.  After a short time, those fancy, new, fun things become old and worthless. As long as we have the resources to fit our needs then that should be enough. 

My sister Susan told me of an experience that happened to her while living in Ukraine:  There was an elderly lady who woke up one morning to find she did not have any food in her cupboard.  So, she did the only thing she knew how.  She went to a field to pick wild flowers so she could sell them where most people would pass by: the metro.  She planned to buy food with the money she earned.  Most people passed her by.  Wild flowers did not interest them.  But when Susan saw this woman, she stopped.  She asked the lady what she would do once she sold her flowers.  The lady replied, “I will go home.”  So, Susan bought the flowers knowing she was helping a little old lady help herself.  The lady didn’t have the fanciest car or clothes.  In fact, she was barley getting by.  But with work, she had what she needed.  And for her, that would be enough.  Susan was blessed with enough money to help her out.  And for her, that brought happiness.

We also need to stop worrying about positions. We live in a competitive world.  We feel that in order to be somebody we must have an important position. How false that is! Yes, we need to work hard to accomplish goals and reach our dreams.  But that doesn’t mean we need to all be successful businessmen or any other high ranking profession or position in any other area of our lives. What it does mean is that each one of us must be the best “me” we know how. We are all unique.  We all have different gifts and talents.  We ALL have something important to contribute to the world. 

There is a story called Giraffes Can’t Dance written by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees. It is about a giraffe named Gerald who doesn’t know how to dance.  The other animals make fun of him when he tries.  Of course, Gerald felt defeated at the thought of even trying.  That is until a cricket came along and told him, “Sometimes when you’re different you just need a different song.”  And with that Gerald found his song.  He found a way to dance.  And when Gerald felt good about what he had done, the other animals noticed. They said, ‘“How did you learn to dance like that? Please, Gerald, tell us how.” But Gerald Simply twirled around and finished with a bow. Then he raised his head and looked up at the moon and stars above. “We all can dance,” he said, “when we find music that we love.”’  We need to find what we love. We need to find our own song.  And when we do, then we can dance.  Or in other words, we all have a beautiful life to live.  We just need to find our talents and abilities to make it beautiful.

And lastly, we need to stop worrying about our popularity.  Social media has made it harder to tackle this quest.  The more views or likes we get on a post seems to send the message that we are liked and accepted among our “friends”. And then, of course there is the social seen where you must have many friends. And if you don’t… well then the world sends the message: Looser! And if we don’t do what our friends do, well then forget about being accepted. But Christ, the very reason we celebrate this wonderful holiday, showed us that we don’t need to be popular to be happy. We just need a true relationship with Him because He, Christ, is the light of the world.  He, and everything about Him, is what true happiness encompasses.  He loved even though he wasn’t loved in return.  He served even though He was spit upon. He did what was right even though the Pharisees told Him He was a sinner.  Was Christ popular? No.  And still isn’t. But He is the greatest source of happiness that the world doesn’t recognize.

I recently wrote the words to a song called Through HisEyes that describes how, through Christ, we can be happy. The end summarizes what He, through the Atonement, has done for us:

Our Savior gave us eyes to see

He gave us the gift of charity

I must see me through His eyes

Only then can I see my capability

Christ gave us the beautiful gift of charity, pure love.  He gave us the capability to love others without limitations.  He gave us the ability to see ourselves and others as He sees all and do what He knows we can do.  When we love and see others and ourselves through the eyes of our Savior Jesus Christ, we find the light that only comes from Him. We find the source of joy, our spiritual Vitamin D, which we all yearn to have.

No, Christmas or joy does not come from the store.  It doesn’t even come from fame or world success. Joy, real everlasting joy, comes from Christ who is the light of the world.  And to me, the true meaning of Christmas is just that, Christ. And every year at Christmas time when I see lights on the tree, I think of my Savior who was born so long ago and what He did for me that I too might have joy.  When announcing the birth of the Savior to the shepherds, the angle said, “For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”