Hi folks. I received a voicemail message this afternoon that bothered me a little bit and made me feel that I needed to clarify something. I apologize for not addressing the individual personally yet, but the time difference between here and the east coast makes it a little bit difficult.
The message that I got thanked me for the recent update and said that neither he nor his wife understood how destitute I had been prior to my move to Utah and shortly after. Although I have been short on material wealth, I feel that I have been far from destitute. This is definitely a learning situation for me. I feel that I am learning what it takes to truly be a disciple of Christ. At least I hope that I am.
I had another friend say that there were a lot of trials that I have been through that I did not have to go through. That is probably true, but everything that I have been through has been a learning experience. Unfortunately, we seem to learn the most when we experience the most adversity. I am not trying to purposefully seek out adversity either, but I am not going to run from it either. Hopefully I will emerge from the refiners fire a better, more grateful and more humble man.
I feel that I should also clarify a point that I made on a previous blog about it being difficult for me to find strenght to go forward. I am in no way considering not going forward. Quitting, in any way, shape, or fashion has not entered my mind. I desire to live "after the manner of happiness." And the only way for me to do that is to "Keep Moving Forward," as is the motto in my favorite move of all times, Walt Disney's Meet the Robinsons which ends in a fabulous quote from Walt Disney himself:
“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”–Walt Disney
Thank you all for your friendship, faith, prayers, and support. I hope to be able to return the favor some day.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Friday, December 7, 2007
Movin On Up
Thanks to a good night's sleep. I woke up to a new prospective. I now feel like George Jefferson.
Well we're movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.
Fish don't fry in the kitchen;
Beans don't burn on the grill.
Took a whole lotta tryin',
Just to get up that hill.
Now we're up in the big leagues,
Gettin' our turn at bat.
As long as we live, it's you and me baby,
There ain't nothin wrong with that.
Well we're movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.
Fish don't fry in the kitchen;
Beans don't burn on the grill.
Took a whole lotta tryin',
Just to get up that hill.
Now we're up in the big leagues,
Gettin' our turn at bat.
As long as we live, it's you and me baby,
There ain't nothin wrong with that.
Well we're movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.
The Law of Undulation
Forgive me if this entry is a little long. There are some feelings that I need to get out. I feel that I need to start with an excerpt from The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis (1942,
My Dear Wormwood,
So, you ‘have great hopes that the patient’s religious phase is dying away’, have you? ...Has no one ever told you about the law of Undulation?
Humans are amphibians—half spirit and half animal. (The Enemy’s determination to produce such a revolting hybrid was one of the things that determined Our Father to withdraw his support from Him.) As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time. This means that while their spirit can be directed to an eternal object, their bodies, passions, and imaginations are in continual change, for to be in time means to change. Their nearest approach to constancy, therefore, is undulation—the repeated return to a level from which they repeatedly fall back, a series of troughs and peaks. If you had watched your patient carefully, you would have seen this undulations in every department of his life—his interest in his work, his affection for his friends, his physical appetites, all go up and down. As long as he lives on earth periods of emotional and bodily richness and liveliness will alternate with periods of numbness and poverty…
Now it may surprise you to learn that in His (the Savior’s) efforts to get permanent possession of the soul, He relies on the troughs even more than on the peaks; some of His favourites have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else. The reason is this. To us (demons) a human is primary food; our aim is the absorption of its will into ours… But the obedience which the Enemy demands of men is quite a different thing. One must face the fact that all the talk about His love for men, and His service being perfect freedom, is not (as one would gladly believe) mere propaganda, but an appalling truth. He really does want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of himself—creatures whose life, on its miniature scale, will be qualitatively like His own, not because He has absorbed them but because their wills freely conform to His. We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons. We want to suck in, he wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; He is full and flows over. Our war aim is a world in which Our Father Below has drawn all other beings into himself: the Enemy wants a world full of beings united to him but still distinct.
And that is where the troughs come in. You must have often wondered why the Enemy does not make more use of His power to be sensibly present to human souls in any degree He chooses and at any moment. But you now see that the Irresistible and the Indisputable are two weapons which the very nature of His scheme forbids Him to use. Merely to override a human will (as His felt presence in any but the faintest and most mitigated degree would certainly do) would be for Him useless. He cannot ravish. He can only woo. For his ignoble idea is to eat the cake and have it; the creatures are to be one with Him, but yet themselves; merely to cancel them, or assimilate them will not serve. He is prepared to do a little overriding at the beginning. He will set them off with communications of His presence which, though faint, seem great to them, with emotional sweetness, and easy conquest over temptation. But He never allows this state of affairs to last long. Sooner or later he withdraws, if not in fact, at least form their conscious experience, all those supports and incentives. He leaves the creature to stand on its own legs—to carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish. It is through such trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be. Hence the prayers offered in the state of dryness are those which please Him best…He cannot tempt to virtue…He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away his hands; and if only the will to walk is really there He is pleased with their stumbles. Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why hey has been forsaken, and still obeys. (Emphasis added)
I feel like I am going through a trough. I have had so many trials and heartache during the past few years that I am beginning to wonder when it is going to end. I am beginning to wonder how I am going to get the strength to go on. I know that school is only a month away, but it seems like that month might as well be a year.
There are several things that keep me going. One of them is a talk from Jeffrey R. Holland, an Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, entitled, Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence (BYU Devotional 3/19/1999), in which he quotes Hebrews 10: 35-36, 38-39:
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise…
…If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him…
…We are not of them who draw back unto perdition. (Emphasis added.)
I do not want to stop climbing the mountain just before I get to the top, even if it is obscured by fog. Although I do not look like it, I am familiar with weight lifting. I am aware of the theory that says that it is when the muscle has been worked so much that it can barely function, and a spotter is required, that the most growth occurs.
I know that with Jesus at my side I have the best spotter in the world. I also know that I am surrounded by a team of spotters who are my friends and family. I also know that I am meant to do most of the work. I am thankful for all of you who are spotting for me, praying for me, calling me, and encouraging me. Your support means the world to me and I could not do it without you. I will keep you posted of my progress.
Love,
Mark
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Go and Sell All That Thou Hast, and Give to the Poor...and Come, Follow Me
Many of you may have been wondering what on earth I am doing in Utah if I loved (and still love) Florida so much. Well, I have decided that it is time for full disclosure. Although my time in Florida was one of the best times in my life, it was also one of the hardest times in my life. I have often said that socially, emotionally, and spiritually it was tremendous. I have grown more in those areas then I would have ever thought possible. Financially, it was a disaster! I burned though all of the money in my 401k, accrued thousands of dollars in credit card debt, and had a car repossessed, all in a space of two years.
The week before my car was to be repossessed I found myself sitting at my job as a telephone customer service representative for a major software company one day and had just gotten off of a particularly nasty call. I said to myself, "I don't have to take this any more," and instantly went online to Brigham Young University's web page and began to apply for admission to their undergraduate program. I had not been thinking about going back to school at the time and I don't know what came over me. I just knew that I was sick of the kinds of jobs that I could get without a degree and knew that I had to do something so that none of the problems that I had been having would ever happen again. As an after thought, I also applied to go to school at the BYU campus in Idaho. I didn't really want to go to Rexburg, I had been there before and was not all that impressed. It was cold! (It had earned itself the nickname of "Iceberg!") But I felt that applying there would be the right thing for me to do.
The day that my car was repossessed I decided to quit my job. I could not justify spending 6 hours commuting to and from work on a bus to work for 8 hours at a job that I was not satisfied with. I really enjoyed the people there, but working there was sucking all of the life out of me. At the same time I told my landlord that I would be leaving at the end of the month. The plan was for me to move to Utah and go to school because I was convinced that BYU in Provo, UT was going to accept me.
The next few weeks were tough because my landlord had agreed to let me out of my lease if I would vacate my apartment before the end of the month so that he could rent it out and I had no where to go. I had not heard from either one of the schools yet either. I was scared. I didn't know what was going to happen and I was running out of options. I was talking about my situation with a very good friend of mine and Matthew 19: 16-21 came into my head and I felt that Heavenly Father had given me a task to do and I needed to trust him. I also though of the scripture further down in the chapter that says that it "would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19: 24) So I decided to do exactly what The Savior had told the rich man to do so I sold or gave away most of my stuff. I sold my Select Comfort Sleep Number 5000 bed to some very good friends of mine who will be getting married in July. (This was very hard because it was the only bed that I have ever been able to sleep comfortable on since I became an adult.) I sold several of my books on amazon.com, sold some more books, videos, and furniture to a friend of mine from Church, and gave away most of the rest of what I owed to either the Goodwill or the Salvation Army. I now can fit the bulk of all of my earthly possessions in two suitcases, two duffel bags, and a few boxes.
I was not accepted to BYU in Utah, but I was accepted to BYU in Idaho. When I found that out, plans to move to Utah were already in the works. I stayed with my brother Keith and his wife Caroline in Florida for a few weeks and then, thanks to my bishop, hopped on a plane bound to Salt Lake City. This haven't been easy since I got here. I had to stay with the brother of a friend of mine in SLC for a week until I could get a ride to Provo. (Thanks Naomi!) Then I stayed with my friend Elliot for two weeks in Provo where I subsequently got the stomach flu and had to go to the emergency room to have fluids pumped back into me. Now I am staying in South Jordan with the parents of a friend and former co-worker of mine from New Hampshire. And I just started working at Target after being unemployed since October.
Like I said, things haven't been easy since I have been out here. If it hadn't been for the generosity of others I would definitely be on the streets at this moment. But I feel exceedingly blessed. The Lord has allowed me to reconnect with many old but good friends. He has helped me to get everything but my housing worked out with the school, and he has helped me to get a job. I am excited for this new beginning and am grateful to all of those who have helped me, encouraged me, and prayed for me. I wouldn't have been able to do it without you.
I hope that this wasn't too long. I will write more later. Until then, God bless.
The week before my car was to be repossessed I found myself sitting at my job as a telephone customer service representative for a major software company one day and had just gotten off of a particularly nasty call. I said to myself, "I don't have to take this any more," and instantly went online to Brigham Young University's web page and began to apply for admission to their undergraduate program. I had not been thinking about going back to school at the time and I don't know what came over me. I just knew that I was sick of the kinds of jobs that I could get without a degree and knew that I had to do something so that none of the problems that I had been having would ever happen again. As an after thought, I also applied to go to school at the BYU campus in Idaho. I didn't really want to go to Rexburg, I had been there before and was not all that impressed. It was cold! (It had earned itself the nickname of "Iceberg!") But I felt that applying there would be the right thing for me to do.
The day that my car was repossessed I decided to quit my job. I could not justify spending 6 hours commuting to and from work on a bus to work for 8 hours at a job that I was not satisfied with. I really enjoyed the people there, but working there was sucking all of the life out of me. At the same time I told my landlord that I would be leaving at the end of the month. The plan was for me to move to Utah and go to school because I was convinced that BYU in Provo, UT was going to accept me.
The next few weeks were tough because my landlord had agreed to let me out of my lease if I would vacate my apartment before the end of the month so that he could rent it out and I had no where to go. I had not heard from either one of the schools yet either. I was scared. I didn't know what was going to happen and I was running out of options. I was talking about my situation with a very good friend of mine and Matthew 19: 16-21 came into my head and I felt that Heavenly Father had given me a task to do and I needed to trust him. I also though of the scripture further down in the chapter that says that it "would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19: 24) So I decided to do exactly what The Savior had told the rich man to do so I sold or gave away most of my stuff. I sold my Select Comfort Sleep Number 5000 bed to some very good friends of mine who will be getting married in July. (This was very hard because it was the only bed that I have ever been able to sleep comfortable on since I became an adult.) I sold several of my books on amazon.com, sold some more books, videos, and furniture to a friend of mine from Church, and gave away most of the rest of what I owed to either the Goodwill or the Salvation Army. I now can fit the bulk of all of my earthly possessions in two suitcases, two duffel bags, and a few boxes.
I was not accepted to BYU in Utah, but I was accepted to BYU in Idaho. When I found that out, plans to move to Utah were already in the works. I stayed with my brother Keith and his wife Caroline in Florida for a few weeks and then, thanks to my bishop, hopped on a plane bound to Salt Lake City. This haven't been easy since I got here. I had to stay with the brother of a friend of mine in SLC for a week until I could get a ride to Provo. (Thanks Naomi!) Then I stayed with my friend Elliot for two weeks in Provo where I subsequently got the stomach flu and had to go to the emergency room to have fluids pumped back into me. Now I am staying in South Jordan with the parents of a friend and former co-worker of mine from New Hampshire. And I just started working at Target after being unemployed since October.
Like I said, things haven't been easy since I have been out here. If it hadn't been for the generosity of others I would definitely be on the streets at this moment. But I feel exceedingly blessed. The Lord has allowed me to reconnect with many old but good friends. He has helped me to get everything but my housing worked out with the school, and he has helped me to get a job. I am excited for this new beginning and am grateful to all of those who have helped me, encouraged me, and prayed for me. I wouldn't have been able to do it without you.
I hope that this wasn't too long. I will write more later. Until then, God bless.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
A Little Bit About Me
Since I am going to be inviting people to my blog who probably don't know a lot about me, I decided that I should write a little introduction. My name is Mark Trombly and I recently moved from Orlando, FL to Provo, UT. I am 33 years old, the son of Brian Trombly, Sr. and Ellen Rodriguez. I was born in 1074 in Gainesville, FL and am the second of four boys that my parents had while they were together.
My family moved around a lot while I was younger, that's why it's always hard for me to answer the question, "Where are you from?" I always have to ask people to qualify that by asking in return, "What do you mean by that? Do you mean, 'Where do you live; where were you born; or where did you grow up?' As I said previously I was born in Gainesville, FL but shortly after I was born my family moved back up to New Hampshire (where they were living when they got married) and then back down to Florida. Shortly after that we moved to Denver, CO, and then to Dallas, TX. It wasn't after my father's mother died when I was five that we relocated once again to New Hampshire. We lived there for a few years and then moved to Maine where my mother and father got divorced. My three brothers and I stayed with my mother and we settled in the Kennebunk/ Kennebunkport area. I graduated from Kennebunk High School in 1992.
I am a convert of 14 years to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I can honestly say that joining the Church has been the best decision that I have ever made in my life. I love what the Church teaches about families, my relationship to Heavenly Father, and service to others. Being a member of the Church has literally changed my life. I can honestly say that if it wasn't for that, I might not be here today.
I hope that you enjoy reading my blog. I plan to share some insights that I have had recently and continue to have as time goes on. I hope to also share some fun stuff and will hopefully be able to throw in a few pictures here and there. This might be a little difficult because I don't have a camera at the moment. But I need to try to make my cousin Tim happy, and he says that blogging without pictures is just so boring, so I'll try.
I will be writing soon. Lots to catch up on. See you later.
My family moved around a lot while I was younger, that's why it's always hard for me to answer the question, "Where are you from?" I always have to ask people to qualify that by asking in return, "What do you mean by that? Do you mean, 'Where do you live; where were you born; or where did you grow up?' As I said previously I was born in Gainesville, FL but shortly after I was born my family moved back up to New Hampshire (where they were living when they got married) and then back down to Florida. Shortly after that we moved to Denver, CO, and then to Dallas, TX. It wasn't after my father's mother died when I was five that we relocated once again to New Hampshire. We lived there for a few years and then moved to Maine where my mother and father got divorced. My three brothers and I stayed with my mother and we settled in the Kennebunk/ Kennebunkport area. I graduated from Kennebunk High School in 1992.
I am a convert of 14 years to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I can honestly say that joining the Church has been the best decision that I have ever made in my life. I love what the Church teaches about families, my relationship to Heavenly Father, and service to others. Being a member of the Church has literally changed my life. I can honestly say that if it wasn't for that, I might not be here today.
I hope that you enjoy reading my blog. I plan to share some insights that I have had recently and continue to have as time goes on. I hope to also share some fun stuff and will hopefully be able to throw in a few pictures here and there. This might be a little difficult because I don't have a camera at the moment. But I need to try to make my cousin Tim happy, and he says that blogging without pictures is just so boring, so I'll try.
I will be writing soon. Lots to catch up on. See you later.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
A Few Thoughts
I woke up this morning and went for a walk at 5:20 am. I have been doing this off and on. These days it has been more on than off, thank goodness. During these walks I have adopted something that Anthony Robbins calls the "Hour of Power." I give thanks for the good things in my life and make a point to look for things during the walk that I can be grateful for. I envision the way that I want my life to be and shout out affirmations to reaffirm those visions. It sounds corny, but it works.
This morning I walked for 1:20. During the end of my walk I could feel that change was happening in my body. My body began to feel thin, fit, and strong (one of the affirmations that I tell myself). I noticed that that feeling is different than anything that I had felt in a long time. I could sense that a dramatic change was getting ready to take place. And this time it was going to be permanent.
I then thought back to the last time I had lost a lot of weight and why it didn't last. It had been in early 1999 and I had gotten a job working on the shipping dock of the Wal-mart distribution center in Raymond, NH. I lost 60 pounds in three months and I looked good. This morning, while I was finishing my walk I thought about that moment, why I didn't maintain the weight loss after I stopped working for Wal-mart, and why I felt different now.
I realized one significant difference between now and then. Back then, my weight loss was controlled and dictated by outside sources aka a job that kicked my butt. Even thought I had lost a lot of weight and changed physically, I had not changed mentally. I still saw myself as being fat. I still had a fat mentality. I had stopped eating and had even been asked by a dental assistant if I had been anorexic.
This time was a period of a lot of stress for me. I had just moved from NY to Maine to NH. I had never been in a physical job before and I was living without any reliable form of transportation. I was also making choices and decisions based upon what I thought other people thought of me. I was trying really hard to serve a mission although my patriarchal blessing specifically mentions serving a mission later on in life. And I did not see myself as having the power to make lasting change in my life. All of this came to a culminated into a nervous brake down and I ended up in a psychiatric hospital for 1 week.
I took me a while to recover from this. I still saw myself as being fat, I subconsciously did whatever I could do to force my body to match the mental image that I had of it in my mind. I didn't exercise and I ate all of the peanut butter cups and candy bars that I could.
So, what's different now? Instead of focusing on external forces to help me loose weight (I mean achieve my ideal weight of 198 lbs) I am using internal forces. I am developing a mental picture of how I want to look and then taking steps to make my body comply with that image. I actually am beginning to see myself as having power to effect positive change in my life. I am making conscious change instead of unconscious change. And I am making changes in my life based upon what is good for me and not what other people want me to do. Nobody buy myself could have helped me to come to this point in my life. No amount of well-intentioned friends, family, and/or doctors could have led me to make this decision. I had to make it myself and I had to be conscious about it.
Living in Florida has been both difficult and rewarding. Although it has been a real struggle financially (I am literally on the verge of either loosing my car or being evicted from my apartment, and yes, I am accepting donations.), spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and socially it has been one of the best decisions of my life. I have grown more since moving down here than I have in the past 10 years.
I would like to thank all of you who have contributed to my success though your faith and prayers. I could not have done it without you. More updates to follow.
This morning I walked for 1:20. During the end of my walk I could feel that change was happening in my body. My body began to feel thin, fit, and strong (one of the affirmations that I tell myself). I noticed that that feeling is different than anything that I had felt in a long time. I could sense that a dramatic change was getting ready to take place. And this time it was going to be permanent.
I then thought back to the last time I had lost a lot of weight and why it didn't last. It had been in early 1999 and I had gotten a job working on the shipping dock of the Wal-mart distribution center in Raymond, NH. I lost 60 pounds in three months and I looked good. This morning, while I was finishing my walk I thought about that moment, why I didn't maintain the weight loss after I stopped working for Wal-mart, and why I felt different now.
I realized one significant difference between now and then. Back then, my weight loss was controlled and dictated by outside sources aka a job that kicked my butt. Even thought I had lost a lot of weight and changed physically, I had not changed mentally. I still saw myself as being fat. I still had a fat mentality. I had stopped eating and had even been asked by a dental assistant if I had been anorexic.
This time was a period of a lot of stress for me. I had just moved from NY to Maine to NH. I had never been in a physical job before and I was living without any reliable form of transportation. I was also making choices and decisions based upon what I thought other people thought of me. I was trying really hard to serve a mission although my patriarchal blessing specifically mentions serving a mission later on in life. And I did not see myself as having the power to make lasting change in my life. All of this came to a culminated into a nervous brake down and I ended up in a psychiatric hospital for 1 week.
I took me a while to recover from this. I still saw myself as being fat, I subconsciously did whatever I could do to force my body to match the mental image that I had of it in my mind. I didn't exercise and I ate all of the peanut butter cups and candy bars that I could.
So, what's different now? Instead of focusing on external forces to help me loose weight (I mean achieve my ideal weight of 198 lbs) I am using internal forces. I am developing a mental picture of how I want to look and then taking steps to make my body comply with that image. I actually am beginning to see myself as having power to effect positive change in my life. I am making conscious change instead of unconscious change. And I am making changes in my life based upon what is good for me and not what other people want me to do. Nobody buy myself could have helped me to come to this point in my life. No amount of well-intentioned friends, family, and/or doctors could have led me to make this decision. I had to make it myself and I had to be conscious about it.
Living in Florida has been both difficult and rewarding. Although it has been a real struggle financially (I am literally on the verge of either loosing my car or being evicted from my apartment, and yes, I am accepting donations.), spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and socially it has been one of the best decisions of my life. I have grown more since moving down here than I have in the past 10 years.
I would like to thank all of you who have contributed to my success though your faith and prayers. I could not have done it without you. More updates to follow.
Friday, July 6, 2007
The Secret
A few months ago I was introduced to an awesome video called "The Secret." Since then I have purchased the DVD, the book, and the book on CD. I watch the DVD as often as I can and I listen to the book whenever I am in my car. I have yet to read all the way through, though. I am not a big reader, but that is beginning to change. My friends and I have even started a Law of Attraction Support Group. We had our first meeting last night.
The Secret discusses a law in the universe called The Law of Attraction. It's whole premise is that we are the creators of our own lives. Everything that we do, have, feel, and experience is a direct result of what we have been thinking and focusing on. We are just as responsible for creating things in our lives that we don't like as we are things that we do like. And, if we don't like something, then we have the power to change it.
I have really begun to take all of this to heart and it is really beginning to change my life. I woke up this morning after having the best sleep that I have had in a long time. I felt GREAT. While I was in the shower I began to ponder about how my life has changed recently and why. I saw that, like the Secret (and the Gospel) teaches, my life has been an accumulation of the dominant thoughts and feelings that I have had throughout my life. I started my life out fine but began to judge myself based upon other peoples' standards. There were many instances where I didn't measure up. If I didn't meet an arbitrary deadline in school I had to have a note from my mommy saying that I was OK. If I didn't pass a test I was judged. If I didn't do well at work I was judged. I began to judge my life based upon the arbitrary judgements of others. I began to see myself as lacking the power to make any lasting change in my life and wanting other people to help me change. I began to think very negatively about myself and especially my body. These thoughts began to manifest themselves. I began to gain weight. The more weight that I had noticed that I had gained, the more wait I gained. I began to have trouble with money, friends and relationships.
Ever since I have learned and begun to apply The Secret all of this is beginning to change. I now feel better about myself and my body than I ever have. My back, which has historically given me problems, has begun to heal itself without professional intervention. I have spent most of my life having trouble sleeping and spending more time sleeping on the couch than on my own bed. I now can get in bed and sleep like a baby until it is time for me to wake up. I am eating better and taking better care of myself. Every day I am getting closer and closer to my ideal weight of 198 lbs. I am also beginning to see life for its possibilities and not for its limitations.
I would eventually like to make teaching people how to use the secret my profession. I feel that the changes that have taken place in my life during this short time are amazing! It never ceases to amaze me how much the teachings of the Secret coincide with the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Living the precepts taught in the Law of Attraction have helped me to see the meaning of life more clearly and to see how we can truly be creators of our own wolds, even while we are here on this earth.
I hope to use this blog as a way to chronicle my experiences.
The Secret discusses a law in the universe called The Law of Attraction. It's whole premise is that we are the creators of our own lives. Everything that we do, have, feel, and experience is a direct result of what we have been thinking and focusing on. We are just as responsible for creating things in our lives that we don't like as we are things that we do like. And, if we don't like something, then we have the power to change it.
I have really begun to take all of this to heart and it is really beginning to change my life. I woke up this morning after having the best sleep that I have had in a long time. I felt GREAT. While I was in the shower I began to ponder about how my life has changed recently and why. I saw that, like the Secret (and the Gospel) teaches, my life has been an accumulation of the dominant thoughts and feelings that I have had throughout my life. I started my life out fine but began to judge myself based upon other peoples' standards. There were many instances where I didn't measure up. If I didn't meet an arbitrary deadline in school I had to have a note from my mommy saying that I was OK. If I didn't pass a test I was judged. If I didn't do well at work I was judged. I began to judge my life based upon the arbitrary judgements of others. I began to see myself as lacking the power to make any lasting change in my life and wanting other people to help me change. I began to think very negatively about myself and especially my body. These thoughts began to manifest themselves. I began to gain weight. The more weight that I had noticed that I had gained, the more wait I gained. I began to have trouble with money, friends and relationships.
Ever since I have learned and begun to apply The Secret all of this is beginning to change. I now feel better about myself and my body than I ever have. My back, which has historically given me problems, has begun to heal itself without professional intervention. I have spent most of my life having trouble sleeping and spending more time sleeping on the couch than on my own bed. I now can get in bed and sleep like a baby until it is time for me to wake up. I am eating better and taking better care of myself. Every day I am getting closer and closer to my ideal weight of 198 lbs. I am also beginning to see life for its possibilities and not for its limitations.
I would eventually like to make teaching people how to use the secret my profession. I feel that the changes that have taken place in my life during this short time are amazing! It never ceases to amaze me how much the teachings of the Secret coincide with the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Living the precepts taught in the Law of Attraction have helped me to see the meaning of life more clearly and to see how we can truly be creators of our own wolds, even while we are here on this earth.
I hope to use this blog as a way to chronicle my experiences.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Florida Update
Good morning. I'm sorry that I haven't had my second ever blog posting until today. Things have been pretty hectic around here. I am getting ready to move this weekend and next week. This move will mark the sixth time that I have moved since coming down here in September, 2005. This move comes from some unplanned and unfortunate circumstances about which I do not have time to write right now. Needless to say, I am sick and tired of moving. Hopefully I will be able to stay at this new place for a while.
In addition to my daytime job as a customer service representative for a major software company, I have picked up a part-time job as part of the custodial staff at the Orlando Temple. Although it has been tough to get used to coming home late and getting up the next morning to go to work, it has been worth the adjustment. It's nice to have a job where I actually have to use my body instead of just my intellect. It's also nice to be able to see the fruits of my labors. Working at the temple has taught me several important lessons. Here are a few:
1) It's takes less time and effort to keep something (like a house or car) clean than it does to wait until it gets messy and spend all day cleaning it up. The temple is huge, but it's really easy to clean because it's cleaned every day and people don't generally make a mess there.
2) If you're going to have a job where you have to use your body, it helps to have a body that is in shape. Working at the temple is helping me to realize that I need to treat my body like a temple. I spent all night long cleaning bathrooms and toilets last night with minimal physical side effects. I actually woke up this morning and thought that it might be nice to go for a run this evening. That won't happen because I forgot to take my work out clothes with me and I have institute right after work.
I really love it down here. Florida is so beautiful. I wish that I had pictures, but my camera is currently MIA. Well, time to go back to work. I'll post again soon.
In addition to my daytime job as a customer service representative for a major software company, I have picked up a part-time job as part of the custodial staff at the Orlando Temple. Although it has been tough to get used to coming home late and getting up the next morning to go to work, it has been worth the adjustment. It's nice to have a job where I actually have to use my body instead of just my intellect. It's also nice to be able to see the fruits of my labors. Working at the temple has taught me several important lessons. Here are a few:
1) It's takes less time and effort to keep something (like a house or car) clean than it does to wait until it gets messy and spend all day cleaning it up. The temple is huge, but it's really easy to clean because it's cleaned every day and people don't generally make a mess there.
2) If you're going to have a job where you have to use your body, it helps to have a body that is in shape. Working at the temple is helping me to realize that I need to treat my body like a temple. I spent all night long cleaning bathrooms and toilets last night with minimal physical side effects. I actually woke up this morning and thought that it might be nice to go for a run this evening. That won't happen because I forgot to take my work out clothes with me and I have institute right after work.
I really love it down here. Florida is so beautiful. I wish that I had pictures, but my camera is currently MIA. Well, time to go back to work. I'll post again soon.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
First Blog Posting Ever!
Well, this is my first ever blog entry. I was so impressed with my Cousin Tim's blog (timbeck3) that I decided to give it a try. I have been living in the Orlando area for a little over a year and a half now. I can honestly say that it is one of the best (and in some ways worst) decisions that I have ever made. I could not have imagined how much I would have grown spiritually. I also could not have imagened how much of a financial struggle moving down here would turn out to be. I have had many trials since I have moved down here. I have had many blessings as well! Since I don't have a lot of time now, I will elaborate more later. I hope that I can be as fruitfull with blogging as my cousin and good frined Tim has!
Mark
Mark
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