The Most Tender of Mercies

School... College...Life... has all been very stressful, especially as of late. As midterms and the winter blues capture us, it seems like spring break is three weeks away, instead of two days. In these moments, it's sometimes hard to stay happy, smile at the strangers or friends we pass on campus, and keep a positive attitude. We are all facing hard days, but simply dwelling on our hard days only makes things seem more unbearable.

Recently I've had to take a step back, and reflect on the little things of my life, that have really become some of the biggest blessings. Today was one of those days that I felt deserved reflection.
Midterms have me more stressed than I'll get out. The test anxiety, the struggle to breathe, and the overwhelming fear of passing or failing looms over my head in a feeling that I just can't seem to get rid of.

But, I'm not here to make anyone more depressed, so I'll stick to the Sunny Side of things, or the positive for now. Like the crazy laughter of two college friends stuck in the library for way too long, way too late at night, when we just couldn't hold it in any longer, or the opportunity to listen to a Literature professor sing while playing the guitar.Or joking with classmates that the song we just listened to for an entire class period is now in fact stuck in our heads.

I have been working on an article for the school paper for about a week and a half before finally feeling that it was satisfactory enough to submit to my content manager and editor. I read the comments that my editor had made, in which she told me I had done a good job, and that my hard work showed through my writing. Those simple compliments gave me the needed push for me to submit my other article due today as well as stay motivated to keep studying for one of my midterms today, when I was ready to give in, and stop for the time being.

During our weekly Statesman meeting, our manager suggested the idea for a little activity to get our creative juices flowing, where we all picked our one favorite song for the moment. Our manager played a little bit of each one, and we were all asked to write about the stories behind the song we chose, and our personal connection if we so desired. The song I chose has been a personal favorite of mine since I found it not too long ago, entitled "Sunny Side Up" from Martina McBride. I couldn't help but smile as I wrote about the personality of the song, and how happy that it has made me since I found it. It was fun to take a little breather from the stresses of school and homework, and sit in a room full of people I respect, and laugh with. I love being able to catch up with my coworker and friend, Shelby when I'm having a hard time or need to relieve stress. Our conversations have cheered me up more than I can count, and I'm incredibly grateful that Girls State brought me to such an amazing girl.

As I waited for the bus on campus, I ran into a friend of mine I haven't seen in a while, and was able to catch up with her. She recently got engaged, and is always so good to sit and listen to whatever is happening in my life. And she offers some of the best advice. She even sat on a bus stop bench with me, just to listen to me, when she could have said she had things to get done and left me to my own thoughts.

Making the trip home on the bus is usually a time for me to reflect on the day, and I'll admit, for an awful lot of people watching. But tonight as I got on the bus to come home, I couldn't help but watch as a middle aged man and his two young daughters sat down just before I did. I have seen this man many times with his girls, but have never really had a chance to engage in conversation with them. As they sat down together in the seats just in front of me, I smiled. The couple sitting across the aisle from them talked to the little girls, while I watched the middle-aged dad in one of the best teaching moments I have ever heard. It caught my curiosity, and testing my people-loving nature, I finally got up the courage to mention to him how cute his girls were. He smiled at me, and proceeded with his teaching moment with his girls. They introduced themselves to me just before I got off the bus. It was probably the most I've smiled in a long while. I told them my name, and said have a good night. I grinned the entire way to my apartment. I couldn't help myself.

A little while after I had gotten home, there was a knock on my door. It just so happened to be a couple friends from my ward, who are ward mission leaders. We sat and talked for a little while, and in our conversation, a thought simply came to me that Heavenly Father was mindful of me, and knew what I needed at that exact moment, even when I didn't.

Even now as I am writing this, I can see the reasons I felt so impressed to share with someone other than myself. Life is hard. But even in the roughest of hours or days, there is always something more to learn. Look for the tender mercies within your personal life. There are so many wonderful things in life that we can be grateful for. Sometimes the littlest things take up the most room in our hearts and make the biggest difference. We simply just have to be willing to look.