TAKE SOME TIME

I read an article today by President Dieter Uchtdorf.  In his talked he asked, "Have you ever been in an airplane and experienced turbulence?  The most common cause of turbulence is a sudden change in air movement causing the aircraft to pitch, yaw, and roll.  While planes are built to withstand far greater turbulence than anthing you would encounter on a regular flight, it still may be disconcerting to passengers. 
What do you suppose pilots do when they encounter turbulence?  A student pilot may think that increasing speed is a good strategy because it will get them through the turbulence faster.  But that may be the wrong thing to do.  Professional pilots understand that there is an optimum turbulence penetration speed that will minimize the negative effects of turbulence.  And most of the time that would mean to reduce your speed."  He continues on saying, " This is a simple but critical lesson to learn.  It may seem logical when put in terms of turbulence, but it's surprising how easy it is to ignore this lesson when it comes to applying these principles in our own daily lives....The wise understand and apply the lessons of air turblence.  They resist the temptation to get caught up in the frantic rush of everyday life.  They follow the advice - There is more to life than increasing its speed.  In short, they focus on the things that matter most."

I loved this advice.  Focusing time on things that matter most.  Sometimes pressures and "turbulence" make us pick up the pace and miss out on what is important and we forget to enjoy the beauties all around to us.

Another article read today, by Ann Cannon in the Tribune, reminded me of this.  She was comparing Jimmer Fredette to a baseball player she used to love to watch play.  His name was Kirby Puckett.  She writes, "Kirby Puckett played with a smile on his face.  He caught fly balls, smiling.  He hit home runs, smiling.  He rounded the bases, smiling.  He was like hey, Ma!  Did you see that?  Did you see how I just parked the ball over the center fielder's head?  Isn't baseball great? Isn't life grand?"

He spent his time enjoying what he did. A good habit to cultivate.  Enjoying time at work, playing with our friends.  Appreciating and being grateful for the good things.  Take time to look outside, even with our gray skies and rainy weather I'm noticing some purple flowers just outside my window. 

" Spring is on its way, I think smiling to myself."

Isn't life grand?