The Beauty of Being Alone

The Beauty of Being Alone.

You are probably asking yourself if there is really such a thing. After some personal experience I can tell you that it is. And once you experience it for yourself you will see how beautiful being alone can truly be.

I consider myself some what of a social butterfly. I enjoy parties, lunch dates with my friends, and dressing up on the weekends to go places. But lately I have been more of a social ladybug. (you guys I just made that up, neat huh) Instead of flying from flower to flower or party to party... I've just been floating around. By myself. Perfectly content with staying home, falling asleep in my clothes while downloading music. 

Now I'm sure you are thinking "WTF Ellz this is depressing, get a life." WAIT FOR IT..

I LOVE SPENDING TIME BY MYSELF.

The movies, ice cream, shopping, or walks around the temple. All of these things weren't invented just to be shared with friends. Doing these things by myself is wonderful. Just because you see me alone, doesn't mean that I'm sad. I'm happy with myself. I think it's important for a person to be happy by themselves before they can be happy with someone else.

The other night I wasn't ready to go home so I got in my car and drove to Mapleton, picked a random road and drove up it as far as it would go. I went so far up the mountain that the road I was on turned to rocks and snow and I was pretty positive that I had left Utah and gone into Narnia. I lost track of time and just enjoyed the night with my headphones. If I would have been with a cute boy or a friend it would been nice. But I wasn't. And it was still just as nice.

(Boys, this doesn't mean that I wouldn't LOVE to talk with you/listen to music for hours in the car)

I was at the D.I. last Saturday and needed an opinion on something so I asked the old lady near me. Turns out she didn't speak English so I tried to speak to Spanish to her. I was terrible! But we both ended up laughing and smiling with each other. That wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been alone. 

So next time you don't have plans for the night, don't sit on Twitter and retweet every single #foreveralone tweet on your time line. For several reasons. Take the road less traveled and spend a few hours in nature. Get out and hike or put your feet on the dash and open up your sun roof. Go to Yogurtland and get a cup of fro yo that costs $9. Nobody is going to judge you.

As I was writing this post, I rediscovered this video on my lap top. It's what I'm trying to say, in video form and in the words of a lovely hipster much older than I. Please watch it.



The more time I have spent alone, the more I have appreciated myself. Like, I'm pretty awesome. More importantly, so are you! Take the time to discover just how awesome you are.
Good luck!

XOXOXO,

ella

 Don't forget to go for a drive down a road like this.

 Or this..

Straight Out Of Nowhere

I don't really know how to introduce this post because these words are coming straight out of nowhere. And of course by nowhere I mean the deepest and dearest part of my heart.

If you watched the LDS General Conference this past weekend or you know someone who watched it then you know that they have lowered the age limit for the youth of the church to serve missions. This news is exciting and wonderful and I know will bring forth so many blessings for the world.

Serving a mission has not always been a huge desire for me until this past year when I have had many opportunities to strengthen my testimony. I have become an even happier person and I decided that I couldn't keep this happiness to myself, so I must serve a mission. 

While my testimony has increased, the challenges and trials in the world around me have too. Every day I am told by the world that as a young women that I need to be thinner or have cuter clothes or have a boy on my arm. The world, as beautiful as it is, doesn't know what it was created for. The world doesn't understand what amazing things we were created for. That's why it confuses us with these lies, sometimes makes us feel horrible about ourselves.

After a couple more visits to the temple, a couple sessions of conference, and a couple of heart to hearts with some dear friends I have better understood something..

The world doesn't want us to serve missions, get married in the temple, or to have a family and raise them in the gospel. The world doesn't want us to view ourselves as Heavenly Father views us, as perfect and glorious beings. That's why the world tries so hard to bring us down! The world would love for us to think that we can't live up to our potential, or that our potential isn't cool enough.

Well guess what? Heavenly Father didn't send us down to this world at such a critical time to be plastering ourselves with make up or plastering our minds with thoughts that we aren't good enough. He needs us to rise above the world and to live up to our potentials. He needs us to be happy and grateful for who we are.

So next time you have one of those days where you just want to go lay on your mum's bed and cry that you aren't good enough for that one boy or girl, or you just feel crummy, STOP. Wipe off those tears, put on your crown and go rule the world. Whether it is serving a mission or flying to the moon, live your dreams. Put your trust in Heavenly Father.

Don't let the world get the best of you, give your best to the world.

One of the most important things in this world is gratitude. A while back I had the chance to go and record this Mormon Channel message. Through preparing for it and pondering more about gratitude my life has been changed. I hope as you listen you think more about how you can live with gratitude too!


http://mormonchannel.org/we-will-stand/9-gratitude


xoxoxo

Bells