What's Your Spirit Animal?

This would sometimes come up in conversation with my friends (you might be surprised how often), and I would never have an answer. I didn't know what my 'spirit animal' was, or how to find out.

Recently, I decided to sit down and actually do some thinking to figure it out.

And I finally found the perfect animal:

I'm an Octopus.

It's not one of those animals that would probably be an option in a BuzzFeed quiz or something, but I think it fits me perfectly.

1) Sometimes I do the whole invisible thing and try to blend in with my surroundings, other times I panic and escape (although I've never thrown ink on someone before), and other times I let myself glow and be colorful for all to see.

2) I am the queen of attempting to do multiple (possibly even eight) things at once. Honestly, it's so so hard for me to just sit and do one thing. I often will even try and find something to do while I brush my teeth.

3) Lots of arms for hugging!!

4) I like being all packed tight and squished in. Not like pressed against a wall in a sweaty crowd of people, but tucked into a corner surrounded by cushions and pillows and blankets, heck yeah! 

5) Weird (but like a good weird) :)

After I found my spirit animal, I thought it might be fun to try and find some for my friends. I put out a casual offer on Facebook and got THIRTY replies!

I'm not going to feature all 30, but here are some of them and a quick blurb on why I chose them:

Chris - Llama

Willingly bears burdens for others, warm, basically is Kuzco

Errika - Blue Whale

Deep soul, belongs in the water, gentle

Rachel - Ring-tailed Lemur

Boss (their packs have female dominance), acrobatic/athletic, lots of fun

Sarah - Golden Pheasant

Colorful/full of life, beautiful, one-of-a-kind

Dad - Emperor Penguin

Involved father, goofy but dignified, withstands harsh conditions

Mom - Grizzly Bear

Fiercely protective of kids, knows how to get stuff done and how to relax, warm

Annika - Mountain Goat

Wanderlust, adventurous spirit, gentle but daring

Mike - Red Panda

Warm, bright, and rare

Brianne - Magpie

Striking/artistic, free spirit, sometimes mischievous/a troublemaker ;)

Now, what do spirit animals have to do with a confidence-oriented blog?

Look at these:

In addition to these, other friends' animals were otter, zebra, barn owl, snow leopard, collie, heron, dove, elephant, hyena, swan, cheetah, hummingbird, flamingo, and more.

These animals are vastly different from one another. 

In appearance, in behavior, in everything.

But they are all wonderful.

They each have a key role in the animal kingdom.

Don't waste your time comparing yourself to an eagle if you are a dolphin.

You will never be an eagle, nor were you ever meant to be.

You have your own strengths, your own beauty, your own difference that you can make.

So stop comparing, and start appreciating what you can do and who you are.

Dear Future Husband, Please Don't Love Me Most

Dear Future Husband,

I want you to love me.

And I don't mean love like a feeling; I mean love like the actions every day, the little things that add up to so much more.

I want you to love me.

But I don't want you to love me most.

I don't want to be the most important person in your life.

I don't want you to talk to me more than anyone else.

I don't want to be what takes up the biggest part of your heart.

That role doesn't belong to me.

That role belongs to God.

I want you to know God more than you know me.

I want your relationship with God to be the #1 priority, not your relationship with me.

I want you to value God's counsel and opinion far more than you value mine.

If God asks you to do something, I want you to do it, regardless of whether it's something I think is right.

For any big decision that affects our family, you can bet that I will be on my knees getting my own answer from God. But I want you to trust your answer more than you trust mine. I want you to follow God, not me.

I want our marriage, our family, to have its best chance. I want us to have eternal happiness, more love than we can hold.

Which means that you can't love me most.

And I can't love you most.

But if we both love God with all that we have, our love will be better than it could ever be otherwise.

The Tempest

This is not a political post.

 But I think we can all agree that the overall state of our nation and our social media feeds is quite tumultuous, noisy, and a jumble of strong emotions.

Last night I turned away from the stressful crazy atmosphere in which I had no control whatsoever and instead looked to www.lds.org for some peace.

And this is what I was reminded of:

There is no human on this earth with enough power to derail God's plan.

There is Someone Else in charge.

I came last night to the lyrics of a loved hymn I'd forgotten about recently called Master, the Tempest is Raging.

The song is based off of this event from Mark 4:37-40:

Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?

It is really hard to have faith that everything will work out the way it should, especially when things seem to be falling apart.

But, again, I must remind you:

Here is where you can find the lyrics that so comforted me last night.

And here is a beautiful performance of the song that will hopefully bring some peace into your heart today:

Advice From Your Favorite Disney Characters

We all know that Disney movies are fun and magical and kid-oriented, but the older I get, the more real-life-applicable gems I find. Here are some of the best ones to keep in mind!

We all have things in our past we might not be proud of, or that have scarred us in some way. But Rafiki is right: it's up to us to decide to move forward, to take the knowledge we've gained from our experiences and use it to be better and stronger next time.

Patience is one of those virtues God keeps trying to teach me. I've gotten a little better over time, but it's still really hard to wait sometimes. To wait for the answer to your prayer, for the relief from your trial, for the day when things seem bright and good again. But as the Fairy Godmother says, even miracles take a little time.

It's good to think things through and be rational. But we also need to let how we feel determine our decisions, or at least factor into them. Never discount the importance of your emotions. How you feel matters, so listen to your heart every once in a while!

Sometimes you just need some reassurance from a loving motherly figure, and Mrs. Potts is here to provide. Things will work out! As the well known quote goes, "Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end."

Okay, technically Mufasa says "Remember who you are," but the picture was cool, so I used it anyways. Throughout your life, always always keep in mind who you really are: you are a son or daughter of a king, of the King. You have divine identity and destiny. You are loved more than you can possibly know. Never forget that!!!

You may not have a magic wand or a star to wish on, but let a little Disney in - you may find that life becomes a little more "satisfactual."