No Doubt About It

I cry a lot.

I've always been a crier. Ever since I was a little gal I've been telling people, "I know, I know! I have hyper-sensitive tear ducts," which is, by the way, totally not a real thing.

I remember when I flew to Seattle in August and the mere sight of the International Terminal at SFO made my lip quiver with emotion as the memories of flights to Paris and London came flooding back. I was literally on the air train from BART fighting tears as I was about to head out to what would be one of the best vacations of my life.

RIDICULOUS. 

Well, samsies happened last weekend as I was sitting in Terminal 1 (which is NO Terminal 2, let me tell ya!) reading Sheri Dew's book, No Doubt About It. I grabbed it on a whim as I headed out the door early Saturday morning to catch my flight to Orange County, and as I sat there reading the first few chapters, I found myself once again smearing my mascara as my emotions got the best of me.

Have you read that book? If not, you should. 

It's mainly directed at the women of the church, but all members could benefit from Sheri's incredible humor, unfailing optimism and devotion to the gospel. Her ability to relate every day life and the choices we make to gospel principles is unmatched by any other Latter Day Saint author (in my opinion). 

Though I am only halfway through, her words have already had an impact on my life. The back of the book jacket reads:

"Life is filled with moments of joy, but life is also hard. It is an unmistakable privilege to be here in mortality, but the burden we carry is weighty, relentless and laden with importance. So I pose two questions: What have we come here to do? And how will we do it?"

Those two questions are referenced throughout the book as Sheri takes readers trough many pages of examples and anecdotes that help define the answers. She pens powerful words about growing a testimony, preparing to receive personal revelation, overcoming disappointment and heartache and living your best life. I hadn't even planned to bring it along, but after two chapters, I couldn't put it down.

One part that was particularly impactful, and the syllables that when put together made me originally well up at Gate 30, was a quote from President Hinckley, which said, "You are good. But it is not enough just to be good. You must be good for something. You must contribute good to the world. The world must be a better place for your presence. And that good that is in you must be spread to others."

I sat there, in that weird plastic airport chair, thinking of the good that had been spread to me, by others. 

In particular, I of course thought about my visiting teaching companion, for whom I was making the journey down to Newport, as she was getting married in a matter of hours. I thought of all the wonderful weeknights we shared over the course of the year we've been companions, driving around the city, visiting our girls, chatting about our lives and enjoying one another. 

I also thought of my wonderful visiting teachers, without whom I'm not sure I would have kept coming to church. I'll never forget the day they ambushed me in Relief Society and demanded we be friends. I am forever grateful to those girls.

Even now, as I write this post, I am a bit emotional. But, as with all personality quirks, we must embrace what has been gifted to us, as we all have something that someone else needs.

I mean yes, I cry a lot. But is that really so bad? Mostly, I'm so grateful that I love things and people enough to cry about them.

Dramatic, much?

xoxo