Times Like These!: A new ME

I am working on becoming a new me. I know ..you are all probably thinking ..a new shauna??? why on earth would she want to do that...no worries..I am still the old me..just wanting to define a part of me that hasn't been as present as I have wanted it to be.

I have had some life experiences and events that have happened in my life these last few years that have made me question what is true happiness? I have always thought I had that true happiness, and i thought i had known what that meant.

Then things happen to us and that true happiness feeling that we all can have gets shaken to the core. Like it has for me. I have decided that through these difficult trials that i have been going through,I no longer want to give up on me. I no longer want to give up on what I want for myself. I have asked myself many of times..what can help bring me that true happiness I have been wanting back. Any one of us achieve that true happiness within....and what better time to start getting that back than the present.

So here we have it..I am so excited to take these trials and turn them into valuable lessons for me to one day share and be able to help other people through difficult times as well. I have learned so much about trials and tribulations. I have felt what felt like the flood gates just keep rushing in my life for what can go wrong has gone wrong. I have very many times asked myself..why me..why is this happening to me? It seems like when you think nothing else can get you down ...there is always something that will try to knock you to the ground. Satan is so real. He wants nothing more than to destroy us. He has a plan and his plan is to ruin those that he can get his grasp on. Well guess what Satan..you will not win on my turf. I will not let you win.

Even through these trials that I have been through and am currently experiencing, I can say Iam very grateful for all the many blessings that have happened to me. It seems that everywhere Ilook there is something that happens everyday that helps me
realize how true little miracles can happen in our lives everyday,if we so allow them to. There really are tender mercies that happen. It had taken awhile for me to realize that their is a happiness that can ensue if we allow it. I am working on getting that happiness back.

I was doing some reading( i know ..right..me reading..another miracle)but that is another thing i am am changing..a new reading me! yay)

I have been questioning my own true happiness for quite sometime. It is crazy that yes, even me..the one who seems to have it together..can still feel the need to ask myself this question.

I have been doing alot of soul searching. I have asked myself over and over trying to figure out what TRUE HAPPINESS really means...I read this below and thought it fit perfectly with what i had been experiencing the last few years..."We often fall into the trap of thinking a new car, job promotion, beauty makeover, or fame will make us happy. And often they do—for a time. But it never lasts because wealth, power, beauty, and fame simply don’t bring lasting happiness, as much as we wish they would.

So then i read this..
True Happiness
"True happiness comes from following Christ’s example and developing Christlike attributes such as obedience, goodness, honesty, gratitude, humility, love, charity, and forgiveness. It comes from serving others and helping them to follow Jesus Christ. It comes from controlling the appetites of our human bodies and following the promptings of the Spirit. It comes from working hard and having a healthy lifestyle, friends, family, and personal achievements.

"Regardless of what you do or don’t have in this life, your deepest, most lasting happiness will come from knowing God’s plan and following it.

And that folks is just what I needed to hear to get me through these hard times. This is what it is all about. I know things are never easy. But it hit me that through the hardest of trials...i have learned one thing. There is a power greater than us to help us during our hard times. The Savior, Jesus Christ is there. He can lead us and guide us. I have felt him so much lately and I wouldn't trade that feeling for anything else in the world. It is something I will not take lightly. It is something I have decided that I want to be able to do..It is working on this new me...(which means me,basically being the same amazingly awesome person I was..just with a little bit of extra "umphh" to make me be the person I want to be.)

I want to be close to our Savior. I want to be able to be an example to people that even when things get hard that they can still see that light that shines within me. For those of you that have been and are struggling..There is a peace that can be found. I have felt it.

Here are a few of the quotes that i have lived by the last little while....

"U never know how strong you are, until being strong is the only choice you have."

“You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.”

"it's not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left. Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same."

I am so excited to continue on with the new me!

ok enough of my ramblings for the night.

Check out these adorable little cowboys in my life..