"Every child needs to know early that he is responsible for his choices. Each person is responsible to choose, to act, and to receive the consequences for good or ill. Helping children learn this one idea should be a major focus. When he or she exhibits extreme emotions, focus on the need to manage his or her impulses. Encourage him or her to talk about feelings and emphasize that each person is responsible to control the expression of his or her emotions. "
I have been trying desperately over the last several months to teach my children what the difference is between a mistake and an accident.
Throwing the ball at someone because you're mad is a mistake.
The ball hitting someone while playing ball is an accident.
"Anger" One of my children mimicked me while I was disciplining them.
"Entertained" Helping in Dallin's classroom 1 hour a week is fun.
"Saddened" yet "Optimistic" by Jan's dad being diagnosed with cancer.
"Impressed" Elizabeth touched the frog.
"Humiliated" I had to pay a $16 fine at the library yesterday.
I want to teach my kids that all these emotions are normal and healthy.
It's ok to feel anger, but it's not ok to hit.
It's normal to feel sad, but it's not ok to throw a fit.
One thing I know is that JOY is the emotion I cherish the most. It's more than being happy or content.
"Joy is an emotion of the spirit. It comes through righteous living. It is not a casual or shallow feeling, ever. If we equate fun and pleasure with happiness, we may think pain must always be equated with unhappiness. But that is not true. Joy is not a stranger to pain. We may not feel deeply enough to know joy unless our hearts have been hollowed out by sorrow. A heart may not be big enough to know real joy until it has been stretched and pulled by trials and hard things."
A Reminder to Myself:
I have experienced JOY, but only because I have experienced sorrow.
It's directly related to our emotions and choices.
What has brought JOY into your life?
13 comments:
Debie, I just read the comment that you left on my post and I knew I had to come read what you had written. I chose the perfect word to describe my feelings. Joy. With Elisabeth I have felt the deepest of sorrows (when they told me she wouldn't live), and I have felt scared (when I realized she was blind, during her seizures, etc). But having those extreme "painful' experiences has let me know the true meaning of "joy" as I watch her thrive and grow and be happy.
Thanks for this lovely post.
My greatest source of joy is continually my husband, who is the best partner a person could have and who is the only one who could bring me my amazing children. They are the lights of my life and I have experienced the highest of highs because of their sweet spirits. Of course, they have also brought me some of my lowest of lows, but my exposure to them makes me aware of the difference and provides me with gratitude for each day I am given.
Thanks for this post. I'm off to find the joy in today!
First of all, loved Lynn Scorsby--he was an awesome professor.
Without a doubt, my family is my greatest source of joy. Words can't really even express the depth of happiness Jared and my kids have given me. It's true though, you can't really experience joy without sorrow. My early experiences growing up and with family only make me all the more grateful for the family I've created for myself now.
Thanks for the wonderful post. It's always nice to focus in on the joy in life!
I really feel that the Gospel brings me the most joy only because it contains everything that is truly important and dear to me.
Family, Truth, Service, Priesthood,
Atonement, Sacrifice, Trials, etc.
I could fill up this whole page of which it holds.
This was an excellent post Debie and I am realizing more and more joys in my life. And you are one of them by the way.
I have lots of things that bring me joy....one that popped into my mind is seeing a child accomplish something he/she thought they couldn't do! Such as ride a bike, tie a shoe, write thier name, give a talk,etc!
The look in thier face when they accomplished this unthinkable....is complete joy! It feels my spirit....seeing thier eyes light up and thier spirits light up too!
What a wonderful post, Debie. I feel joy when I am doing the things I should, when my family and I make changes for the better. It's always amazing to me the difference I see in the way I feel.
I think the thing that brings me joy is the time I spend with my kids and the time I spend away from them too!
I'm so impressed that Elisabeth touched the frog. Way to go!
I find that the simple things in life bring me joy! Serving Others is at the top of my list. There is nothing that makes me more happy than helping someone else! I also find joy in reading and understanding the scriptures, watching my child learn something that I have taught them, having healthy children, and spending time with my family! This was so perfect Debie. I needed the reminder to find Joy in my everyday world!
Hey Debie!! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I can't believe how much your family has grown! Your kids are beautiful. Time sure does fly, doesn't it?
Hey, we took that class together! I wish I could take it again now that I am a mom and could listen to the lessons with a new purpose.
Laughter brings me joy. My baby is just learning how to laugh and the whole house stands still just to watch and listen. It's amazing.
My mood is in the middle of happy and angry. Angry because the boys at church today were out of control and didn't listen. They gave me a headache for about 1 hour.What should I do? Help me!!!!!
Bye bye.
P.S
Happy because I'm finally with my mom and we are home. Why I said help me is because your the ledder in primary. Help me!!!!!!!
Visit my blog I got a funny post.
Bye bye.
This is a wonderful heartfelt post! I just love these anecdotes. I could list a million things that bring me joy, but I will narrow it down to two. Sunday I was in a little pickle and a friend helped me out, for that I am grateful! Also, I found out a little Angel I met is still fighting to live. Every day he lives is a blessing for his family. It brought me joy to have met him, photographed him and to know he is still alive.
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