Showing posts with label Essay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Essay. Show all posts

Monday, August 6, 2018

Beautiful Interruption + #MyPostMonday Curating The Week's Best Original Content

Today my husband and I took the longest hike I've taken this summer! I hiked 9 miles total and I wasn't initially completely on board with it. But knowing how excited he is when I go with him and seeing the effort he went to in order to make sure that I would definitely be with him this morning as he carefully woke me up at 5 am, was something I couldn't turn down. (He even made me breakfast!)

We got to the trailhead at around 7 a.m. and due to it being MONDAY, no one was around. The destination was Lake Desolation. It doesn't sound too inviting, does it? Right now I'm suffering from a few maladies, all on my left side. The one that was bothering me today was my left achilles tendon. It has been injured in the past and has visible scar tissue built up. I've been doing some H.I.I.T. lately and my achilles doesn't like it. 

So we started out, with me baby-ing my poor achilles and not really sure what to expect, since I'd never been to Desolation Lake before. I was surprised that this was one of the prettiest and well kept trails I've been on. Sure, there were a few steep parts, but nothing I couldn't get up using some care and caution. 

We walked virtually the entire 4.5 miles to the lake without seeing a soul, until right at the end. There were 5 hikers that came up behind us and caught up to us right as we got to the lake. If you have been to the lakes in either Little or Big Cottonwood Canyons, this lake is a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10. But a 5 is gorgeous in comparison to most lakes. It's just that the alpine lakes here in the canyons are so beautiful and pristine and so spectacularly gorgeous. 

Seeing this lake for the first time, I could see that the extremely dry winter had taken its toll and the water level was way down. But "desolation" is not a word I would use to describe this lake. It was still absolutely beautiful! 

In another effort to keep our hikes fun for both of us, my husband got us a set of two-way radios to keep us connected, even if he wanted to hike up even further and summit a peak, which is not something I will be doing any time soon. He left me at the lake and we communicated through the radios for the rest of the time. 
Desolation Lake
This turned out to be one of the most enjoyable hikes I've had yet. There were a variety of reasons that made it so fun, but how tragic if I had rolled over and said that I didn't want to go this morning! I could have used any number of reasons to NOT go--my achilles was bothering me, I have so much to do before school starts up again, I've already been on the minimum number of hikes I said I would do this summer, I have goals that need to be met, etc. etc. 

But I know that interruptions happen, and this interruption happened to be a beautiful one. I learned that goals can still be met, even though they might happen in a different order than you originally planned!

Image - Betsy Kasper
Today is "My Post Monday!", a curation of the week's best original content. It's all about posts from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize(Affiliate links welcome) 

Monday, July 23, 2018

Of Most Importance + #MyPostMonday Curating The Week's Best Original Content

I love feeling healthy and energetic! I do a few things daily to make sure I stay feeling that way. It's something I conscientiously work towards on a daily basis. 

Another thing I hold dear and work hard to keep is my relationship with my kids. They are gone and on their own--definitely not mama's boys. So sometimes it's up to me to keep the communication going and the home fires burning. I work on that as well because it's really important to me.

And of course, marriage is definitely something one needs to keep working on, unless you plan on letting it dwindle into a series of auto-pilot conversations and mundane schedules. Apparently my husband thinks it's important too, because he takes part in the maintenance of our relationship too, especially when food is involved! We've been married for 18 years now! It seems like just yesterday that we decided to not delay things and to just go for it, 4 months after we met.

Image - Gina Herbert
The above are some of the more obvious things that a lot of people might agree are important and worth fighting to keep. But there are some less obvious things that I find are just as important to keep.

One of them is something I have taken for granted all my life but am now starting to wonder if I really should have...the freedom of religion.  

A religious person shares a common belief that there is "a right and wrong in human behavior that has been established by a Supreme Being." (Dallin H. Oaks) That person may be a member of any given number of religions, but that one belief, at least, is held in common. 

Religion is good for society because it has been found that, in general, religious individuals have better family lives, stronger marriages, less substance abuse and crime, higher educational levels, a greater willingness to volunteer and donate to charities, better work habits, longer lives, better health, greater income, and higher levels of well-being and happiness. These are all things that, as a whole, will benefit society! *See Sources below

Unfortunately, protections afforded to freedom of religion and belief are often weak, unheeded, and attacked. Powerful pressures attempt to restrain religious freedom, even in countries that historically protected it most vigorously. These pressures seem to be gaining ground in many countries. 
*See Sources below

I am saddened when I see the historical tradition of public prayer, giving public credence to God, historical edifices referencing divinity, and individuals wanting to publicly display their heartfelt belief in God attacked and belittled. 

When someone is censored when moved to say what they truly believe, how can they claim freedom of speech? And the same with freedom of press and freedom of assembly. When they can't write what they believe or assemble to speak about what they believe, how can the claim of "freedom" be made?

Amazingly, in 2013, approximately 5.5 billion people--77 percent of the world's population--lived in countries with high or very high restrictions on religious liberty, up from 68 percent just six years earlier. *See Sources Below

"Sadly, religion is often countercultural and thus unpopular. For this reason, religious freedom, even where it is generally supported in principle, is often vigorously opposed in practice." (D. Todd Christofferson) 

What We Can Do

This is a freedom I have decided is too valuable to lose and I would like to do more to help protect this inalienable right here in my own country. If you are also of a mind to protect religious freedom, here are some things we can do to fight for that cause:

1) When we hear of someone being unfairly treated because of demonstrating or vocalizing their religious beliefs, find out the source and write a letter in support of the person who was treated unfairly.

2) Openly state our support of religious freedom and religion in general.

3) Don't openly criticize others of their differing religious beliefs . They have the same right as we do to practice their beliefs. We need to unite rather than be divided in this important freedom.

4) Don't be critical of those who profess no religious beliefs. No one should be compelled to be religious.

5) Write to our elected officials and make it known that we are supportive of religious freedom.

If more of us speak out and stand up for what was granted us when the U.S. was founded, we can preserve that important freedom. It is important and worth fighting for to keep!
*Sources

Today is "My Post Monday!", a curation of the week's best original content. It's all about posts from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize(Affiliate links welcome)