May 29, 2011

Life's Like a Jump Rope

So this week has been pretty mixed. I didn't go on a second date. My sister Catherine is pregnant with my future niece or nephew. My roommate Eric got a contusion and I had a test. I also went to the temple with a long time friend of mine.

So from all this I thought about how we all have long or short life plans. These almost spring from hopes or fears. One of my dad's favorite quotes is "Man plans and God laughs". I definitely think this is true. I think that sometimes the Lord just shakes His head, smiles and says "Why do you want that? You don't need that."

I think that sometimes like Carl from UP that we have some dream(s) that we want to come true and they don't. Sometimes our cakes burn, some times we fall back into a bad habit, or something else doesn't go as planned. We then, like Carl, feel that we're a failure and we get down on ourselves. As I prayed this week, I expressed this feeling to the Lord. He quietly let me know that I was still where He wanted me. He let me know that His plans were different from the ones that I've made for myself. With small plans, it's pretty easy to give up. With big plans, you just have to take a deep breath and ask the Lord to help you accept His plans for you. Sometimes we need to accept His plans and enjoy the "detour".

A tender moment today, I was at church and someone was watching Mormon messages. They started listening to a kid singing "Families Can Be Together Forever". This caused a sudden pang of homesickness. Luckily my sister came over and I got lots hugs.

I will say that I came up with up with a plan towards the end of week and the Lord has effectively given a me way to do that. The title of this blog comes from one of my favorite songs by Blue October. This is a happy, up-beat song with a good message.

May 23, 2011

A Brief Explanation of the Title

So this is simply to explain my title for my blog. My first reason is that it sounds like a good title to book. Another reason is that I feel that I'll put many of my thoughts, ideas, and philosophies in here. I also think of myself as a romantic and I like generally romantic languages.

As for the samurai part, I've liked samurai since I've learned about them. From my understanding they had a high level of self discipline, more than most people; they also sought for perfection in all aspects of your life. I hold myself to a higher standard of discipline then I think most people do and I do try to seek perfection in many aspects of my life.

May 22, 2011

Laying the Foundation

So I've decided to start a blog. I do this not only because people in my family wanted to start one but also because I felt impressed by the Spirit to do so. I'm not entirely sure as to what exactly I will be posting on a weekly basis but I think much of it will by my thoughts or gospel insights for the week. I'd also like those who follow to please let me know that they are doing so. I also like feedback so that it may help me tailer my style.

So my thought this week is about friendships and love. This was mainly sparked because one of my roommates lost one of their grandparents. I've done my best to comfort this roommate because he is one of my good friends. It reminded me of how much our families mean to us. I love my family and I love my friends; I may have to write about my definition of friendship due to my unique use of the word. It reminded me of how love creates invisible lines between us like the one between Alvin and Stuart in the Tales of Alvin Maker (this is my favorite series of all time). I also thought about the word cher/chère in French. The word is often used as meaning dear but it can also mean expensive. Oddly enough, I feel that this dually is appropriate. I think this because the people that are considered dear are often described with such phrases as "invaluable" or "priceless". Thus they are in sense "very expensive."

This event with my roommate me also think about friendships. I like the explanation of Antoine de Saint-Expéry in "The Little Prince". He describes how friendships are created through a set of rituals and how it then makes people unique to one other. I have found this to be very true in my own life.

My last thought was this. I think that when we learn to love someone we may not necessarily creating something new but I think that we are simply remembering the person's real value.

So learn to "remember" the real value of those around. Try to treat those around as if they were "expensive" to you because you never know how long you have them for.