Did you know that the word Hakuna Matata comes from the ancient Swahili language, so it aint no passing craze. It is a wonderful phrase that literally means, there are no worries. It's a problem free, philosophy...... It's Hakuna Matata.
I am almost through my first week of finals. Next week and it will be over :) Let me tell you, I am the kind of person who stresses easily. When I am around the environment of lots of tests (especially finals.... even if I have none- which unfortunately I do have finals) I get stressed. When I have to study, I stress. When My agenda book has more than one thing written every day of the week for 2 weeks straight, I stress. When I have a big event coming up, I stress. (tomorrow night I am participating/ teaching in a 4 hour ZUMBATHON.... wish me luck!) When I have commitments I stress. When I have to plan for stuff in the future..... you guessed it, I stress..... and lucky me I have all of that which means major stress!
Now I dont just stress over things, I am the kind of person who when I am stressed I become agitated, irritated, easily annoyed, I have no patience, I dont sleep and I am not that fun to be around. The past four days, I must have been the worst kind of company there ever was for my roommates, boyfriend and friend. This morning I woke up and you want to know what I thought? I thought, HAKUNA MATATA! That's right! Hakuna Matata- There aint no worries. So I have decided that I dont need to stress. I have decided that it is ok for me to worry over finals, to need some space to cool down- but I dont need to let it take over my life.
In a different example- let's take my wonderful mother. She is the mother of five children and a very devoted wife to my very handsome father. My mom takes every chance she gets to call my sister and I who are no longer living at home, she wakes up early to help my dad , brother and sisters get ready for seminary, work and school. She then heads off to work, she does Companion Care for the cutest old lady there ever was! She comes home to clean, cook and meet the kids as they get home from school. She helps with homework, fulfills her calling as Relief Society President, she runs errands to the grocery store, post office, target, Costco etc. She makes time to call my dad and ask how his day was. She does Visiting Teaching, she serves her ward, she takes my siblings to music lessons and attends all of their extra curricular events. My mother is a busy woman.... but she lives a life of Hakuna Matata.
Now I dont just stress over things, I am the kind of person who when I am stressed I become agitated, irritated, easily annoyed, I have no patience, I dont sleep and I am not that fun to be around. The past four days, I must have been the worst kind of company there ever was for my roommates, boyfriend and friend. This morning I woke up and you want to know what I thought? I thought, HAKUNA MATATA! That's right! Hakuna Matata- There aint no worries. So I have decided that I dont need to stress. I have decided that it is ok for me to worry over finals, to need some space to cool down- but I dont need to let it take over my life.
In a different example- let's take my wonderful mother. She is the mother of five children and a very devoted wife to my very handsome father. My mom takes every chance she gets to call my sister and I who are no longer living at home, she wakes up early to help my dad , brother and sisters get ready for seminary, work and school. She then heads off to work, she does Companion Care for the cutest old lady there ever was! She comes home to clean, cook and meet the kids as they get home from school. She helps with homework, fulfills her calling as Relief Society President, she runs errands to the grocery store, post office, target, Costco etc. She makes time to call my dad and ask how his day was. She does Visiting Teaching, she serves her ward, she takes my siblings to music lessons and attends all of their extra curricular events. My mother is a busy woman.... but she lives a life of Hakuna Matata.
My mom knows what her responsibility are and she prioritizes. She starts her day with a prayer, asking her Father in Heaven for help and thanking him for all her many blessings. She then does all she can, filling her day, running left and right, blessing the lives of many. Then when the day is over she doesnt worry about. And she makes sure that she always kneels down to thank her Father in Heaven for all that he blessed her with throughout the day before climbing into bed at night.
In the world that we live in today, there is so many good things that we are and can be apart of. However we may not always have time to do it all. Sometimes we get down on ourselves because we feel we could have done more or we could have done it better. When I went through counseling and while in my stay in the hospital, I learned time and time again that I dont need to do it all. One of my counselors and now a good friend of mine, Kelley, told me to start my day with a check list. Keep it reasonable, and list things most important to least important. (A nurse in the hospital told me to do the same thing but throw in fun things in between everything else. Like blow a bubble out of chewing gum, or go race rain drops on the window..... this was great great advice :) Kelley, told me that as I accomplished each thing make a check mark., (Now honestly, dont we all like crossing things off of our lists????) At the end of the day be proud of yourself for what you accomplished, even if you only checked off one things, that is still something you can be proud of.
I challenge you to live a life of Hakuna Matata- and by that I mean, dont worry about what you cant do, celebrate that which you can and have done! You are a miraculous woman full of great and marvelous works, you do so much good and you bless the lives of many. Remember the good you have done and dont dwell on the things you cant do. If you try your best I promise you that God will help you fill in the rest (hey that kinda rhymed- I like rhyming :)
In the world that we live in today, there is so many good things that we are and can be apart of. However we may not always have time to do it all. Sometimes we get down on ourselves because we feel we could have done more or we could have done it better. When I went through counseling and while in my stay in the hospital, I learned time and time again that I dont need to do it all. One of my counselors and now a good friend of mine, Kelley, told me to start my day with a check list. Keep it reasonable, and list things most important to least important. (A nurse in the hospital told me to do the same thing but throw in fun things in between everything else. Like blow a bubble out of chewing gum, or go race rain drops on the window..... this was great great advice :) Kelley, told me that as I accomplished each thing make a check mark., (Now honestly, dont we all like crossing things off of our lists????) At the end of the day be proud of yourself for what you accomplished, even if you only checked off one things, that is still something you can be proud of.
I challenge you to live a life of Hakuna Matata- and by that I mean, dont worry about what you cant do, celebrate that which you can and have done! You are a miraculous woman full of great and marvelous works, you do so much good and you bless the lives of many. Remember the good you have done and dont dwell on the things you cant do. If you try your best I promise you that God will help you fill in the rest (hey that kinda rhymed- I like rhyming :)
