my perfect equation

Lately, I've been feeling good: I am in a good place emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I don't remember the last time my inner spirit felt this good...perhaps never?

I've been pondering and contemplating this past week about why I feel so good. I've been trying to put a name for how and what I feel, and I've finally come up with a word: PEACE. My spirit is currently free from turmoil, and the opposite of turmoil feels like peace to me. I've been thinking about why I feel so much peace recently, and I think it's because I currently have a wonderful balance in life.

I have found my perfect equation for my inner peace, and this is what it is:

Spending time with my husband +
Having fun with my children +
Being with my friends +
Having interactions with my family +
Enjoying living in my beautiful home +
Listening to uplifting music +
Filling my soul with laughter +
Sharing my passion for performing +
Studying and living the gospel +
Expressing gratitude for all the good in my life +
Meditating and Praying +
Receiving Inspiration =
My Inner Peace

Each part of the equation is necessary to the happiness of my spirit and joyfulness of my soul. And each part of the equation has to be in perfect balance--for example: if I spend too much time with my friends, I feel like I'm neglecting my family, or if I spend too much time at home, I feel like I'm closing myself off to other good surroundings, or if I spend too much time laughing, I feel like I don't open my soul to receiving quiet inspiration. It's important to keep a good balance between each part of the equation in order to obtain the result of feeling of inner peace.

I want to remember this feeling of peace that I have, and try to maintain what I feel and sustain it every day. I was looking back through my journal, and I stopped writing in it during the spring of 2008. I was mentioning that fact to Josh, and his reply was "That's because that's when you started blogging!". I hadn't even realized that connection! My blog is like my journal--I record our family's happenings, I record my personal goals and dreams and thoughts, and occasionally I record my feelings on a topic.

And now, in addition to those things, I'm going to add to my blog a daily record of something I did during the day that brought me happiness & joy, something from my perfect equation for peace. I'm calling it "Live & Love Life 365" (Thanks Sara, for the inspiration!). I don't want to let a day pass without doing something that I love to help feed my inner spirit; I want to do something everyday that will help me to sustain this feeling of true peace. And every day, I'm going to write down a simple aspect from my day that brought me joy, and record it on my blog tab titled "Live & Love Life 365" (see the tab at the top of the page under my blog title?).

I'm so excited for this new "chapter" of my blog and for the opportunity it will give me to focus daily on the blessings in my life, and help me to sustain my feeling of inner peace!