On the side of this blog is a little blurb about me…A friend of mine was asking about it and I told her why I wrote it. I originally posted it on Facebook. I have printed it and it is taped on my computer at work too. I wrote it because I had seen a quote by Marilyn Monroe posted several times and it irritated me. The quote is “I’m selfish, I’m impatient, and a little insecure, I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle, but if you can’t handle me at my worst than you sure as heck (different word) don’t deserve me at my best”. This is apparently her legacy as people keep referring to it. The quote irritated me because it seemed to me like it was saying, “I am going to be a selfish jerk and if you can’t handle it you don’t get to see me at my best. “ I think it is part of some of the challenges these days. Imagine what this world would be like if people just tried to do be their best all of the time and followed that golden rule of “treat others the way you want to be treated.” I know that may seem naïve but so much of crime and hatred happens in this world because of selfishness and people justifying why they treat others poorly.
So, my response to that quote was writing my own legacy. This is what I want people to remember about me.
I know who I am – I do!
I am a child of God – although a child of Kevin & Linda, God comes first.
I know God’s plan – I have been blessed to learn of God’s purpose for me here on Earth, it is far greater than I have experienced yet. His plan reaches into eternity and I recognize and accept that responsibility to try and live in a way to achieve His plan.
I choose to find happiness in each day and in myself – I am responsible for my own happiness. It is my decision to be happy. I have a fortune from a fortune cookie taped to my computer. It says “look around happiness is trying to catch you”. So much wisdom in a little slip of paper, happiness is there if we let it catch us. If I had to choose being grumpy/miserable vs being happy, I choose being happy every day!
I love my family – My family has changed since the day I was born. One thing I am sure of is – it doesn’t matter how someone becomes part of your family, they are still family and I love each one of them.
I enjoy laughter – it’s inherited, I don’t think it is genetically possible to be a Warner and not find humor and laughter in life. It is true that it is hard to be mad and frowning if you are laughing. Find the humor in life – that too can catch you if you look around.
I am hopelessly flawed – I know that I am not perfect. I will never pretend to know everything that I can about anything; however, because I recognize this...
I continually strive to be a better person-I will seek out to do things better. If I were perfect I wouldn’t be here on Earth, I would be living with God in perfection. So here I am, trying to work my way to return to my Heavenly Father.
I believe you are never too old to learn something new – aside from finding ways to be a better person, I believe that intelligence is progressive. If we don’t try to improve or learn we will become stagnant. What fun is that? With all of my life’s experiences in my 41 years, I still have not learned everything that I need to know. I love to read and find things that inspire me. I think that sometimes learning means simply taking the time to listen to those around you.
I value each breath of each new day-Four years ago I came face to face with my mortality. My heart collapsed and I literally almost died on several occasions. I truly value each morning that I wake up and get to have a new day. With my health challenges I am frequently reminded at how difficult breathing is sometimes. I do not take this for granted, like I once did. I truly value each breath.
I find joy in the joy of others-I find peace and happiness in watching someone find true happiness. This is a generous act, to put someone else above yourself. Generosity is usually attributed to giving money, but a greater generosity is found inside. Simple things like watching my husband play with his granddaughter, what a sweet joy that is. We don’t have the opportunity to see her very often, so any time is precious. I can’t explain how much fun it was to watch my husband as he played golf with Hanna. I wanted to play with Hanna as well but I think it was more fun to watch my husband. Days can be so much better when we look outside ourselves and appreciate other’s happiness. Allowing others to find happiness brings about increased happiness within.
I am responsible-I know that I am not perfect but I do know that I work hard to provide for my family, spiritually and temporally. It is my responsibility to teach my family morals, love, about Christ, how to take care of themselves and prepare the children to live on their own some day. I do this by going to church, having family prayer and scripture study, assigning chores, teaching kids to cook/sew, loving my family and accepting them for their differences, going to work and not pushing off my responsibility on others.
I don’t expect anyone to do anything that I am not willing to do myself-I think it is unreasonable for someone to expect of anyone what they are not willing to do themselves; this ties in with responsibility and not being selfish. If I think that something needs to be done, I should be willing to do it myself or with someone. If I am not willing to go to work myself (spiritually or temporally), why should I expect someone else to provide for me? If it isn’t important enough for me to do it myself, it must not need to happen.
I will defend and support my family in righteous endeavors-I love my family and I accept them for who they are. However, I will only support them in righteous endeavors. If someone seeks to hurt, lie to, lie about, put down, manipulate or abuse anyone in my family, I will not accept or support this. When members of my family are seeking to accept, forgive, love, seek the Gospel, be responsible and generous; this I will support.
If you are willing to encourage and support me at my best, we will not see me at my worst-I don’t believe people should put up with a bunch of crap to be able to have a glimpse of good. I believe people are inherently good and that is what I will strive to be. If everyone were to try and do their best then no one would have to see anyone at their worst. We have control over how we are and how we treat others. It is our decision. If we are kind, responsible, loving, giving, joyous, appreciative it can only be good. I hope anyone would want to support that.
Everyone deserves me at my best!
