First off, I need to say that this may be my last regular daily post. I’ve posted every day since starting my blog on February 9, 2015; and before that I did daily journal entries since I was about 18. That makes 10 years of individually recorded days!

Before you freak out (unless you already have…), I will keep posting :) I’m going to cut back to doing a weekly post on Saturday or Sunday and maybe a couple throughout the week. I want to spend less time on the computer in general, get to bed earlier especially on week nights (many of my posts have ended up being after midnight…), and narrow my focus to the most important and relevant life events. I still plan to search daily for Heaven’s White Noise, and have a physical journal to make short daily entries, but my posts will be less frequent.

Thank you to everyone who has followed my daily posts, and who will continue to read my weekly posts :)

As for today, I heard HWN in a friend’s words during our fast and testimony meeting. He shared his experience with learning to recognize the necessity of pain in life — that pain is inevitable, and that our experience with it can develop our patience and increase our capacity to love :) Definitely not easy… though the thought helps me.

I have experienced more emotional pain than physical pain in my life, and remembering this idea (that pain increases patience and empathy) as a purpose to my pain can help me endure. I’m reminded of Viktor Frankl, a psychologist and holocaust survivor, who taught that:

“Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked.” (Man’s Search for Meaning)

To me this means that it’s my responsibility to give meaning to my pain, rather than my pain giving me meaning… So, it’s my choice to use pain to develop patience and empathy rather than wait for it to enlighten me.