Slice of Life Day 13: Thinking About Thinking

It's nice to have someone else to pray for. I pray for myself so much that I sometimes feel whiny when I talk to God. But today I offered a lot of prayers for my friend Cody, his sister and my roommate, Amanda, and their family. Cody was in a bad snowboarding accident, and he had surgery today to stabilize his spine (one of his lower vertebrae was completely broken). Thinking about somebody else, praying for somebody else, worrying about somebody else was refreshing, because sometimes I'm so self-centered and so focused on my own problems that I rarely feel empathy for others. But empathy, compassion, and charity are all godly attributes, and whenever I feel these things growing in my heart, I feel a little closer to heaven. So even though I'm worried about others, I feel love. When I'm searching for something to do to help someone else, I feel like I'm working towards something higher. When my thoughts are focused on others, I feel happier (it's kind of paradoxical, but it's real). Today was a good day, because I thought about what how I can be better this week, but most importantly, I was thinking about, praying for, and sending encouraging text messages to some of my best friends in the whole world. It hurts my heart that their family is going through this, but at the same time, it gives me the opportunity to forget about myself and work to show my friends how thankful I am for their presence in my life.