Stress and Big Choices. Yay.

I know that most of my posts have at least a slight joking feel to them, but today I felt like being seriously serious, talking about something going on lately that has been really stressing me out. 

I've been having a really rough time, just because I'm gearing up for a lot of change and decisions that are pretty important. And scary. Most of these things I've been worried about, I've already addressed. 

Of course I've known for years that all of these decisions were ahead of me, but when they're really ahead of you--as in a few feet away--they get really real and really intimidating.

But through all of this I've made a big mistake. I have been focusing too much on myself and not letting God show me an eternal perspective. (I actually do that a lot because, well, I'm human, and that's a thing that humans tend to do.) Yes, the decisions I'm making in regard to college, living, etc, are important, but in the grand scheme of things, they're really not as important as I've been making them out to be. Education beyond high school is something I know God wants me to do. That encompasses a lot of big choices. But I've been focused too much on being perfect by myself, making the perfect choices, and figuring everything out on my own so much that I have started to forget my true source of help.

What is more important is that I continue to love my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ more every day. It is so hard to not give in to stress and worry and fear. When we give all of that to God, however, He can take it away and replace it with strength and peace.

I was so caught up in frustration with my expectations of myself and stuck in my head that I knew I needed a break, so I meditated and prayed and read my scriptures because I know that those things always take away my worry. I immediately felt peace after praying and realized what I had been doing wrong. This isn't about right now, however much I may think it is. 

Now, as for finding a better job, conjuring up money to pay for college, and all the other scary things I need to do, at this very moment, I don't know how those are going to work. But if I can just come closer to and love God every day, He can give me strength and show me His plan for me. Because I know that God loves us and He wants to bless us with the answers to our prayers.