Happiness Post

I have been reading this book I got from the Health and Wellness center at UVU. I have been doing my internship there and this last semester got to do some one-on-one coaching. My client signed up for the Happiness course that is based of  the book I am currently reading called Be Happy by: Robert Holden. When I took my client through this course I started out as a critic thinking this course would never help her become happy or help her become happier. I can say that there was a true change in her. She became happier over the weeks of this course. After I met with her for the last time she asked me what I learned from teaching the course. This question through me off but I told her that I learned what true happiness is and how many of us lack true happiness. I told her I discovered my own barriers to happiness. My boss challenged me to read the book that the course was based on and go through the course by myself to help them see any flaws to their course or if they needed to add anything. 
Well I have been reading the book and was again very skeptical of it at first but I have discovered a lot about myself and what happiness is. He is not LDS but he has a whole chapter on the spiritual path and health of individuals. It is amazing how much it aligns with the gospel. The section I read tonight really helped me see what I need to work on and I hope it causes an eye opening experience to those who read this post. He starts of this section of the book by talking about why we suffer. He says: "When you forget who you are, you forget what happiness is. And when you forget what happiness is, you suffer." He then talks about how people try to discover who they really are. The first way is the search. He talks about how this search for happiness is denial of happiness. He says: "For as long as you deny the joy of your being, your ego and your personality will never be completely satisfied or pleased with the world....You only search for that which you fear you do not have, or for that which you are not yet willing to accept that you have already. The truth is, you are what you seek." Happiness is already with us and we will only discover it when we call off the search for happiness. So I have learned by just this first way that I have been searching for happiness or think that I will achieve happiness when I am married, graduated, and working. In reality I won't find it there because it is already with me. None of these things will satisfy me either because "it is impossible to find happiness for as long as you overlook your true nature." So as of tonight I am calling off the search for happiness because I already have it. This post is super long so I will write more later this week or on sunday.

Who Am I?

I decided to post again since I don't post very often. I recently went to see Les Miserables with 2 of my guyfriends. I love the song Who Am I that Jean Valjean sings when Javert thinks they found Jean Valjean and apologizes to the real Jean Valjean about wanting to arrest him. Once Jean Valjean leaves he sings this song about how could he condemn this man to slavery but yet if he doesn't then his workers won't survive. My favorite lines in the song are: "Must I lie? How can I ever face my fellow men? How can I ever face myself again? My soul belongs to God, I know I made that bargain long ago. He gave me hope when hope was gone. He gave me strength to journey on. Who am I? Who am I? I am Jean Valjean."
These lines ring so true to me. I have fallen short of who I am and wasn't sure if I could face myself again. I give and have given God my soul and He truly gave me hope when hope was gone. He constantly gives me strength to journey on because of this fact I know who I am. I am Chelsea Newsome, a Daughter of God, which no one can take that knowledge from me. I am grateful for this knowledge because even though I don't know what the future knows God does. He is constantly guiding me to where He needs and wants me to be. I trust Him because of the strength He has given me and the hope.

Weaknesses

This Christmas Break I have learned a lot about myself through my weaknesses. I have had amazing friends and family who have been there for me and helping me understand myself in ways I didn't think possible. This break I was diagnosed with Mono and had an enlarged spleen. One of my friends and I started talking about the emotional ties to sicknesses and what triggered the mono. He talked to me about different emotional triggers. He has this book of sicknesses and the emotional triggers to each one. I realized that I didn't get mono from someone else but I got mono from myself. I have been through a lot of tough things lately and felt lost. I am so grateful I knew who to turn to. I turned to God. I let Him carry my burdens & trials. I finally let Him and my family and friends in to help me. I have realized that I have many weaknesses that can be turned to strengths. I don't regret any choices I have made. They have helped me become a stronger person. I know that God is there. I know He loves us. No matter what we have done He will always love us and wants us to let Him in. 
So this friend of mine then started to talk to me about essential oils and which ones will help me with my mono and help my body balance itself back out. It helps your spirit and body become one. I have started rubbing essential oils on since yesterday I have felt a lot better. I know a lot of you are thinking it is all in my head, but I believe my body and spirit were out of sync with each other. I hope this makes sense. I am still really out of it and my brain is groggy. 
School starts next week as well. It is my last semester of school for a year. I am uber excited and also very nervous. My whole life I have been very dedicated to my education. It is going to be interesting to not start in the fall again. I have also come to love being a mentor and don't want to give that up. Luckily for me I know that with each end to something there is always something better around the corner. I am applying to be an EFY counselor and should finish that up this week and hopefully will be a counselor this summer. I feel like that is my "mission." I have wanted to be an EFY counselor since I was 14 and went  to EFY. I also want to tell my mom, dad, sister, brothers (Jordan this includes you), and sister-n-laws how grateful I am to each of you. You never give up on me and have always been right beside me supporting me. Thank you all so much for everything! I love all of you. :)

God Is There

So tonight is one of the hardest nights I have had in a long time probably since September. I felt trapped. My parents didn't want me to leave the house cause the roads were bad. My friends couldn't come get me and I felt so stuck. I didn't want to be at home. I didn't really want to be anywhere. So I went outside and read my scriptures on the porch watching the snow and reading. The scripture I read was exactly what I needed. I then decided to walk in the newly fallen snow and talk to God. He let me vent to Him of everything I didn't like in my life. I was wondering what I was doing wrong. He simply responded nothing. You need to have patience. I told Him that patience was hard and He told me it will get better. I asked Him why I couldn't be what the world marks as beautiful and He said cause you are beautiful to me and that's what matters. He also reminded me of those men in my life who find me attractive. He told me to trust in His timing. I know it is easier said than done but it just felt good to know someone was listening. I am not saying that everything will be perfect now but I know that He is there, listening. God wants us to talk to Him but He won't force himself upon us. God knows how our life will turn out. He knows the end so we need to trust Him. I am grateful to know I am doing nothing wrong but not having trust and patience.
I am grateful for this gospel. I am grateful for my blessings. Yes I have some hard times but in the end it is just a crease in the fold of time. God loves us. That's all that matters.

Another Week in My Life

So this week has been awesomely awesome. :) I am firstly really grateful that my mom is home. :) It was a fun week preparing food for my dad and being there with him but I also felt bad leaving him at home when I went to Preston's to play games with his family. I learned how to be a good wife though. I cleaned a lot and cooked. YES! Dinner was ready for my dad right when he came home from work. :)
I have been spending a lot of time over at Preston's house spending time with his sister, Charise, who lives with her family in Idaho. They came down for the 24. I was over there a lot. They came Thursday and stayed until today. I loved being over there and playing with his nieces and nephews. I took his 2 nieces to ice cream and got to talk with them a lot. Shelby is the youngest and she is attached to me by the hip when she comes. It is a lot of fun. Friday  the 2oth I went over there for most of the afternoon and night. Then Saturday I hiked Timp! YES! I made it to the top! My dad and I went. The only downside to my hike is the sunburn on my neck that is still there it has been 5 days and it still burns. My sister-n-law looked at it yesterday and thinks it is almost a 3rd degree burn! Preston took really good care of me yesterday. After I played football with him and his 2 nephews. We went back to his house ate lunch and played Star Wars! Such a fun game! Then Preston put aloe vera on it and got a towel in some ice water and put it on the burn. It felt so good! I think that is why today it doesn't hurt to bad. It is going to be a nasty peel though. Then after that  he took me back to my house and we went our separate ways. :) No we didn't break up but i went to an Owlz game with my family to watch that and see the fireworks and he stayed with his family for a firework show. After the game I went back to his house to say goodbye to his family and eat some carrot cake that his sister made. It was delicious!!!!!! Then Preston took me home and he is at work. I am currently at UVU after doing a photo shoot for the college that the mentors work for and then I am going to mentor  my class.  This week should finish up great! I am so excited for my family reunion on the 4th. My aunt gets here and it is just going to be epic! I love life and those in it! I miss a lot of you who I don't get to see. I just want you to know that I am thinking of you. It is funny how busy life gets sometimes but that you always meet the people that need to be in it at that time.  I will keep ya posted on my many adventures. Next week I am moderating at a focus group for this research project I am involved with. It should be epic! :)

Life and Why is Blogging so Hard?

Well I stink at blogging (officially)! I get on and check on my friends blogs and family but I don't write on mine. I need to be better cause it is a great way to keep everyone involved in my life. I can't talk to a lot of you as frequently as I would like to so blogging is awesome! I just need to be better.
Since last writing I have been volunteering as a UV Mentor. An instructor at UVU found out I was bored this summer and called me up to see if I would be willing to volunteer as a mentor with him. I know how important mentoring is for the students so I agreed plus it looks great on my resume and applications for graduate school. I have had the whole class last week and part of this week cause he is on a trip at a presentation. YES! I am teaching a college class! CRAZY eh? Then just a week ago I had another professor email and say she was working on a research project and needed students to help. I have been praying for an opportunity like this for sometime because it will help me get into graduate school. So now I am doing that with her and some other students. I am really excited!
Then I was stinking at staying in shape and healthy. My cousin, Abby, called me to tell me how well she was doing and helped me recommit to my goal. I am now back on track. I am avoiding sugary treats and get dessert only on Sunday. If I eat dessert during the week I have to do 50 sit ups (Preston's idea). I have to do 150 sit ups for last week. :( I messed up on friday and saturday. I just got through doing 20 sit ups. I now DO NOT want to mess up again. Sit ups suck!!!! I have been playing tennis more and am loving it! Preston and I are going to try out for the next summer olympics. haha. Just kidding. He is really good and I am getting better. I also weighed in today and Saturday and have been losing weight so I am really excited for that.
This week has had its up and downs for sure but I am so grateful for the people in my life who listen to me and care about me. I don't know where I would be without good friends and family to help me through the tough times. Everything is going great with Preston and I. We have been having a lot of fun and he just got a job! Which is great! It is a little sad since I have been used to seeing him a lot but this is good for when school starts and we both get busy again. Overall Life is good! I can't complain cause I have seen so many tender mercies from my Heavenly Father that there is no reason to complain. He has been my rock and I see Him more and more in my life. He is constantly guiding me in the direction He wants me to go. I am grateful for that. I love this gospel and my life.

Summer Time

So for those of you who don't know Build A Bear fell through so I have still been searching for a job. No luck! :( I have no idea why!? This is for sure how I didn't see my summer. I saw my summer working and having a blast with friends but with no job and no income I can't really do what I wanted to do. I just am trying to see the bright side that Heavenly Father knows best. I love being at home with my mom! She is amazing and always puts me to work. I woke up the other day and there was a list of things to do. I have been working on it for 2 days now so it is fun to get stuff done for her. I sing while I do it and apparently my brother today could hear me on the front porch with the door closed. Yes I was belting it out. 
I ran the 5K! YAYA!!! I did it in 30 min. which is about a 10 min mile. That is my fastest mile and I got to do it with an incredible boy! ;) Yes, Preston ran it with me. It was fun to have him there and he is really good at supporting me and helping me. 
Then lets see just job hunting still. Sunday I spoke in church and from what people say I did an incredible job. I felt like I sped read through the whole thing but everyone said it was awesome! Monday Preston and I went to the mall and then back to his house for filling out applications. Tuesday we (Preston and I)went up to Bountiful to see my Grandma and Uncle Steve. It was seriously the best. I loved it! My uncle is seriously an incredible person and I love him so much.  My cousin Brad came over and almost beat Preston up for making a U diss. 
My birthday is Saturday along with my Grandma's 90th birthday party. It is incredible to think she has lived 90 years. She is an incredible example to me. I love her so much! She is so funny and witty. Yes she has still got it for the most part. I can't complain about my life. I love it! Yes at times it is hard but I just remember that Heavenly Father is in charge. I don't want to turn 20 but am excited to be an adult! My dad can no longer say I am nineteen teen teen teen and that I am just a teenager. He is in India and gets home on Friday! Can't wait to see him! He is such an amazing man! I love all the men in my life and their examples to me and the women. I have such awesome people to look to and get advice from. Love Y'all.