“One of God’s greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again, for no failure ever need be final.” -Thomas S. Monson

The laundry is still heaped on the floor…every floor!  The dishes are dirty, dinner isn’t made, and I haven’t showered in 3 days.  I know you’ve been there!  I’ve been there most days for the last 17 years!  I fail everyday!  Often it starts with my alarm and doesn’t end until I lay my head on my pillow at night.  Sometimes I wonder how it could have been worth it.  How I could possibly do any better or perhaps how I could ever do any worse.  Have you been there?

When my babies were little, I worried that everything I did would become something huge one day and keep my kids from progressing or effect them negatively throughout their lives.  I got to the point that I couldn’t go on… not without hope.  I needed it, I wanted it and I desperately yearned for it.  If I didn’t find it, every mistake I made as a mom would send me to an early grave.  One day I made the conscious decision to just be done with the guilt and open the door (and my heart) to hope.  Looking back, I don’t know why I worried so much about things that just didn’t matter.  Hope feels so much better.  Why not choose that?

What kept me going was the cold, hard fact that we can survive happily or grumpily (is that even a word?).  I chose happy!  I still do!

For me, that is reminding myself that I’ve been given a wonderful gift, that of trying again.  It is so relieving.  I pray, muster my courage and keep going.  I don’t want to look back at my life and see regrets.  I want to see a woman who tried everyday to do her duty, create goodness and try again.  That is actually the best gift that I can give my kids… to show them that even when life isn’t perfect, you can perfectly try again and choose to be happy!

Open doors… how comforting!  Walk through the door of a new day… it’s waiting for your happy face… and so are your kids!