35 - Breathtaking

You know when you have those moments?
The ones after those days that you just kind of feel like... bleh.
Not crappy, necessarily, but average. Normal. Like nothing new or exciting happened that day, or your routine is getting monotonous, or even though you have a really great life things just aren't working for you.
The moments that happen right when you think you couldn't be more... mediocre.
The moments when you see something that makes you realize the beauty in the world again. The blessings of your life. The moments when you realize that things are looking up.

I had one of those today.

I had an average day. It's Tuesday, so I only have one class. English 2010. It was good, I guess, just normal. Then I studied for my biology test next week, watched some TV, and got some dinner before Institute. That was also good, we had a good discussion on parables and being judgmental. Cole couldn't come because he took his friend to the ER that day and got really behind on homework because of it. As I was walking out of the Institute building, I looked around me. Grey clouds almost everywhere.

Except where the sun was setting.

It literally took my breath away. The pinks and oranges and purples all blended together to form a perfect corner of serenity and beauty in the middle of all the average grey skies.

I'm not usually one to stop and stare at a scene in nature, I'm ashamed to say. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the beauty and all, but it never really caught my interest. There are only three times where I've really stopped to look at nature: the last time we went to Moab and climbed Delicate Arch, when I went to Hawaii and went on a sunrise walk with Sara, Jonathon, and my Dad and watched the ocean horizon, and when I went to Yellowstone and saw the Grand Tetons.

Those have all been in places acclaimed for their natural beauty. So it's no surprise that I noticed those. But right in the middle of campus, in Logan?

I think I found it so beautiful because it didn't fill the whole sky. If you looked even a little bit over, the sky was grey again. But if you looked in the right spot, it took your breath away.

I lied. There is one more piece of nature that I've stopped to stare at.

This summer I went to visit the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, NY. The spot where Joseph Smith saw the Savior and our Heavenly Father. We went at night, and the whole area was flooded with fireflies. It was like I was surrounded by stars.

You can always find something wrong with your life. You can always find something that makes it just.. bleh. But I'll bet you anything that you can find more things right with your life. Beautiful. Spectacular.

Breathtaking.

You just have to look in the right place. And sometimes, you might even need to ask for help to see.

I had to.