Reasons to Feel Good

It has been a bit of a rough go these last few days politically. I would say personally also. In spite of whatever hardships or disappointments that are out there, there are still a lot of things to look forward to:

• Spring time. It feels like we are already getting there here in Southern California. Only another month and we are officially there.
• Opening day - Baseball starts in just under two months. Honestly, is there anything better than being at a game with your friends, having some hot dogs, and watching your team? These games are probably one of the things that I most look forward to about the entire summer.
• March Madness - can we all do a pool this year? The fact that I'm SO itching to gamble and put money on things is exactly why I can NEVER even try it. But March Madness is probably one of the funnest things in the world. I hope that all of us that are spread out can do a tournament challenge together.
• NBA basketball - more particularly the playoffs. I don't think you all appreciate how much upheaval there has been this season. It started off with the Celtics getting good again, now the Lakers are all of the sudden serious contenders, the Suns have a totally different look about them (they just swapped Marion for Shaq). I think that last move will actually come back to haunt them. They undervalued The Matrix. But there are some really, really good teams and I probably haven't been so excited about the NBA in years.
• BYU Men's Volleyball - they're actually here next weekend....DAMMIT! I just realized that I'm gonna have to miss it. I don't know why, but of all the BYU sports, this one has always been the one that I've been most excited about seeing. Anyway, if you are here, you should go.
• Summer Movies - I'm mostly pumped for Ironman and The Dark Knight this summer, but that's because I'm a total dork and love comic book movies. There are a lot of other movies that look really good though.
• The return of TV - no matter what, you know that at some point they'll figure it out and we will all have such an enormous appreciation for the return of TV worth watching. You know what else I love about the writers' strike? The amount of reading I have been doing is inversely related to the quality of television. Since the writers' strike began I have read nine books...and I'm halfway through Count of Monte Cristo right now. Unabridged. Why do I feel like I'm cheating myself by getting abridged versions?
• Video games live. Visit that link. It's awesome. It will be in San Diego this summer, and then Anaheim some time in the fall/winter.
• Bodyworlds comes here in March.
• Terra Cotta Warriors will be here in May.

And then for me, Strung Out is playing March 8th. 311 is playing February 22nd in Las Vegas. Want to go to that one? I should hear within a month about BYU. The newly anointed nurse Karen is going to grace us with her presence in Southern California next week. Let's all wish her a Happy Birthday, by the way. It's actually today. There really are a slew of things to be excited about. I was having a hard time at first coming up with this list, but there are all sorts of things going on.

You know what else I'm noticing these days? Three things really make me content:

1. Seeing friends and family.
2. Prayer and scripture study. Especially scripture study for me. I'll always do prayers, but if my scripture study is out of whack, then I'm totally out of sorts. It is an enormous difference in my temperament. Huge for me.
3. Exercise. I know I shared this before, but researchers really do measure number of times exercising a week as an objective measure of subjective well-being. People who exercise at least 30 minutes or more at least 3 times a week consistently show greater levels of contentment. And I can definitely vouch for that in my own life. Even if it's just walking, do something! It will make a difference in your life. I promise.

I think I'm figuring out a lot these days. It is nice to feel on top of things, or at least that I'm getting there. Hope you are all doing well.