My wish: to lift others

 “Always be good, and you always be happy. Don’t and you won’t.” That was my Grandma Stone’s mantra. I created this blog to honor her memory.

This is my grandma and me just after I graduated from high school. June, 1998.

I believe that these are good words to live by, even if they aren’t 100% applicable in all circumstances. There are always going to be circumstances which try our patience, stretching our souls to our very limitations. In these turbulent times, we will experience pain, grief and sorrow. It is not due to us not always being good.

This is me a little under a month after being paralyzed in a car accident. June 1999.

I am not a stranger to trials. In 1999, when I was 18 years old, I was involved in a car accident which permanently paralyzed me from the shoulders down. I am a quadriplegic. I will (almost definitely) never walk or use my hands again in this lifetime. I will always depend on others for my own physical survival. If this sounds depressing, it’s because it kind of is! This is not the life I would have chosen for myself.

And yet, I am so grateful that I was chosen for this particular trial. It has opened my eyes, my mind and my heart. It has changed me into a way better person than I could have ever become otherwise. It has blessed me with so much knowledge, strength, peace and grace! At the end of the day, I am not bitter that I have had my physical independence stolen from me; I am incredibly thankful that I was allowed to have this soul-expanding experience.

So, this blog will be my somewhat unique take on some of the things that I have learned to be true in my somewhat strange circumstances. My goal in writing this blog is simply to lift others. I will share what I have come to understand as truth. I do not want to argue or be contentious in any way with anyone else’s personal beliefs. Truth comes in many ways: science, God, nature, personal experiences, and so forth. I have nothing but the utmost respect for others’ beliefs. I have good friends whom I love with all my heart who believe completely differently than me. In bearing my testimony, I only hope to “do whatsoever is gentle and human, to cheer and to bless in humanity’s name.”¹

This is a current picture of me, just after winning Ms. Wheelchair California, First Runner-Up. January, 2017.

My testimony is this: I believe in God. I believe He loves me. I believe in Christ. I believe in His infinite atonement and that He loves me with a love so pure and perfect that it exceeds all human comprehension of it. I believe in charity and that the most important thing that we can do in this life is to love others. I believe in the power of light to dispel darkness. I believe that despite humanity’s weaknesses, that we are more good than bad.

If you are reading this, you probably personally know me. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to check this out. I just want to express my gratitude and love for you. I know that you are worthwhile. I know that you are worthy – worthy to follow your dreams and worthy to achieve your goals! We might not always believe the same, but we all believe in using the time that we are given to help and bless others and ourselves.

^{1 https://www.lds.org/music/library/hymns/as-sisters-in-zion-women?lang=eng}