Ninja Mode Activated

It's not like I'm doing it on purpose.

I just...I guess have a quiet energy about me? A soft presence, so that people don't always  realize I'm there.

Which has made for some rather entertaining encounters whenever I'm on break at work.

I mean, 
I can startle people by suddenly being there when they weren't expecting it because they hadn't seen/heard/sensed my approach. So I kinda just 'appear out of nowhere to them.'

But it's been entertaining the past couple of weeks.
Because our breakroom had a recent makeover.
Where the managers bought more 'lounge' type chairs in an effort to make the breakroom more 'welcoming' 

And so, in lu of my favorite swivel chair, I've taken to curling up in one of those plastic lounge chairs on my breaks. 
And I just so happen, out of the four chairs in there, tend to pick the one closest to the wall that the door is on.
So when my coworkers open the door, the door temporarily blocks me from view. 

It probably doesn't help my case that I tend to sit in a blue chair...when I'm wearing a blue work shirt, and the wall is whitish and my pants are whitish/tan....lol. 
So I probably blend in as well a bit too. 

So my coworkers walk into the breakroom thinking there's no one there, only to turn around and see me sitting there quietly on my phone.

lol. 
Yah...it's kinda amusing just to see how people react.
Especially because I'm not actively trying to do anything. 
I'm just sitting there, recalibrating a bit so I can go out and face people again on the floor. 

I wonder how many more times it's going to happen lol. 

Until you next read these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Pizza Pizza

I was Saved by Pizza today.

You see.
I had left work a couple of hours earlier.
After convincing the manager on duty to let a different coworker who is trained in my department, but isn't scheduled to work today in my department...take over for me so I could go home.

Why? Because my replacement coworker hadn't shown up yet.
And I didn't want to wait around any longer than I already had.
I was already supposed to have clocked out 10 minutes earlier. 

So taking advantage of the situation, knowing I had the coverage.
I asked and got the coverage.

And left.

Only for the manager to call me a couple of hours later.
Asking if I would be able to come in to help cover some lunches and such.

Why?
Because the coworker who was supposed to replace me...
Never showed up.
Because apparently their availability changed and they were no longer able to make the shift they were scheduled for today.

...which I wonder if another manager knew about this and then forgot to tell the rest of us. *shakes head*

But that left the store with just three people in the store.
A cashier, a person in my department, and the manager.

....Not good for an evening shift.
Though thankfully it's a Tuesday night, so they aren't as crazy as other nights.

And I would have been willing to come in.
-As I tend to want to help my work out when they're in trouble....even though I was confused as to why they were calling me as I already am at my max scheduled hours so if I were to come in...I'd be going into overboard.

However.
I couldn't come in right away.
Why?
Because I had just ordered a pizza. ^^;;; lol. 
And I was the only one home at the moment.
And wasn't expecting my roomies to show up until after the pizza arrived.
So I couldn't just leave because then who would grab my pizza?? 

I did say that I could come in in like an hour....
But that was too late for the manager's liking.

So. 
I ended up not going back into work tonight.
Thanks to me deciding to order pizza. ^^;; 

*fingers crossed* that my coworkers were able to survive. 

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

April 2017 General Conference -Saturday Morning

Henry B. Eyring -Gathering the Family of God

• We hope all of you will feel one with us--that you will feel the spiritual power that comes whenever a body of believers gathers in the name of Christ.
• Each of us was given a portion of God's light, called the "Light of Christ," to help distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong.
• Families are also the best way to preserve and pass on moral virtues and true principles that are most likely to lead us back to God's presence. 
• The best technology can never be a substitute for revelation from heaven.
• We do not know what marvels God will inspire people to create to help in His work of gathering His family. But whatever marvelous inventions may come, their use will require the Spirit working in people like you and me.

M. Joseph Brough -His Daily Guiding Hand

• Heavenly Father knows what you and I need better than anyone else. As a result, He has developed a personal care package suited to each one of us.
• Tolerating improper behavior without loving correction is false compassion.
• Repentance is not a punishment; it is a privilege. 
• Heavenly Father really does care and listen to and answer every child's prayer. 

Weatherford T. Clayton -Our Father's Glorious Plan

• Even in our moments of deepest grief, in the moments when time stands still and life seems so unfair, we can find comfort in our Savior because He suffered as well.

Dale G. Renlund -Our Good Shepherd

• Like the true shepherd He is, He seeks us and finds us to offer relief and hope.
• While God is empathetic, we should not mistakenly believe that He is accepting and open-minded about sin. He is not. The Savior came to earth to save us from our sin and, importantly, will not save us in our sins. 
• Our role is also to help and bless, lift and edify, and replace fear and despair with hope and joy.
• A repenting sinner draws closer to God than does the self-righteous person who condemns that sinner.
• We must guard against bigotry that raises its ugly voice toward those who hold different opinions. Bigotry manifests itself, in part, in unwillingness to grant equal freedom of expression. Everyone, including people of religion, has the right to express his or her opinions in the public square. But no one has a license to be hateful toward others as those opinions are expressed. 
• For us to ask for respect, we must be respectful.

Ulisses Soares -Confide in God Unwaveringly

• Press forward with steadfast faith in Christ.
• Christ stands ready to help--to help each of us--with every burden.
• A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
• God blesses us according to our faith.
• If we are not rooted by steadfast trust in God and the desire to serve Him, then painful experiences of mortality can lead us to feel as though we are burdened by a heavy yoke; and we can lose the motivation to live the gospel fully. Without faith, we will end up losing the capacity to appreciate those designs of our God regarding the things that will happen later in our life. 
• If we are steadfast and do not waver in our faith, the Lord will increase our capacity to raise ourselves above the challenges of life.

Mark A. Bragg -Brighter and Brighter until the Perfect Day

• Even in the most difficult and darkest of times, there is light and goodness all around us. 
• That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light growth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.
• Seeking the light is in our spiritual DNA.
• From single-cell organisms to complex human systems, everything alive has an inherent inclination toward the positive and away from the negative.
• Please take comfort that there is light available to us.
• We cannot allow criticism to dull our sensitivity to the light that is available to us. Recognizing the light and seeking after it will qualify us for even more light.
• Now more than ever, our families must be sources of great light to everyone around us. Families increase in light as they increase in love and kindness. 
• In a darkening world, the light of the gospel will shine brighter and brighter until the perfect day.
• The Spirit of Christ is always there. ... The light of Christ is as universal as sunlight itself. Wherever there is human life, there is the Spirit of Christ.
• May we see the Light of Christ in others constantly and help them see it in themselves.

Russell M. Nelson -Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives

• Our Heavenly Father never intended that we would deal with the maze of personal problems and social issues on our own.
• Faith in Jesus Christ propels us to do things we otherwise would not do.
• Faith that motivates us to action gives us more access to His power.
• When you reach up for the Lord's power in your life with the same intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for air, power from Jesus Christ will be yours. 
• When you spiritually stretch beyond anything you have ever done before, then his power will flow into you.

Until you next read these words;

I'll be watching the leaves.

Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Breathe

Giving talks in church is always an interesting thing.
Because you're given a topic...and then you speak on that topic.
Seems simple enough. Share stories, share insights, share thoughts, share quotes.

And it's interesting that each time I give talks....it kinda comes out in a different way.
I don't speak in church often. 
But I do know that I often try to go the metaphor route. Tell a story and then connect the story to the subject in hand and try to have people see the world in a different light. Take the subject in a different way.

Today however, it wasn't quite like that.

You see. My topic today was on Hope.
Which is both an easy and hard subject to deal with. Because there's so much to hope. So many ways you can approach that subject.

Yet.
My mind went a different route than it usually does.
Like. I had potential stories that I could tell...but it just didn't feel right. 
Hope. 
What was hope?
It's encouragement. It's a belief. It's the will to keep going when all seems lost.

And I felt....
More like I should give encouragement.
Give less of a talk. But more of encouragement. 
Focus less on me and my stories and my view points.
But instead, encourage those I would be speaking to. Give them positivity. Give them hope.

My mind went this way because recently, on a different social media platform, I've been doing just that. There have been people popping up on my feed that have been...well...struggling in the midst of darkness really. They're looking for hope, for encouragement.
And I've just....been doing that. Giving them words of hope and encouragement and just trying to give them a point of light. A beacon to look up to. To help them feel better about themselves. To give them hope for tomorrow. That things will get better.

It was with that frame of mind that I wrote the following talk and gave it in church today. 

Breathe.

You got this.

Not every day you face is going to be an easy day.

There will be days where getting out of bed is going to be a major accomplishment. Which congrats guys! You managed to do just that today.

There will be times when things go wrong. Where the day just grows gloomier, darker, colder.

But that doesn’t mean the day has to stay that way.

Just because it’s not going good now, doesn’t mean it’s not going to go good in the future.

Whether that better moment happens in the next five minutes, tomorrow, in a week, or even in five years. Have confidence. It will get better.

The night is always darkest before the dawn. The light will come.

It’s a matter of lifting your head. Squaring your shoulders, and having the confidence that it will be better.

Breathe.

Mistakes will be made. Things will go wrong.

But those things don’t have to define you. You can learn and grow. Pick yourself up and continue onward.

Because it’s only when you stop trying that true failure happens.

You may have to create nine hundred and ninety-nine failed projects before you finally get your lightbulb moment.

You may have to tell yourself seventy times seven times that tomorrow. TOMORROW you will do better. You will start that goal. You will make that change you’ve been wanting to make.

So long as you keep trying, if it’s only in thinking of trying, you’re succeeding. Don’t give up. You got this.

Just remember, things don’t always go according to plan. Celebrate the things that did.

Recognize that while you may have failed in following through in doing exactly what you had wanted to do, that doesn’t mean you failed in following through with helping someone else’s plan to succeed.

A mistake, a delay, a missed opportunity could bring you into the path of another needing your guidance, your experience, or else bring them into your life to teach you a moment of patience, show you a moment of charity, give a learning experience that can build a foundation strong enough for you to stand on later when the whirlwinds blow and the flood waters rise.

Breathe.

You got this.

Things will get better. The struggles of last week are in the past. The future is not yet set in stone.

Start with today, or if today doesn’t work. Start with tomorrow.

Have confidence. You’re doing better than you think you are.

You’re helping more than you think you are. You’re an influence to those around you. And while you may not feel like anyone special right in this moment, you are the light on a hill to someone.

Whether it’s a flickering flame, or a blazing bonfire. There are those around you who look up to you. Depend on you. And think that you’re amazing.

Already, you’ve inspired a lot of people to change, to become more than they already are.

Whether it was that freshman that you smiled to on your way to class,

that customer who you took an extra twenty minutes of your time to help,

that half second where you liked a facebook post made by a friend,

that roommate that you helped by doing the dishes,

or that stranger on the street that you complimented.

Your influence is seen and felt by many. More than you can ever realize.

Don’t give up.

You got this.

Breathe.

It will all work out in the end. It’s not going to be easy. Unfortunately life isn’t always going to be you frolloicking in the meadows picking wildflowers.

But that doesn’t mean that the weeds and the cloudy days are the only things you should focus on. You can see the blue sky, the silver lining, the one blooming rose in a bush full of thorns.

You still have your entire life. Remember that some things take time. Just because it’s not working out in your timing doesn’t mean it won’t all work out in the end. Because it will work out.

Often in ways that you never could have imagined or expected.

So remember to breathe. Hold your head up. Square your shoulders.

Because you got this.

It seems like such a simple thing.

But that’s what Hope is.

It’s that flickering flame in the middle of a storm.

It’s whispering to yourself that ‘tomorrow I’ll do better’ as you curl up under the covers.

It’s not giving up the fight when all seems to be lost.

Hope can be such an easy thing to give to another.

An encouraging word.

A smile.

A small act of kindness.

Often we worry.

Worry that it’s not enough.

That we’re being a bother.

That saying something won’t help.

But it can.

Because hope is often the strongest when the odds are the greatest.

It’s easy to feel confidence when things are going well. It’s easy to feel great when all is going according to plan.

Yet it’s in the trials of life that hope is found. It’s found in the sacrifices made, it’s found in the stubborn determination that you will not give up.

It’s found when you keep the faith, fight the good fight.

Have courage. Be Kind.

Stay Calm. Carry on.

Hope is the light on a hill. It’s that flame that cannot be hidden.

Hope is easy to spark. Because it almost never goes out.

It only needs a single moment, a single smile, a single word, to flare back up.

To burn brightly.

To spur you on.

The main thing is reach for it. To share it.

Because where hope is found, miracles can happen.

So Breathe.

You got this.

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Procrastinating

I'm rather good at procrastinating.

I've basically managed to figure out how long something will take.
And then will avoid doing that thing until the last possible moment.

So packing for a trip? Simple. It takes so much time, therefore I only need to pack the morning of.
Cleaning my room for a cleaning check? Yah, done it enough that I know how long it takes, therefore. Start at 11pm the night before. 

The thing about procrastination though...
Is that it often brings about a lot of stress for me.
Because if I know about it far enough in advance.
Then the knowledge that I need to be doing the thing is constantly weighing on the back of my mind. 

Which brings about a tug of war. 
Of wanting to get the thing done now.
And the knowledge that I can wait and get it done later. 

Which honestly.
In this case.
I could have prepared much earlier than this.

Because tomorrow.
I'm giving a talk in church.

I've known about it since like...Tuesday?

But have I started writing it yet?
Ha.
No.

I have a million ideas swirling in my head.
Trying to think of the best way to write it all out. 
How to get everything contained in a way will be interesting, helpful...and most of all...short enough that I won't go over the time limit set to me.

And considering I'm a writer....lol. Brevity isn't always my forte.
Especially when I manage to get a serious thought going.

*exhales*
Honestly I should have started working on my talk last night.
I should have started working on it this morning.

When am I going to work on it?
Well, hopefully when I get home from work tonight.
Because tomorrow morning....that's when I need to give it.

Go stand up in front of a bunch of strangers and try to well....inspire them for ten minutes. 

Guess we'll see how this all goes when I get back from my shift. lol. 

Until you next read these words; 
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Tiny Surprises

Apparently my fish tank is in the mood to keep surprising me. 

You see in my 125 gallon fish tank, I have 9 angelfish. 
(and a ton of other fish as well) 

And out of those 9, 6 of them have divided into 3 breeding pairs. 

Which makes for a rather contentious tank. As this past week, days apart from each other, all 3 pairs of angelfish, decided to lay eggs.

The first pair...well it was their first time doing so.
And so I figured that those eggs wouldn't last long, because they were new parents. They wouldn't have as much of a clue on what to do. 

And unsurprisingly.
After a couple of days.
The eggs vanished from their spot.

Which usually happens if the batch wasn't fertile....or one of my algae eaters got a hold of the eggs.

I didn't think much on it.
Because the other two pairs of angelfish too decided to lay eggs.
These ones slightly more experienced in the process. 

So I was focused on them and this new set of eggs.
When I happened to glance towards the first pair of angelfish.
Because the Father was acting super aggressive to the other fish.
Which was weird...because there were no eggs over there.
Right?

Wrong.

I looked to a pink plant I have in that corner of that tank.
Looked closer.
And saw....little fry!!!

()_() 
Apparently the first pair of angelfish not only had moved their eggs to a different location, but had managed to keep that location secure enough that the eggs were able to transition to their wiggler state, an now reach their fry state where they can freely swim around. (to the consternation of their parents who prefer they stay ON the plant lol.) 

THERE'S BABY FISH IN MY TANK!!! AWWWWW!!!!

lol.
But now I'm at a tug of war of myself.
Because like I said, I have a ton of other fish in my tank. Like around 60 total. 
Which means...that more than likely some of those babies will get eaten and if I want them to survive I should separate them out.

But the other part of me....knows that Angelfish make excellent parents. And I kinda want to see how well they do parenting their offspring...

Ah. Decisions Decisions. 

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Serving Past the Pain

I share the following story with permission from Amy Wright, who came to understand the principle of serving even amid a terrifying and life-threatening illness.
Amy wrote:

"On October 29, 2015, I found out I had cancer.
My cancer has a 17 percent survival rate.
The odds weren't good.
I knew that I would be in for the fight of my life.
I was determined to give it everything I had not just for myself but, more important, for my family.
In December, I began chemo.
I was familiar with many of the side effects of cancer-fighting drugs, but I id not know that it was possible for someone to be so sick and still be alive.

"At one point, I declared chemotherapy a human rights violation.
I told my husband that I was done.
I quit!
I was not going back to the hospital.
In his wisdom, my sweetheart patiently listened and then responded, 'Well, then we need to find someone to serve."

What?
Did he miss the fact that his wife had cancer and couldn't take one more bout of nausea or one more moment of excruciating pain?

Amy goes on to explain: "My symptoms gradually worsened to where I generally had one or two 'OK' days a month [when] I could somewhat function as a living, breathing human being.
It was those days when our family would find ways to serve."

On one of those days, Amy's family distributed chemo comfort kits to other patients, kits filled with items to cheer and to help relieve symptoms.
When Amy couldn't sleep, she would think of ways to brighten someone else's day.
Some ways were big, but many were just small notes or text messages of encouragement and love.
On those nights when her pain was too great to sleep, she would lie in bed with her iPad and search for ordinances that needed to be completed on behalf of her deceased ancestors.
Miraculously the pain would subside, and she was able to endure.

"Service," Amy testifies, "saved my life.
Where I ultimately found my strength to keep moving forward was the happiness I discovered in trying to relieve the suffering of those around me.
I looked forward to our service projects with great joy and anticipation.
Still to this day it seems like such a strange paradox.
You would think that someone who was bald, poisoned, and fighting for [her] life was justified in thinking that 'right now it is all about me.'
However, when I thought about myself, my situation, my suffering and pain, the world became very dark and depressing.
When my focus turned to others, there was light, hope, strength, courage, and joy.
I know that this is possible because of the sustaining, healing, and enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ."

Amy came to trust in the Lord as she came to know Him.
If she had leaned even a little to her own understanding, she might have rejected the idea that she serve.
Service enabled her to withstand her pain and afflictions and to live this scripture: "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

-Bonnie H. Cordon -Trust in the Lord and Lean Not -April 2017 General Conference

Until you next read these words;

I'll be watching the leaves.

Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi