Enjoy the Ride!

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey . . . delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride." [Jenkins Lloyd Jones]

This quote is often mistakenly attributed to Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley [who quoted it] but actually came originally from a man named Jenkins Lloyd Jones. He was born in Wales in 1843, brought to the United States by his parents in 1844 and raised on a pioneer farm in Wisconsin. He became a Unitarian minister, and in 1882, began missionary work on the south side of Chicago, organizing All Souls Church, of which he remained pastor until his death.

I love this message. Life is hard. Life gets boring. Life requires work. Life wears you out. But life is wonderful, isn't it? Some of it is completely, utterly wonderful. Some of it is way too exciting! But as we work our way through it all, the trick, as Jones says, is to enjoy the ride. After all, men are that they might have joy, right? [2 Nephi 2:25]

I am loving my ride today -- despite the fact that it's laundry day for me. Are you enjoying yours?