Why We Celebrate Easter

Dear Everyone,

Happy Easter! It was 22 years ago that I was born today, and there are a couple of things that I have been thinking of. I want to share something about Easter that came to me right now, as I sit on a bus heading home from Utah to Idaho.

Easter as we celebrate  it is a celebration of Christ over the Grave. It is a celebration of victory. It is a celebration of completion, of happiness, of life, of hope, of the future. We are those who survive Christ, and that people so long ago. Each year we take some time to be grateful for what we have, but I want to take it a step further this year. Let us take it to the step that we will do just that in our lives.

Let’s celebrate our successes. Let’s celebrate our good grades, our accomplishments. Let’s decide that we will Carry On and move forward with our lives! The best birthday present anyone could give me would to be a promise that he or she will never ever give up. You want to make me the happiest friend ever? Be happy with the things you have, and make your life more than that! Find beauty in the mundane, and make the mundane impressive!

Don’t allow yourself to settle in life,  especially with yourself. Don’t accept mediocrity! Don’t allow your Monday’s to be bad! Make rainy days the ones that are the sunniest! Do you realize how much YOU can do? Do you know how much any one person can do? One person who was just like us saved the human race. We can’t quite do that because He already did, but we can do quite a bit! Doubt and fear rob faith. One of the wisest people I know told me once that worrying shows a dedicated lack of faith.

I also recently heard a good saying about doubting, and how it isn’t worth our time. Can we really afford to waste even a moment of our lives worrying all that much? Please don’t misread—I’m the chief culprit here. If worrying were an Olympic sport I would have a few gold medals to pin on the wall! HOWEVER! I work every day to not worry so much. I work my mind and heart together to fight against my weaknesses. That’s what Christ did. That’s what He taught us to do.

He already felt everything that we will ever feel. He already knows how amazing you are. We are given weaknesses not to trip us up or to tear us down, but rather to lift us closer to God and as an opportunity to grow and learn. I can’t think of anything better to do than to overcome.

That’s what Easter is all about too, isn’t it?

To sum up today’s message, I invite you to overcome something and come forth a better, stronger person. I know you can!

I love you all! Happy Easter!!

-Doug Knuth

New Week!

Dear Readers,
Well, we have another week in front of us! This one is special for all of the Christian world, and for me (my birthday!), but most of all it is going to be special for YOU! Why you may ask? For no reason at all--and yet for everything. YOU are an amazing person that is going to save your world this week! You are going to make a decision, take a chance, do something fantastic, that is going to make all the difference!

This week will be one worth remembering. This week will be something out of the ordinary, simply because it is a week in which we will live that will never happen again! We are constantly living in history, and this week will help us grow and will NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN! How amazing is that! We have a limited number of chances to make a difference in the world. I don't want to even think of how boring my life would be if I didn't ever make a difference.

Sure, at times I take a little while and unwind on the computer. We all do! The thing that will make this week amazing though, is what we do on the computer, and whilst we are away from the screen!!!!

There are so many good things in the world! Broken Record Doug is saying it again, the world is an amazing place! YOU MATTER! YOU CAN DO IT!

I just want to jump around and yell! I believe in the people around me so much, we just have to be able to look in the mirror and see those amazing things in ourselves and then go and act on them!!

We can change the world! We WILL change the world! It won't be through complaining or negativity. Cynicism will never get anyone anywhere, and pessimism is there on the couch next to him! Optimism will win in the end. I will forever be the Optimist. I will never ever give up and I will never ever give up on you, my reader.

Listen to your favorite uplifting energetic song to start out the week and then make it happen! You're dreams are calling, and they want to meet with you. They're waiting right where you put them! Go and get them and make them happen!

Have an amazing, fantastic, sunny, bright, energetic, healthy week, and remember that you are loved!
-Doug Knuth

Rexburg or Bust and Bursting with Optimism!!!

Dear Readers,

I’m writing this on the way home to Rexburg right now! Having a long car ride to think about things has filled me with a new sense of purpose and excitement about life and I wanted to take a minute to write about that! I was just listening to music and I thought—why don’t I just have an amazing day, and then an amazing week, work really hard, get work done, be happy and amazing, and just make the whole world know it?!

Well, I may not be able to touch the whole world, but I know what I will work to make my corner of it brighter and better than it was before! I love the world, and I love what I am doing! I am learning and growing in an amazing university, I have been blessed with amazing friends, and I am living in an amazing part of history! I live in an age where I can talk to my mom on Facebook from an airplane and write a blog post in a car! I can do anything!

I am one person, but one person can make a difference in the world! Yeah, we all have down days. Down weeks, months, or even years sometimes. It doesn’t matter that we have hard times. What matters is that we are part of the human race. We make up part of a group of beings that are learning, growing, and moving forward to a better tomorrow.

Sure there are bad things in the world. Sure there are natural disasters happening. What is the important part to remember though? The important thing to remember is that we have a choice. We can make the world sadder, darker, and harder to bear, or we can make it shine.

Every one of us has within us infinite potential to do good and make things better! Why focus on sad things? I know that I sound like a broken record with this, but it’s only because I go around and hit the same part in my life. I need to remind myself, or be reminded, that there is good in the world, and that it is worth fighting to protect! We’re change! We are the ones that will make a difference! One day at a time we can be that future that we want!

Have a great week everyone!!

The Golden Rule, and Thumper's Mom

Dear Readers, 

I want to start with a small update, especially after last week's less than enthusiastic post about my inner drama! This weekend I was very uplifted and I am now having an amazing week! I found out that many things are going my way, and one of the best is that I only ever have to take one math class in college! I will survive--Huzzah! I also won a fun contest on campus, enjoyed seeing Les Miserábles again, had an amazing time at an etiquette night with a good friend of mine, and the list goes on and on! 

Onto the post for the night though. Around Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and most social media sites I am surrounded by a large demographic of people. There are those that are affiliated very strongly with certain political parties, and all those in between. This isn't limited to the internet, but it is easier to track and see it there. I see a lot, and I read a majority of the things that people write. I give time to the things that people pour their souls into, and I appreciate that everyone has their opinion. There is an issue though, or a few, that I can't seem to fight past. 

The issue is a lack of common decency. The world is in a degrading state and it is a societal norm to post whatever comes to your mind. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it really is causing problems. Where will it stop? Who will be that one person that you won't say something bad about in a post? What is that one thing that is too personal to share? When is it not okay to post something? The lines and limits are shifting and being erased by us as a whole, and it has to stop. 

I've mentioned it before in my blog, and I doubt that anyone that is doing this will read here, but I am so sick and tired of people mocking and slandering our president. I will openly state that I voted for Mitt Romney in the past election, but I will not resort to being less than childish about the way I speak of him. Guess what americans--HE IS STILL THE PRESIDENT! This is where Thumper's mother comes in. "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all." For any cynical grammarians out there we will ignore the double-negative there and get to the point. There is an endless cacophony in our minds of what will draw attention to ourselves online. What can I do or say that will be radical or funny? How can I be seen or heard? How can I tell anyone that something unrealistic is true, or that something that isn't even a possibility is going to happen? To all of this I repeat the words of a very wise man: STOP IT. 

We will never get anywhere in this world, or in this life, if we continue like this. There is enough bad stuff in the world as it is. What will complaining do to it? What will--I am going to stop here with that thought. I don't want to complain about it. What do I want to do? I actually want to do something about it. 

Here's what I really want to say;

-Stop existing, and start living.

-You can't spend today worrying about tomorrow, and yesterday is gone. You can spend all of your todays regretting your yesterdays, but until you get up and go and do something, nothing is going to change. 

-Be trusting. 

-Put yourself out there. 

-Make a difference for the better in the world! 

-Respect your leaders. Whether you think they deserve it or not. (Even if you don't agree with them)

-Be one worthy of the praise that others give you.

-Be optimistic. Putting yourself or others down doesn't make anyone look good, and there isn't any point to it. 

In general, I don't think that any of you that will read this need to worry about the things that I am saying. I am grateful to know that there are people in the world that are willing to listen to me rant around. I just want the world to be a better place. I won't follow blindly, but I will not be uncouth in my dealings with those around me. 

Last of all though; do unto others as you would have them do unto you. 

We can't ever run out of nice things to say or do. No one will ever show you disdain over a good deed. There are always opportunities to do good in the world. Why don't we take them more?

Thank you so much for reading. I care about you and want you to have the best week ever. You deserve it. You can make it happen. 

Sincerely, 

Doug Knuth