One of my mantras! And I’m reminding myself of it more and more these days. I’m an extrovert and finding that isolation isn’t my jam! I wish my house were full of littles driving me crazy, eating all the snacks, with games and toys all over the house. I miss that!

Joseph B. Wirthlin gave a wonderful talk in October 2008 General Conference that I LOVE entitled, “Come What May and Love It” where he gives some witty, yet tender advice on getting through adversity.

“When I was young I loved playing sports, and I have many fond memories of those days. But not all of them are pleasant. I remember one day after my football team lost a tough game, I came home feeling discouraged. My mother was there. She listened to my sad story. She taught her children to trust in themselves and each other, not blame others for their misfortunes, and give their best effort in everything they attempted.

When we fell down, she expected us to pick ourselves up and get going again. So the advice my mother gave to me then wasn’t altogether unexpected. It has stayed with me all my life.

“Joseph,” she said, “come what may, and love it.”

I have often reflected on that counsel.

I think she may have meant that every life has peaks and shadows and times when it seems that the birds don’t sing and bells don’t ring. Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result…

…like everyone else, I have had times in my life when it seemed that the heaviness of my heart might be greater than I could bear. During those times I think back to those tender days of my youth when great sorrows came at the losing end of a football game.

How little I knew then of what awaited me in later years. But whenever my steps led through seasons of sadness and sorrow, my mother’s words often came back to me: “Come what may, and love it.”

How can we love days that are filled with sorrow? We can’t—at least not in the moment. I don’t think my mother was suggesting that we suppress discouragement or deny the reality of pain. I don’t think she was suggesting that we smother unpleasant truths beneath a cloak of pretended happiness. But I do believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life.

If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth, which in turn can lead toward times of greatest happiness.”

He talks about the importance of learning to laugh as an antidote through the mishaps of life and to keep an eternal perspective. I hope I’ve taught my children, and now Grands, some of these great lessons in life. Now it’s your turn young moms, to laugh in isolation and make these the greatest days and memories!

I’m going to go mess up my kitchen now to make some cookies, and maybe you’ll want to watch his council. Know this about him, he is 91, in pain, and delivers this talk from a chair because he is too feeble. He dies two months later. It’s a keeper! xo