I have received a lot of direction recently as I have come with lots of questions. Some of the things in my life that I thought were certain and understood, I realized have become shaken because of my choices and the choices of others so I am continually going back to the temple to find ways that I can improve and hopefully once again be given those same blessings if the time for them has not yet passed. It has been a truly enlightening experience and the things I have been learning are truly profound.
I determined that God has a lot left for me to do and improve. The areas in which I am weak need strengthening and I can not forget them. Some of those areas are needing to be more strong include holding on true to my standards and covenants, remembering them and remembering the Lord, and that I need to unconditionally love and support others instead of always judging their actions. I need to trust people and have faith in them and in God's ways. If people I love are suffering, I have to accept that God isn't going to give them more than they can handle and I have to believe that they will get through it. I have to respect the choices and agency of others. I have to forgive and forget the mistakes while learning from the lessons and loving all those involved.
I was talking to a friend recently about fears and the things that we deal with in life. One of the fears they had seemed so random and inconsequential but when they took the time to realize what else was happening at the same point in their life when that fear or problem started, they realized it wasn't so random after all. We often react to what other people say and do. I remember as a child I was very small and people told me that I couldn't do things because of my size. Not that their intentions were to be hurtful or restraining but probably were out of love and wanting to protect me. However, a large portion of my life I thought that because of my size I couldn't do certain things. I wasn't very big so I didn't feel like I was very attractive to girls or later, women. I basically had this sense of inadequacy and feeling of being doomed to failure. And once I realized that this was the source of a lot of my pain and why I allowed myself to fall short, I was able to change. "An idea. Resilient, highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it's almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully formed, fully understood. That sticks, right in there somewhere."
We all do this unintentionally. Think about people nowadays... We tell our children how skilled and talented they are, that they earned things, how beautiful they are... And then we are surprised when they get older and feel like they deserve things and that the world is going to judge them and their worth by their outward appearance. We have to instill the ideas or principles of work, faith, and patience. We need to teach our children that they can achieve the impossible through setting and accomplishing little goals along the way. We need to teach them self-worth and self-reliance by loving them and allowing them to make their own decisions and being accountable and understanding the consequences.
Sometimes we believe in a life of extremes... we must always be happy or life is always going to be bad. However life and the trials we face are like the rain. The rain will not fall forever. And even though the fall is long and sometimes destructive or painful, it allows for a new beginning and provides life and growth. With time, there is a lot of good that comes from something that in the moment feels like it is the end of the world. Just like light always chases away the darkness, a rainbow will follow the rain. There is hope and there is joy around the corner and it is from this contrast of happiness and sadness that we are able to appreciate the blessings and lessons that God gives us.
I guess what I am trying to say is that many times the hardest thing we have to do is sift through all the ideas in our heads of who we are and what we can or cannot do and determine for ourselves what our future can be. No one else will define our choices except ourselves and I know that if we are willing to turn that over to God and accept His will, we can become truly happy. "Never, never, never give up."
No comments:
Post a Comment