"Good, better, best"

This week, I reread a talk by the apostle Dallin H. Oaks called "Good, Better, Best." The idea of the talk is to make you think about how you use your time. We only have so much time in a day and sometimes, we fill that time with so many good things that we don't have time to do the best things. In his talk, Elder Oaks made it clear that the best use of our time is being with our families and building our familiar relationships. Lots of times, in my own life, I have a tendency to focus on good things, but not the best things. I am a study-holic and I can spend so much time studying for all my classes that I don't have any time left over to do the best things. I need to be consicious about how I am using my time. It might be difficult at first to only focus on the best things, but I am confident that it will be worth the effort.

Vulnerability

This week in my Eternal Families class, talked about vulnerability. We listened to a Ted talk by Brene Brown that illustrated the importance of vulnerability in our lives. Vulnerability leads to us having deeper connections with our fellow beings and, therefore, leads to increased happiness. I found this very interesting personally because I would say that I am not the most vulnerable, open person in the world. I am fairly shy and so, it usually takes a couple months for me to completely be myself around other people. However, once I do get to know someone, I am very open with them and willing to share basically any thought that pops into my head. So, when I heard this talk, it made me think that maybe there are different types of vulnerability. I'm not so good at vulnerability with strangers, but I am good at being vulnerable with friends and family. I found that encouraging because, I feel like it allows me to have deep connections with people even when my nature is so against initial vulnerability. Thus, I decided that there is hope for all of us. If we are not vulnerable, it just takes practice and pushing ourselves a little out of our shells one piece at a time. I truly think that everyone can experience the close connections that come from vulnerability, even if right now it appears to be outside of your nature.

Self-reflecting without self-loathing

In the readings for my eternal families class this week, a particular quote stood out to me. It is by Thomas Carlyle and says, "The greatest of faults is to be conscious of none." To me, this is a very fine line that we must tread, because if we are overly conscious of our own faults, we will fall into anxiety and hopelessness, but if we are not conscious at all of our faults we will never improve as people. This quote was used in the context of having a healthy marital relationship. Many times, we fall into the trap of blaming others for our problems when, in reality, us taking ownership of them would allow us to overcome these problems. I think that to have healthy relationships, we need to find a place between these two extremes. We need to recognize our own faults and strive to improve them but also acknowledge that no one is perfect and not get too down on ourselves. I suppose we need to learn to see ourselves the way that Christ sees us.

General Conference

This past Saturday in Conference, I heard a talk by Elder Cornish which I loved. The main message of his talk was that we are good enough. We can do it. He said, "All the Lord expects of us is to try, but you have to really try." I love this quote because sometimes, I sure feel like there's no way I will live up to God's expectations of me. I feel like I am constantly making mistakes and failing. I can never seem to do all the things that He asks of me. But, I sure do try and our effort is what is important to God. He can see where our heart is. He knows our true desires. If we are truly trying then we are succeeding, we don't need to feel guilty or inadequate if we are doing our best.

Blind Faith isn't the Only Faith

In class, we have been talking about prophets and how they guide us through direct revelation from God. Before, I always took that to mean that the prophet was always right because God is always right. It meant that if my personal opinions didn't coincide with the prophet's words that I must be in the wrong. I followed faithfully what the prophet said, but I also followed blindly. Now I know that God does not ask blind faith of me. He asks more than that. He wants me to have a testimony not only of the prophet but of every word the prophet says as a messenger from our Heavenly Father. That will take work on my part. It means that I need to start praying, pondering, and studying about everything the prophet says in order to feel the Holy Spirit testify of the truth of his words. Then my faith will no longer be blind, but firm.

In my Eternal Families class this week, we read in 1 Corinthians about charity. As we were reading, I realized, once again, how perfectly Christ exemplifies the attributes of charity. You can basically just replace the word charity with Christ in any verse of 1 Cor 13 and it will still make sense. Christ "suffereth long." Christ "is not easily provoked." Christ "beareth all things." Christ "endureth all things." Christ "never faileth." To think of Christ as synonymous with charity has helped me to understand His character better than before. It was like reading a list of the attributes of Christ. Now I understand better what Christ wants me to become in the future. For now, I am going to chose one attribute of Christ/aspect of charity and attempt to better live it. In this way, hopefully I will become a better family member, better friend, better roommate, and a better disciple of Christ. 

Our Divine Potential
"Latter-day Saints see all people as children of God in a full and complete sense; they consider every person divine in origin, nature, and potential." (from Becoming Like God at lds.org essay).

I am a child of God. This is a simple fact that I have heard all of my life. The repetition of it sometimes makes me forget the meaning behind the words. We are literally God's children, which is why he cares about us, why he is there with us in every trial and why he takes an interest in what happens on our planet and in our lives. Every commandment or piece of advice he gives us, he gives because he loves us and wants us to reach our divine potential. He knows that we have the capacity to become as He is and is guiding each of us gently on the path that will lead us to our greatest potential and greatest happiness. Our duty is to accept and seek for his guidance and to fight to improve our weaknesses rather than just accept them. If I accept that I am God's child, then I will go through whatever refining fire is necessary to be able to become more like Him, one little step at a time, day by day. Over the course of many years, those tiny steps each day sure will add up.