I had a couple of friends who each day this month have posted on their blogs about the things that they are thankful for. I really like that. I think it is really neat and I have enjoyed reading what they have written.
Gratitude is good.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Thankful
I had a couple of friends who each day this month have posted on their blogs about the things that they are thankful for. I really like that. I think it is really neat and I have enjoyed reading what they have written.
Gratitude is good.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Be compassionate. Be good.
It is really funny how when I have been thinking about something it seems to find me also.
I recently was talking with a friend about some of my frustrations about doing everything to the best of my ability to be kind and generous when there isn't really anything in return. I know that true charity has no expectation, and there have been somedays when I have really had no expectation. But there have also been some days when I get the impression that I'm more of a bother than anything else. Those days are difficult to keep up the nice attitude an cheery disposition. I'm a real human being after all. I don't deserve that. I don't deserve to be used or taken for granted or just a thing to satisfy someone else's needs. Sometimes it is just tiring trying to practice true charity (true charity is when you give even when you get nothing in return).
But I saw this poster today and it just warmed my heart. It is comforting to not feel alone in valuing compassion and kindness. Heavenly Father put it up for me to see and know that He notices and He cares even if others don't.
Elder Robert C. Oaks said, "The Book of Mormon provides insight into the relationship between patience and charity. Mormon, after pointing out that if a man 'have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity,' goes on to name the 13 elements of charity, or the pure love of Christ. I find it most interesting that 4 of the 13 elements of this must-have virtue relate to patience (see Moroni 7:44-45).
"First, 'charity suffereth long.' That is what patience is all about. Charity 'is not easily provoked' is another aspect of this quality, as is charity 'beareth all things.' And finally, charity 'endureth all things' is certainly an expression of patience (Moroni 7:45). From these defining elements it is evident that without patience gracing our soul, we would be seriously lacking with respect to a Christlike character."
I recently read Mosiah chapter 4 and I think I have a new favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon. I've been praying and studying about the love of God and how to have it more abundantly. King Benjamin really wanted it for his people and he talked about it to them
Elder John Groberg once said, "The more we obey God, the more we desire to help others. The more we help others, the more we love God and on and on. Conversely, the more we disobey God and the more selfish we are, the less love we feel.
"Trying to find lasting love without obeying God is like trying to quench thirst by drinking from an empty cup--you can go through the motions, but the thirst remains. Similarly, trying to find love without helping and sacrificing for others is like trying to live without eating--it is against the laws of nature and cannot succeed. We cannot fake love. It must become part of us. The prophet Mormon explained:
" 'Charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
" 'Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love' (Moro. 7:47-48)."
I recently was talking with a friend about some of my frustrations about doing everything to the best of my ability to be kind and generous when there isn't really anything in return. I know that true charity has no expectation, and there have been somedays when I have really had no expectation. But there have also been some days when I get the impression that I'm more of a bother than anything else. Those days are difficult to keep up the nice attitude an cheery disposition. I'm a real human being after all. I don't deserve that. I don't deserve to be used or taken for granted or just a thing to satisfy someone else's needs. Sometimes it is just tiring trying to practice true charity (true charity is when you give even when you get nothing in return).
But I saw this poster today and it just warmed my heart. It is comforting to not feel alone in valuing compassion and kindness. Heavenly Father put it up for me to see and know that He notices and He cares even if others don't.
Elder Robert C. Oaks said, "The Book of Mormon provides insight into the relationship between patience and charity. Mormon, after pointing out that if a man 'have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity,' goes on to name the 13 elements of charity, or the pure love of Christ. I find it most interesting that 4 of the 13 elements of this must-have virtue relate to patience (see Moroni 7:44-45).
"First, 'charity suffereth long.' That is what patience is all about. Charity 'is not easily provoked' is another aspect of this quality, as is charity 'beareth all things.' And finally, charity 'endureth all things' is certainly an expression of patience (Moroni 7:45). From these defining elements it is evident that without patience gracing our soul, we would be seriously lacking with respect to a Christlike character."
I recently read Mosiah chapter 4 and I think I have a new favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon. I've been praying and studying about the love of God and how to have it more abundantly. King Benjamin really wanted it for his people and he talked about it to them
Elder John Groberg once said, "The more we obey God, the more we desire to help others. The more we help others, the more we love God and on and on. Conversely, the more we disobey God and the more selfish we are, the less love we feel.
"Trying to find lasting love without obeying God is like trying to quench thirst by drinking from an empty cup--you can go through the motions, but the thirst remains. Similarly, trying to find love without helping and sacrificing for others is like trying to live without eating--it is against the laws of nature and cannot succeed. We cannot fake love. It must become part of us. The prophet Mormon explained:
" 'Charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
" 'Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love' (Moro. 7:47-48)."
Friday, November 2, 2012
Goalsetting
Setting goals has been on my mind recently. And it's kind of funny how when I'm thinking about something it usually comes up.
Yesterday someone asked me, "So what are your goals for this new year now that you've had a birthday?"
I wasn't really quite sure what to say. I do set goals, but I usually don't write them down. They're typically just things that I think about, that I want to work on, or change, or achieve.
For example, I realized at the beginning of the school year that I stay up too late and it causes me to not want to get up the morning. So I decided to go to bed earlier. I didn't write anything down. I just started going to bed earlier on a consistent basis.
Same with my scripture study, magnifying my calling, attending the temple, etc. I didn't write any of those things down. I just went ahead and did them. Maybe those kinds of things are just simple one step goals and don't require a whole lot of planning and writing down.
As far as having multistep goals that require planning and effort, and writing them down with a plan to achieve them... Those are much less frequent for me. And when my friend asked me what kinds of goals I had planned for myself, this is what I thought this person was talking about. And I didn't really have anything that I felt comfortable sharing.
In late August/early September I had this big goal that I wanted to achieve but I wasn't entirely sure how to go about it. That was one I wrote down. I wrote down the goal and what I needed to do to achieve it. It's funny looking back on it because that goal isn't really measurable. The items needed to achieve it are, but the actual goal I was trying to achieve wasn't measurable. I don't know if it makes as much difference as usually taught, because I have been progressing toward said goal. But it also isn't a goal that really has a timeline to achieve. But maybe that's the way real goals should be. They should be measurable and have a timeline. But maybe not all are like that. I don't really know.
Last year (around December) I actually created a vision board for myself. It is kind of like a visual for goals. I got the idea from an article I read a long time ago about a man who upon moving into his new big fancy dream house that he finally was able to buy, he was unpacking his office and he found a vision board he had created many years prior. On the board he found a picture of the house he just bought, cut out from a magazine. He had forgotten about cutting out the picture and putting it on his board. It was funny because he bought the exact same house from the picture. I took my vision board apart when I moved rooms after breaking off my engagement with Brad. I haven't made a new one yet.
I'm not sure what I would put on it. It was kind of hard to make the first one because the majority of the things I desire are not tangible things. And sometimes it is literally impossible to even visualize how to bring them into fruition. That kind of thing requires the powers of Heaven.
Like I said at the beginning, it's funny how when I think about something it comes up. Today I read 2 Nephi 8-9 and this quote:
"Keeping everything in balance can be a real problem... Often the lack of clear direction and goals can waste away our time and energy and contribute to imbalance in our lives. ...Our main goal should be to seek "immortality and eternal life." With this as our goal, why not eliminate from our lives the things that clamor for and consume our thoughts, feelings, and energies without contributing to our reaching that goal?" ~ M. Russell Ballard
There was a follow up question that said, "How do you spend your time, money, and energy?" I think that we spend our time, money, and energy on the things that are important to us, and where and what we spend those resources on indicate what our real priorities are.
Yesterday someone asked me, "So what are your goals for this new year now that you've had a birthday?"
I wasn't really quite sure what to say. I do set goals, but I usually don't write them down. They're typically just things that I think about, that I want to work on, or change, or achieve.
For example, I realized at the beginning of the school year that I stay up too late and it causes me to not want to get up the morning. So I decided to go to bed earlier. I didn't write anything down. I just started going to bed earlier on a consistent basis.
Same with my scripture study, magnifying my calling, attending the temple, etc. I didn't write any of those things down. I just went ahead and did them. Maybe those kinds of things are just simple one step goals and don't require a whole lot of planning and writing down.
As far as having multistep goals that require planning and effort, and writing them down with a plan to achieve them... Those are much less frequent for me. And when my friend asked me what kinds of goals I had planned for myself, this is what I thought this person was talking about. And I didn't really have anything that I felt comfortable sharing.
In late August/early September I had this big goal that I wanted to achieve but I wasn't entirely sure how to go about it. That was one I wrote down. I wrote down the goal and what I needed to do to achieve it. It's funny looking back on it because that goal isn't really measurable. The items needed to achieve it are, but the actual goal I was trying to achieve wasn't measurable. I don't know if it makes as much difference as usually taught, because I have been progressing toward said goal. But it also isn't a goal that really has a timeline to achieve. But maybe that's the way real goals should be. They should be measurable and have a timeline. But maybe not all are like that. I don't really know.
Last year (around December) I actually created a vision board for myself. It is kind of like a visual for goals. I got the idea from an article I read a long time ago about a man who upon moving into his new big fancy dream house that he finally was able to buy, he was unpacking his office and he found a vision board he had created many years prior. On the board he found a picture of the house he just bought, cut out from a magazine. He had forgotten about cutting out the picture and putting it on his board. It was funny because he bought the exact same house from the picture. I took my vision board apart when I moved rooms after breaking off my engagement with Brad. I haven't made a new one yet.
I'm not sure what I would put on it. It was kind of hard to make the first one because the majority of the things I desire are not tangible things. And sometimes it is literally impossible to even visualize how to bring them into fruition. That kind of thing requires the powers of Heaven.
Like I said at the beginning, it's funny how when I think about something it comes up. Today I read 2 Nephi 8-9 and this quote:
"Keeping everything in balance can be a real problem... Often the lack of clear direction and goals can waste away our time and energy and contribute to imbalance in our lives. ...Our main goal should be to seek "immortality and eternal life." With this as our goal, why not eliminate from our lives the things that clamor for and consume our thoughts, feelings, and energies without contributing to our reaching that goal?" ~ M. Russell Ballard
There was a follow up question that said, "How do you spend your time, money, and energy?" I think that we spend our time, money, and energy on the things that are important to us, and where and what we spend those resources on indicate what our real priorities are.
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