Well the time has come for us to set what we call 'New Years Resolutions', and I'm guessing you haven't really taken the time to set some real good goals for yourself, right? Yeah, that's what I thought. But if you did, well, good for you. Maybe my insight may be somewhat beneficial. I want to ask a question to get your mind rolling. What is it that keeps us from reaching our goals? Is it fear? A lack of motivation? A lack of desire? What is it?
To add some light, I want to introduce a principle (in this post and in later posts) that may help you this upcoming year. But first, watch this video.
I know it may sound a bit off topic, but what do you need to achieve something?
Tools.
Too often we look upon tools as those metal things in your garage, but we don't realize that tools could be anything. Successful people are successful because they use their resources or tools correctly. Let's broaden our perspective here and let's get it in our minds that tools are anything that we use to achieve something such as a goal. For example, look at the end of your arm. Your hands are an invaluable resource.
I want to introduce you to your newest tool - Time.
How can we use Time as a resource or a tool to help us achieve our goals?
Think about it, because next time, because in the near future, I'll post and share my insights on how the three components of time (Past, Present, and Future) relate to goal achieving. Maybe we'll have similar thoughts.
It seems as though life as a typical high school student consists of several things that we consider to be quite important including, our social Life, our work life, our academic life, and our personal life. Students prioritize different aspects of their High School life differently, but one thing that seems to be prevalent among the majority of high school students is their crave for "green". :) In other words, Money, Money, Money! We strive to find the best job that fattens up our wallet in the quickest time in order to purchase the things that we may have even wanted since we were young. As for myself, I ended up procuring several jobs, but one job in particular has engraved many good and "so stressful that I wanted to cry" moments into my memory that I will probably never forget my experience there - My life as a worker at Rocky Mountain Drive Inn.
Rocky Mountain Drive Inn seems to be pretty well-known among the happy, simple citizens of Provo, Utah for the quality of their food, especially for their deliciously, mouth-watering shakes and scones. When I worked there, it was quite interesting to see people struggle and seriously ponder on the flavor of their shake. As a worker, I got shakes for free, so it wasn't a very arduous task to come to a conclusion on what flavor I would ultimately end up choosing; however, I do understand their situation. When there seems to be a plethora of possible choices, truly deciding upon what we even want becomes a difficult and potentially long process.
Life at times can be the same way. There seems to be so many different options and pathways we can potentially choose from - Just like the variety of flavors of shakes shown on the left :). A lot of the time, we are stretched between several options and sometimes it seems as though we cannot adequately determine the finest alternative. But, there is a way!
Sometimes, as the cashier, I feel compelled to just help the poor and indecisive customer by simply asking questions or making suggestions such as "Are you feeling fruity or chocolaty today?" or "You know, a lot of people like the Banana Cream Pie shake. I'd recommend that one. What do you think?" or "What do you normally get? Try this one. It tastes just as good.". I'm merely just helping these people make a decision that they hopefully won't regret.
Of course and occasionally, there are those that ask for, or even demand, a refund because my suggestion for some reason isn't what they wanted. Sadly, against policy - unless there is like a hair or something - we cannot refund something simply just because they aren't satisfied with their purchase. But on the other hand, there are those that absolutely loved the suggestion and come back sooner or later and actually end up ordering the same shake.
Even though I had credible work experience at the burger joint, because I am human, I could not flawlessly guide customers to a decision simply because I do not know the customer well enough. Of course, as a guide, I made some mistakes, but there is a guide who does not. The one and only Guide who knows exactly where to lead us. The one that knows exactly what we want, what we don't want, what we don't need, and even what we need - Heavenly Father.
I'm pretty sure Heavenly Father can create the most deliciously, flawless ice cream shake for you by mixing perfect proportions of each ingredient, tailored for your taste buds. But the guidance that I want to emphasize is not just what shake we may want or need, but guidance on a whole new level.
I want to refer back to my previous paragraph when I talked about indecision between seemingly equal alternatives. If there is something I know, it would be that God guides us. Sometimes when we are placed in a specific situation that needs specific guidance, it's fair enough to say that we can ask God specific questions. The interesting thing about asking specific questions is that the answer, in most cases, will also be specific. When we are asking God specific questions, in return, he will give us specific answers. Of course I do not know God's initial intentions, but one thing that is a fact is that he does hear and answer our prayers. The key is to listen.
Sometimes that answer to our prayers doesn't necessarily come as a "Do this" or "Do that" but sometimes prayers may seem unanswered. According to what I have learned, the reason why God seems give us answers that seem unanswered is simply because he trusts us to make the correct decision. It may also be that God thinks both alternatives are equally so he simply answers our prayer by implying something along the lines of...
"I think they're all good options. Choose whichever one you think is the best"
And other times, God will leave us to make a decision and after we go through the experience, we will know whether it is the correct or wrong decision. God's reasoning behind this? I'm not sure, but one thing that I am sure of is that God has a purpose for us, therefore, he has a plan for us. That means, and like I said before, he knows what we need to learn and do; therefore, trust God. Sometimes it may seem irrational or irrelevant, but it's important for us to remember that God knows what we don't know.
"But Behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?"
- 1st Corinthians 3:16
As a kid, and even until I graduated high school, I did what I could to obtain what many of us categorize as 'junk food'. And as a typical three year old, I begged and begged for something sweet when we were checking out until my parents either finally gave in or until they succeeded in dragging me out of the store. It seems as though the majority of children crave and will do anything they can to obtain sweets, and stealing cookies out of the cookie jar without asking Mom has become a pretty common example within our society.
I'd say that all kids are that way, but miraculously, some people seem to grow out of that stage and start to value the exact opposite - health.
When I was home, the only cereal my parents bought were the healthy kinds like Oatmeal Square and Honey Bunches of Oats. I had several friends who never had "good cereal" at home, so it became a tradition of ours to go to our other friend's house and munch on his "good cereal". He actually didn't like cereal very much, so he let us have as much as we wanted. Not only was there "good cereal", but his pantry seemed to always be glorified with beautiful amounts of fruit snacks, cookies, soda, and basically anything you can think of that is unhealthy. For us, it was paradisaical.
On July 3rd, my two year Journey in Southern California began. This time, there was no Mom or Dad to enforce what seemed like health laws upon me, and finally, I was free to eat whatever I wanted! Let me tell you, I was quite excited when I opened the first boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Captain Crunch. I literally had an arsenal of sweets ready to fulfill my cravings whenever I had them. As the days went by, stomach aches and trips to the bathroom overruled my desire to eat sweets. By the end of the week, I couldn't wait to finish my sugary cereal so I could buy the healthy kind again for the following week.
This isn't the only experience during the past year that caused me to start valuing health. I once attempted the Blazin' Challenge at Buffalo Wild Wings that left me sick to my stomach for days, other harrowing health-related experiences, and an unexpected, extra twenty pounds to my weight finally did the trick. A healthy life style was finally my lifestyle.
I once heard that usually the most crowded a gym gets is in January, however, the number of people that start to go religiously drops pretty dramatically. I guess by May, most of the people who attended in January are no longer going to the gym regularly. The same people will re-commit themselves to go back to the gym once the new year starts and the cycle repeats probably repeats itself.
God wants us to take care of our bodies, because they are a gift from him to us. We are to take good care of them by regulating our diet, exercising religiously, and watching what we put into it. Consuming products and substances that can harm our health such as Alcohol, Tobacco, and even Coffee damage the wonderful gift that God has given us. By eating unreasonable amounts of meat or sugars also causes harm to our bodies. conditions such as diabetes or high levels of Cholesterol can develop, and finally, with exercise, our body is well maintained and kept in well working order.
It seems as though we, as human beings, seem to put ourselves down when we fail. At times, it seems as though we have tried many times, but we cannot seem to succeed. Or sometimes it seems as though we are so far from our ultimate goal that all seems hopeless, doesn't it?
The missionary on the right side is Elder Park Kyung Min.
Whenever I think about Elder Park, I remember a wonderful missionary. I want to argue, however, that Elder Park was not the great missionary he was at the end of his mission when he first started his two year journey in Anaheim, California. I'm pretty sure he had beat himself up in the past for making mistakes, forgetting things, saying the wrong things, and probably the list goes on and on. It seems as though we all go through what we all know as steps of progression. We all learn from mistakes or from experiences in the past, and there is not really a way to really understand the value of our knowledge without experience. Our mistakes shape who we are and what we eventually become in a positive way if we view our mistakes as 'learning opportunities'.
It is simply not possible for us to not make a single mistake in our life. A Pianist has probably made many mistakes in his playing before he can play a concerto to perfection; A Master Carpenter has probably gotten countless splinters while learning to make beautiful furniture; and an author may go through rigorous amounts of drafts in order to ultimately write a notable novel. My point is, everyone makes mistakes. It's cliche, it's hard, but it is inevitable.
Lately, I've been listening to the Tangled sound track a lot, because it's not distracting to my missionary work, but the lyrics that stick to my brain are "I have a dream!" Well, if it's humanly possible, it's probably achievable. It has been said for a long time that we were created in the image of God. Doesn't that mean that our potential is much more than what we think we are? Doesn't that mean that we are not mere reflections of our mistakes?
Watch this video!
Don't you feel kind of bad for the guy? Whenever I watch that video, I get pretty frustrated that he did that; nevertheless, it's a lesson to each and everyone of us that we are more than what we think we are. We have more potential that what we think we have.
In my opinion, the perks that were included with the cruise were probably somewhere where the man could have easily found it. Probably a brochure or a pamphlet, but the man was stubborn enough to ignore all the good things, because he may have thought that he knew better.
My father once told me that in Elementary school and if you are smart, you can get by easily, but once you are in middle school and high school, being smart doesn't mean much; especially in college. To be completely honest, I didn't quite believe him. I graduated Elementary school imagining I was running frivolously through daisy fields; however, in middle school, the tides turned.
Algebra was quite harder than I thought, and it was even worse when I took the ACT! I seriously thought I was smarter than that, but I guess I wasn't as smart as I thought I was. Thus, I came to a particularly interesting conclusion. Typically, the measure of our success is not derived from our natural ability, yet, the measure of our success is derived from our work.
Our perception of our selves seems to be derived from the results of our work. If we flunked our math test, it may not necessarily mean that we are absolutely terrible at math. This actually sounds quite familiar, because I did it myself. These are the steps that I took in order to procure a good math score when I retook the test.
1. I set a goal.
"Okay, I can only get 90% on this test, because Mr. Jackson only gives up to 90% on retakes. I still want above a 95%."
2. I created a plan to achieve my goal.
"If I want above a 95%, what do I need to do?How much or how long do I have to study each day? How should I study? How much help from my teacher or from other other students do I need? how much time do I have?
3. I proceeded to start applying my plans into my study.
"Okay, when I get home, I need to study for 3 hours. I'm going to study section 1-2 and do every single problem in the book. I'm going to get a good score."
4. Achieve your goal.
"Woo hoo! I got 95%!"
I actually got what I wanted when I retook my Calculus exam. I guess the main thing I wanted to get across with this post is that mistakes do not define who we are. If we have made a mistake, learn from it, plan for the future, apply that plan in the most effective way, and then strive to succeed. I think this plan can be applied to all degrees of our life. Whether it is on a math test or whether we made a more societal mistake such as causing a 7 car pile up, we can create a plan. If we are diligent, eventually, we will succeed.
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is
to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love—then make that day
count!”
Elder Chung
"...some might say, 'what do I have to be grateful for when my world is falling apart?' Perhaps focusing on what we are grateful for is the wrong approach. It is difficult to develop a spirit of gratitude if our thankfulness is only proportional to the number of blessings we can count. true, it is important to frequently 'count our blessings' - and anyone who has tried this knows there are many - but I don't believe the Lord expects us to be less thankful in times of trial than in times of abundance and ease. In fact, the most of the scriptural references do no speak of gratitude for things but rather suggest an overall spirit or attitude of gratitude. It is easy to be grateful for things when life seems to be going our way. But what then of those times when what we wish for seems to be far out of reach? Could I suggest that we see gratitude as a disposition, a way of life that stands independent of our current situation? In other words, I'm suggesting that instead of being thankful for things, we focus on being thankful in our circumstances - Whatever they may be."
-Dieter F. Uchtdorf
I think President Uchtdorf brings up a really good point. He emphasizes that gratitude should be a "way of life that [should] stand independent of our current situation.". Let me ask an essential question. Why do we even need to be grateful? or even show gratitude even in the smallest degree?
Let's ask President Dieter F. Uchtdorf again.
"Everyone's situation is different, and the details of each life are unique. Nevertheless, I have learned that there is something that would take away the bitterness that may come into our lives. There is one thing we can do to make life sweeter, more joyful, even glorious.
We can be grateful!
It may sound contrary to the wisdom of the world to suggest that one who is burdened with sorrow should give thanks to God. But those who set aside the bottle of bitterness and lift instead the goblet of gratitude can find a purifying drink of healing, peace, and understanding.
Why does God command us to be grateful?
All of His commandments are given to make blessings available to us. commandments are opportunities to exercise our agency and to receive blessings. Our loving Heavenly Father knows that choosing to develop a spirit of gratitude will bring us true joy and great happiness."
There is an abandoned bridge near my home that is known to attract many people to its daring challenge - to jump off into the river below. It's about a forty foot drop into the river, but in order to ascend to the top of the bridge, you must climb up a bar that may not ever be a foot wide. It is said that once you get to the top, it is safer to just jump down than to descend the way you came back up. A term that is used a lot when describing our short term and long term trials is "Climbing Mountains". During a hike up, it may seem as though we are on the verge of failure and giving up, but once we get to the top, we feel accomplished. We feel refreshed, and all of a sudden, we get this rush of energy - A gladness and sense of accomplishment for a successful ascent to the peak, essentially our goal and purpose of the hike in the first place.
To be frank, the first time I went up that truss to get to the top, I was freaked out. I really felt like I wanted to go back down. It took some amount of motivation to keep going forward. Had I had not gone all the way up and tried to work my way down, it would have been more difficult and dangerous. Even though I may have gotten to the bottom safely, I would experience feelings such as of discouragement and regret.
It seems pretty common now a days for people to just "give up". Where is the accomplishment in that? Where is it that we learn? If we only kept our feet in the water, we merely "skim the surface" and we cannot experience the full joy that comes from accomplishment.
It is on the last hill, the last mile, the last of anything where we sometimes feel as thought we have to give up. I do not think we are completely aware of what we are capable of. We can do amazing things, and these capabilities do not "rise to the surface" until we are tested. Our ascent can be stressful and tiring, and it can be completely arduous and long, but we must remember. We are almost there.
I want to re-post the quotation by Elder Jeffery R. Holland just because it truly helps us have faith. Let us press forward until the end and until we reach our main goal. Let us have faith to persevere through our trials, for Jesus Christ will give us strength.
“Don't you quit. You keep walking, you keep
trying, there is help and happiness ahead. Some blessings come soon.
Some come late. Some don't come until heaven. But for those who embrace
the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be alright in the end.
Trust God and believe in Good Things to Come.”
Here's a question to think about! Whether it is subconsciously or consciously, where do you seek your happiness? Are you seeking it from the expensive and luxurious lifestyle? The rowdy and crazy party lifestyle? Or are you searching in the friendly and comfortable atmosphere within in the walls of your own home? Or possibly within the spiritually comforting and peaceful chapel inside of your church? The reason why I am asking this question is because it is crucial to understand where we are physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually traveling to seek happiness in order to generate and visualize our pursuit.
In my previous post, I expressed that I wanted to share the 'bits and pieces' that I know will bring happiness. Well, 100% of these 'bits and pieces' revolved around one thing. That one thing is the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
You know, I'm not implying that happiness only comes through spirituality. Neither am I implying that immediately, you have to go to church and be a saint. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that the 'bits and pieces' that I've attained come from spirituality. Watch this video.
The title of this post is called "The Source". These people in the video all said that they found what they were looking for when they found Jesus Christ, who was the 'epitome of love'. Why would Jesus Christ be the source of our happiness? Let's take a quick look at his infinite atonement.
LDS.org
Here is Jesus Christ. What he did for us is even more than just die for us. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he suffered all of our pains and sorrows. Do you struggle from depression? From emotional pain? Psychological and mental pain? He knows how you feel, because he felt it for you. This enables us to turn to him in times of need. This is so important! When we mess up, we don't need to give up, because he already paid the price for it. He just asks that we keep trying. Keep trying to improve and become more like him. Jesus Christ is the 'epitome of love'. His atonement is the source of our happiness. Everything we do in this life can be revolved around his atonement. He has given this gift to us for free.
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all they ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
