What's the Gym?

"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. 

Our Perception

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.

"Let Your Past Make You Better, Not Bitter."

remember

The Miracle of Gratitude.

“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."

- Dieter F. Uchtdorf