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More and more equal

10/28/2020

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I am finding the Lord blessing me to be more and more equal to the more and more challenges that present themselves before me.
Halloween is once more just around the corner, though after experiencing what we have in 2020, the traditional festivities around ghouls and goblins seems rather muted.  And that’s not the only thing that seems muted.

I went back a couple of years to the program that came out on Halloween itself.  The monologue was excellent, addressing our fears as singles and our need to face them.  I highly recommend all to go back and check out the entire episode as well as read the monologue blog post.

But reading that post got me thinking.  How much have I changed in the two years since that program?  And have I changed for better or worse?  I haven’t surrendered to fear, but I confess I am finding it harder to fight the same fight I did then.  And I am finding the Lord blessing me to be more and more equal to the more and more challenges that present themselves before me.

Believe Him

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It helps me to remember I am not on my journey through life alone.  But it helps even more to vocalize that to someone.

A couple of weeks ago I had an extended conversation with my stake president.  Given my calling as his executive secretary, my recent struggles with singleness especially concerned him.  But I found that vocalizing my faith to someone who shares it filled me with an extra measure of strength that I previously did not know.

And how I needed that strength!  It’s one thing to believe the promises of the Lord when you seem to have all the time in the world.  But as you age and that window of youthful opportunity gets smaller and smaller, it gets harder and harder to believe.

But whatever difficulty or ease we each may have in believing does not change the essential truth of His promises.  That thought gives me courage, and so it can to you as well.  The Lord will fulfill every single one of His promises to you [pun intended].  So great will be your blessing that, when that glorious day finally comes, you’ll wonder how it ever was that you doubted Him.

Approach Him

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How do you believe that?  How do you generate such faith in the Lord and in His promises that you continue to believe fervently even when everything around you seems to say the exact opposite?

You must first approach the Lord.  We must walk in the ways of the Master Who still has power to calm the waves and the storms around us.  Then you must take action.  You can’t just wish and wait, expecting your blessings to come.  To increase your faith, you must increase your action.  To believe Him more, you must walk more in the covenant path.

As I reflect upon my own performance, I quickly see my shortcomings.  That’s not surprising given my lifelong status as a walking construction zone.  But perfection is not about performance; it’s about persisting towards proximity to Christ.  As we keep trying to follow Him and come closer to Him, He gives us strength to endure well the time before our blessings come, whether that time be short or long.

Trust Him

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In the post from two years ago, I said, “If all of us were to step back and observe the situation, we’d see that all fear does is prevent us from taking the next step in our journey.  But whatever your fears are, you still control what response you will provide.  Will you allow your fear to control you and cower from your next step?  Or will you control you and take that next step?”

The moments I experience now try me more than the moments I encountered two years ago.  But reading those words from two years ago now gives me added strength to endure well my more trying moments in the present and added hope my moments in the future will still be brighter and more glorious than I could ever imagine.

The Lord will grant you the tender mercies you need to face your fears just as He has for me.  He will help you to trust Him.  And when you truly trust Him, you can walk by faith even if your path is upon the very water that waves against you in the storm.  When you trust Him, He will show you your diligence and patience will not go unrewarded.  When you trust Him, He will make you more and more equal to whatever challenge confronts you.  And that will bring you more joy in your journey.

You can listen to the monologue for this episode of Joy In The Journey Radio for free by using the player here.  Feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment. Learn how you can listen to  all of this episode of Joy in the Journey Radio by going to the show page for this episode!
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A perfect brightness of hope

4/8/2020

1 Comment

 
Great and glorious blessings await each of as we stand firm in our faith and continually choose hope over despair.
Wasn’t Conference wonderful?  We’ve been greatly blessed to have living prophets and apostles provide counsel, instruction, and guidance as well as comfort and hope in the midst of an ever troubling time.  While the world is enveloped in fear and uncertainty, we can live immersed in faith and assurance that God still lives, still loves us, and still works His wondrous plan for the human family.

Many of the Conference addresses provided this hope, so selecting just one for the program today was as challenging as always.  But speaking of hope, one speaker specifically addressed that topic.  In his remarks entitled, “A Perfect Brightness of Hope,” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland beautifully tied the Restoration of the Lord’s gospel to our hopes for the future.
Part of what enabled him to do this is the Restoration’s fulfillment of the hopes of ancient prophets and saints.  They looked forward to the Restoration as a time when all gospel blessings would be enjoined together.  Indeed, we who live today have the glorious blessing of the fulness of the Lord’s gospel.  And those fruits can enable us to have a perfect brightness of hope for ourselves, our world, and our future.

See the blessings

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Elder Holland begins with a list of what he would be looking for in religion were he living in 1820.  He and his wife imagined themselves transported back in time with the same spiritual longings that many of the world’s inhabitants have possessed throughout time.

Elder’s Holland’s list provides a wonderful review of the glorious truths restored to humanity — the true nature and character of God, a clearer understanding of God’s plan for His children and especially the role of the Savior in that plan, an additional scriptural witness that enhances one’s understanding of the Lord’s life and ministry, and true priesthood authority to dispense every ordinance required for salvation and exaltation.

Elder Holland saved the crowning blessing for last.  In his own words, he would have searched


everywhere to find someone authorized to say to me and my beloved Patricia that our marriage in such a setting was sealed for time and all eternity, never to hear or have imposed on us the haunting curse “until death do you part.” I know that “in [our] Father’s house are many mansions,” but, speaking personally, if I were to be so fortunate as to inherit one of them, it could be no more to me than a decaying shack if Pat and our children were not with me to share that inheritance.
Indeed, the blessings which the temple extends to bind the living and the dead across eternity truly crown the joy which living the restored gospel offers.  As Elder Holland declared,

Beginning in the Sacred Grove and continuing to this day, these desires began to be clothed in reality and became, as the Apostle Paul and others taught, true anchors to the soul, sure and steadfast. What was once only hoped for has now become history.

Look ahead

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Elder Holland then directs our attention towards the future.  The fulfillment of the hope of ancient prophets and saints for their future can give us hope for the fulfillment of blessings in our future.

Conquering the COVID-19 crisis is perhaps the most immediate of those hopes for the world.  But once we overcome that challenge — and Elder Holland assures we will — other challenges will remain, such as hunger, poverty, safer schools, and the eradication of prejudice.  And of course, truly conquering those physical challenges will require the adoption of spiritual solutions, what Elder Holland called


greater devotion to the two greatest of all commandments: to love God by keeping His counsel and to love our neighbors by showing kindness and compassion, patience and forgiveness. These two divine directives are still —and forever will be —the only real hope we have for giving our children a better world than the one they now know.
Elder Holland then gets deeply personal, and here is where he packs his best punch.

In addition to having these global desires, many in this audience today have deeply personal hopes: hope for a marriage to improve, or sometimes just hope for a marriage; hope for an addiction to be conquered; hope for a wayward child to come back; hope for physical and emotional pain of a hundred kinds to cease. Because the Restoration reaffirmed the foundational truth that God does work in this world, we can hope, we should hope, even when facing the most insurmountable odds. That is what the scripture meant when Abraham was able to hope against hope — that is, he was able to believe in spite of every reason not to believe — that he and Sarah could conceive a child when that seemed utterly impossible. So, I ask, “If so many of our 1820 hopes could begin to be fulfilled with a flash of divine light to a mere boy kneeling in a patch of trees in upstate New York, why should we not hope that righteous desires and Christlike yearnings can still be marvelously, miraculously answered by the God of all hope?” We all need to believe that what we desire in righteousness can someday, someway, somehow yet be ours.
Isn’t that what we all hope for?  Many LDS singles hope for a more perfect life, yet marriage never made anyone’s life suddenly perfect.  You simply exchange one set of challenges for another.

That said, the hope that marriage can improve one’s life is not unrealistic, especially if one (to borrow a phrase from President Oaks) “marries right.”  We LDS singles, no matter our individual circumstances, can and should hope for the achievement of righteous blessings, not only even when that fulfillment seems impossible but especially when that fulfillment seems impossible.

Feel the hope

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I suppose that’s why this Conference address touched me.  I’m in my mid-40s having never been married.  What hope do I have not just of finding the right type of person who would want to marry me but also of having a family of my own, not just one I inherit from a now severed relationship?

I think Elder Holland would say I have every reason to hope.  And so do you.  The God who has performed miracles in the past can and will perform miracles in our present and our future.  I echo with Elder Holland the message of a returned sister missionary in Johannesburg: “[We] did not come this far only to come this far.”  Great and glorious blessings await each of us as we stand firm in our faith and continually choose hope over despair.

Truly, the Restoration has blessed us all.  The hope of past believers fulfilled gives us hope our present desires for righteous blessings will not be in vain.  Choose that faith over fear.  Choose that hope over despair.  When we walk in the perfect brightness of that hope, we’ll progress towards our best life.  And that will bring us more joy in our journey.

You can listen to the monologue from today's episode of Joy In The Journey Radio here.  Please also feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment below.  Want to hear more?  Listen to the whole show by going to the show page for this episode.
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Always up for fun

4/1/2020

0 Comments

 
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If we don’t change our habits of thinking to match the new landscape, we’re going to miss the joy we could be having now despite our current circumstances.
The coronavirus pandemic has settled in everywhere.  In an effort to stop the contagion, emergency measures now keep many at home.  And some don’t need to spend much time at home before cabin fever sets in.

Then there are the drolls — those who insist on trolling through the dreary wastelands of depression.  Drolls don’t keep their dismay to themselves; after all, misery loves company.  Their negative energy saps positive energy from everyone around them.  And you need about five positive messages to balance out the effect of just one negative message.

Regardless of your level of resiliency, you’ll eventually succumb to whatever messages you hear often enough.  That’s why I’ve long spoken about the need to mind your self-talk, because many of us habitually give negative messages to ourselves.  We are in many ways our own worst enemy.
But you can still own your life.  You can still take responsibility for yourself and the results you have in your life.  And today is the perfect opportunity to do just that because today is April Fool’s Day.  Now, I’ll admit social distancing and sequestering have radically changed the landscape.  But a change in landscape should never signal us to surrender positive energy.  Now more than ever we should be always up for fun.

Change your habits of thinking

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Many people don’t associate staying at home with fun.  They think about going out to restaurants, stores, malls, parks, concert venues, and the like.  Many of us approach April Fool’s Day the same way, conjuring images of practical jokes played on people and often in front of other people.

But that was yesterday.  Today the landscape is different.  We need to practice social distancing and sequester ourselves in our homes as much as possible.  And those who refuse to change their thinking to match this new landscape will experience untold and unnecessary hardship.

Long time listeners to this program are familiar with these principles in relation to helping LDS singles find joy regardless of their circumstances.  For example, many singles who leave YSA land without getting married experience a difficult transition into SA world.  Some don’t even transition; they go inactive or leave the Church altogether.

That’s because their YSA thinking doesn’t match the new SA landscape, and they simply respond to their biological hardwiring which encourages them to maintain the status quo.  They keep thinking the same way, and that just leads them to leave.  But if these singes would change their thinking to match their new landscape, they could experience a greater amount of joy despite their circumstances.

Look for opportunity

Because the pandemic hasn’t changed our biological hardwiring, we all have the same effect playing itself out.  People habitually thought they could go out and do whatever.  Now the landscape has changed.  But just because the landscape changes doesn’t mean our habits change also.

In fact, we usually keep our habits despite changes in our external world.  So if we don’t change our habits of thinking to match the new landscape, we’re going to miss the joy we could be having now despite our current circumstances.
We can begin to capture much of the joy we’ve been missing by owning our lives and looking for the opportunity amidst the obstacle.  I demonstrated that attitude this morning in my Daily Dose video.  Is it cheesy and silly?  Absolutely.  And that’s OK, because I refused to let my current situation keep me from having a spot of fun.

You too can refuse to allow your current situation to keep you from experiencing joy amidst adversity.  You can still celebrate April Fools Day.  Will it be the same?  Of course not.  But joy is still joy, no matter how it comes.

Own your life

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Presented with this knowledge, each of us now confronts this question: Will you own your life?  Or put another way, will you take responsibility for the results you experience in your life?  Will you refuse to allow your circumstances to dictate your attitude and perspective?

I choose to own my life.  My circumstances will be what they will be, but they will never dictate my choices.  I choose to live with intention, not on autopilot.  I choose to produce more than I consume, not just consume.  I choose phenomenal, not mediocre.  I choose life, not death.  I choose faith, not fear.  I choose hope, not despair.  I choose love, not hate.  I choose joy, not sorrow.

And so can you.  Decide today you will own your life.  Decide that no matter your circumstances you will be always up for fun.  Then follow through with that decision by taking advantage however you can of the moments for fun that come your way.  And that will bring you more joy in your journey.

You can listen to the monologue from today's episode of Joy In The Journey Radio here.  Please also feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment below.  Want to hear more?  Listen to the whole show by going to the show page for this episode.
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Divine discontent

11/7/2018

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"When we do something — anything — that action can open the door of possibility, which can help us to believe our tomorrow can be brighter than our today, that our lives really can improve.  That belief is the first step to hope, encouragement, and happiness."
This past weekend I was abundantly blessed with an outpouring of the Spirit while attending stake conference.  Of course, an outpouring means personal revelation (how could it not?), and among other pieces of enlightenment I received was the idea to devote more weekly programs to the most recent General Conference.

That just seems appropriate in a world where wickedness is ever increasing and Satan’s counterfeits abound all the more.  Speaking of
counterfeits, Sister Michelle Craig spoke of counterfeits in the women’s meeting of the last General Conference.  Though I'm not a woman, I read the talks from that session after Conference, just like the sisters have been doing with the priesthood session for years.  And I found Sister Craig’s address entitled “Divine Discount” quite applicable for LDS singles everywhere.

Recognize the gap

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Everyone at one time or another feels they exist beneath their own capacity.  Depending on our chosen perspective, recognizing that gap can motivate us to action or paralyze us into inaction.  Action feeds divine discontent, a yearning that propels us to reach higher and become something more than we were before.  Inaction feeds disillusioned discouragement, Satan’s counterfeit for divine discontent.

As Sister Craig shared,


Divine discontent comes when we compare “what we are [to] what we have the power to become.” Each of us, if we are honest, feels a gap between where and who we are, and where and who we want to become. We yearn for greater personal capacity. We have these feelings because we are daughters and sons of God, born with the Light of Christ yet living in a fallen world. These feelings are God given and create an urgency to act.

We should welcome feelings of divine discontent that call us to a higher way, while recognizing and avoiding Satan’s counterfeit—paralyzing discouragement. This is a precious space into which Satan is all too eager to jump. We can choose to walk the higher path that leads us to seek for God and His peace and grace, or we can listen to Satan, who bombards us with messages that we will never be enough: rich enough, smart enough, beautiful enough, anything enough. Our discontent can become divine—or destructive.
How many of us have heard that message before, that we aren’t good enough?  Of course, the Atonement of Jesus Christ says we are good enough.  But if we still have habits of negative self talk, it can be all too easy to believe Satan’s lying counterfeits.

Action is the key

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Sister Craig teaches the importance of action.  When the Prophet Joseph felt concerned as a boy about his shortcomings, he asked, “What is to be done?” (JS-H 1:10) and then acted in faith.  He went to the scriptures, responded to the invitation in James 1:5 to “ask of God” and ushered in the Restoration.

Likewise, when we feel the gap between what we are and what we would like to become, we should take action.  In my own life, I’ve found that staying inactive just breeds more disillusionment and discouragement.  It’s easier to talk yourself into deeper negative emotions like doubt, despair, and hopelessness when you aren’t doing anything.  But when we do something — anything — that action can open the door of possibility, which can help us to believe our tomorrow can be brighter than our today, that our lives really can improve.  That belief is the first step to hope, encouragement, and happiness.

We embrace another source of inaction when we entertain endless debates over whether the promptings we receive to do good come from the Spirit or our own thoughts.  Again, action is the key.  When we receive an idea to bring goodness into the world, we should focus less on the source of the idea and more on executing it.  Sister Craig tells a wonderful story about a seamstress named Susan who followed a prompting to make a tie for President Spencer W. Kimball but then backed off while en route to deliver it.  President Kimball’s wife Camille saw Susan at that critical moment and invited her forward, telling her “never [to] suppress a generous thought.”  Sister Craig loves that, and so do I.  “Never suppress a generous thought.”

Sister Craig continues,


Whether they are direct promptings or just impulses to help, a good deed is never wasted, for “charity never faileth”—and is never the wrong response.

Often the timing is inconvenient, and we seldom know the impact of our small acts of service. But every now and then, we will recognize that we have been instruments in the hands of God and we will be grateful to know that the Holy Ghost working through us is a manifestation of God’s approval.

. . . you and I can plead for the Holy Ghost to show us “all things what [we] should do,” even when our to-do list already looks full. When prompted, we can leave dishes in the sink or an in-box full of challenges demanding attention in order to read to a child, visit with a friend, babysit a neighbor’s children, or serve in the temple. Don’t get me wrong—I am a list maker; I love checking things off. But peace comes in knowing that being more does not necessarily equate to doing more. Responding to discontent by resolving to follow promptings changes the way I think about “my time,” and I see people not as interruptions but as the purpose of my life.

I love that perspective on time management.  How often in our focus on getting things done do we miss the opportunity to make people’s lives better?  Becoming something more is about the quality of what we are and not just the quantity of what we can accomplish.

Trust in the Lord

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Of course, becoming more is meaningless if it doesn’t near us to the Lord.  Sister Craig taught that divine discontent will lead us to humility and a recognition that with Christ we can be and do anything.  Such a recognition opposes Satan’s counterfeit message that we’re not enough, that we’ll never achieve our righteous desires or accomplish anything worthwhile in this life.

I love Sister Craig’s perspective on the miracles the Savior performed.  They “often begin with a recognition of want, need, failure, or inadequacy,” but when individuals gave the Lord their all anyway, He provided the miracle.

Sister Craig expounds,


Have you ever felt your talents and gifts were too small for the task ahead? I have. But you and I can give what we have to Christ, and He will multiply our efforts. What you have to offer is more than enough—even with your human frailties and weaknesses—if you rely on the grace of God.
We can achieve our righteous desires if we approach the Lord in humility, give our all to whatever instructions He reveals to us through the Spirit, and then rely upon Him to make the miracle happen.  Whenever we feel we are far beneath our potential, divine discontent can bring us closer to the Lord as we act in faith, follow promptings to do good, and trust in the Lord.  And doing that will bring us more joy in our journey.
You can listen to the monologue from today's episode of Joy In The Journey Radio here.  Please also feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment below.  Want to hear more?  Listen to the whole show by going to the show page for this episode!
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Face your fears

10/31/2018

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"If all of us were to step back and observe the situation, we’d see that all fear does is prevent us from taking the next step in our journey.  But whatever your fears are, you still control what response you will provide.  Will you allow your fear to control you and cower from your next step?  Or will you control you and take that next step?"
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Halloween!  That frightful time of year we embrace with a spirit of good fun means dressing up in costumes and of course eating lots of holiday-themed food.  And let's not forget the trick-or-treating.

But while we all spend one day a year approaching fearful sights with a gleeful sort of playfulness, many spend the other 364 days of the year cowering to fear.  Can we bring to every day of the year the same sort of playfulness that we bring to Halloween?

We all have our fears.  One of the biggest fears many LDS singles have is the fear of never marrying.  Whether that fear or another haunts you most, you’ll never conquer your fear by cowering to it.  To conquer your fear, you must take and use the power you already have within yourself.  You must face your fears.

Believe the Lord

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To start, you have great reason for courage. You’re not on your journey alone.  Your Heavenly Father has provided a Savior Who loves you so much that He never could abandon you, let alone would.  And that Savior Who created the universe is a powerful ally.

If you truly trust in that all-powerful Creator, if you truly have faith in Him, if you truly believe Him, you’ll never feel fear.  And that’s simply because you won't be able to.  Faith and fear cannot exist in the same space at the same time.

So when the Lord promises He’ll bless you, you can rest assured He’ll fulfill His promises.  And He won't just fulfill them in part; He'll fulfill them down to the dot of the last I and the cross of the last T.  So great will be your blessing that, when that glorious day finally comes, you’ll wonder how it ever was that you doubted Him.

And many of those promises are not just for the next life but for this life.  Yes, a few may have to wait for eternity, but I firmly believe that 99% of us can have their promised blessings here and now in mortality.  You may doubt and even laugh as did Abraham's wife Sarah, but the Lord will fulfill every syllable of every word of every promise that He makes to you. Period.

Partner with the Lord

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How do you believe that?  How do you generate such faith in the Lord and in His promises that you continue to believe fervently even when everything around you seems to say the exact opposite?

First, approach the Lord as did the father with the mentally disturbed son who exclaimed, "Lord, . . . help thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:24).  You’re never alone in your journey, so don’t try to go it alone. Walk with Him who gave His all so you could succeed in your ultimate journey.

Second, take action.  The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that faith is a principle of action.  That means you cannot have faith if you just wish and wait.  To increase your faith, you must increase your action.

This is why you approach the Lord first.  When you partner with Him, He’ll help you understand the next step you need to take in your journey.  When you then act on that revelation and take that next step, you walk by faith toward a bright and glorious future, one with the blessings He wants to give you.

Walk with the Lord

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Walking by faith doesn't mean never feeling fear, but it can bring courage.  And courage means doing what you need to do even though you may feel afraid.  When you walk by faith, you can face your fears with the confidence He will never abandon you.

If all of us were to step back and observe the situation, we’d see that all fear does is prevent us from taking the next step in our journey.  But whatever your fears are, you still control what response you will provide.  Will you allow your fear to control you and cower from your next step?  Or will you control you and take that next step?

When you take that next step, your courage grows, your faith grows, and you can walk and take more next steps with more confidence.  The more you act, the more your faith grows, the more your confidence grows, and the more you can live with the surety that the Lord will fulfill all of His promises to you.  And that will bring you more joy in your journey.

You can listen to the monologue from today's episode of Joy In The Journey Radio here.  Please also feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment below.  Want to hear more?  Listen to the whole show by going to the show page for this episode!
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You're already accepted

10/24/2018

0 Comments

 
"Ultimately the Savior has already accepted you.  He would not have suffered all He did if you were not worth redeeming.  That means you don’t have to prove or validate yourself or even compare yourself with anyone else.  You’re already accepted."
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In Western culture we adore people supposedly born with unique talent.  Of course, we should congratulate those who have talent.  The problem comes when we think those at the top have been born with “it.”  That type of thinking leads to so much failure.

We think like this more often than we might realize.  Ever heard someone say “I’m just not good at math”?  People learn math all the time, and yet some persist in thinking they're “just not math people,” whatever that means.  This thinking reflects the fixed mindset, the idea that you either have “it” — the something wonderful you need to succeed — or you don’t.

The fixed mindset has everyone climbing all over each other trying to prove how great they are.  They seek to validate their own sense of self-worth in a game of comparisons.  Unless you can prove you're better than someone else — that you have “it” — the world teaches you aren’t validated.

The fixed mindset also encourages you to do everything on your own.  If you need help, you obviously don’t have “it”.  If you’ve ever wondered why some find it hard to accept service from others, it may be because they don’t want to appear like they don’t have “it”.

Avoid “it”

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This one cultural influence frustrates many LDS singles as they try to create families.  For example, suppose you have some bad experiences with dating.  (OK, so maybe you don’t have to suppose.)  Is your normal response to give up because you think you don’t have “it”?

It’s very easy to think, if we weren’t born with whatever wonderful something it is we believe we need to have to succeed, then why even try?  After all, it’s obvious you don’t have “it” if you aren’t as wonderful as someone else.  So why torture yourself by proving what you fear, that you're unable to have your righteous desires?  After all, you just don’t have “it”.

But you don’t need to think that way.  Replace the idea of “it” with the idea that talent can be learned.  You can then see service from others as an opportunity to learn something new and to improve upon yourself.  That makes it easier to embrace.

Learn and grow

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No talent of any kind is innate.  Learning line upon line is part of the experience we came to mortality to have.  Even people who think they aren't “math people” can learn math.  I see it every semester with the math classes I teach.  Talent can be learned.

And because it is learned, you need to see failure as a chance to improve yourself.  Remember that your focus determines your reality.  For example, it’s easy to think you're somehow defective because you can’t get a date.  And as long as you focus on how “defective” you are, your reality will feel to confirm just that.

But when you focus instead on your efforts, your failure to get a date doesn’t mean something is wrong with you but rather with your effort.  Ask yourself, “Why was it exactly that my effort to get a date failed?” and then keep following that trail until you find real answers.

Look to the Lord

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Ultimately the Savior has already accepted you.  He would not have suffered all He did if you were not worth redeeming.  That means you don’t have to prove or validate yourself or even compare yourself with anyone else.  You’re already accepted.

And His acceptance is the only one that matters.  When you accept that truth, you free yourself from feeling you must have a significant other in order to be accepted.  You can more easily be real in your interactions with other people.  You don’t have to pretend you're something you really aren’t.  That freedom makes life so much more enjoyable.

If you don’t feel that freedom now, then pray for it.  The Lord will guide you to embrace your true worth.  After all, He knows you're worth it.  He’ll help you to feel His love for you if you but ask.  When that happens, you’ll realize more fully your own worth.  You’ll know more fully that you’re already accepted.  And that will bring you more joy in your journey.

You can listen to the monologue from today's episode of Joy In The Journey Radio here.  Please also feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment below.  Want to hear more?  Listen to the whole show by going to the show page for this episode!
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Let it come to you

8/29/2018

0 Comments

 
"We’re all hard wired to operate out of habit.  And what we do determines what we get.  So if we entertain less effective habits, we’ll keep getting less effective results.  And it won’t end until we replace the less effective habit with a more effective one."
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We all know the LDS single who’s so eager to be married that he or she instantly gravitates towards anyone who appears to promise a blessed end to single status.  Maybe you’ve even been that single yourself.

I was once all about finding that eternal companion but never actually finding her.  I felt like that hamster down at the pet store, always just spinning my wheels and never getting anywhere.  And I felt miserable.

I thought I was doing the right thing.  After all, our leaders have talked endlessly about the importance of marriage and family.  Our LDS culture is centered around family.  It made sense to go after it directly.

But that’s exactly the problem.  It doesn’t come when you pursue it directly.  It comes when you let it come to you.

Understand how it works

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We’re all hard wired to operate out of habit.  And what we do determines what we get.  So if we entertain less effective habits, we’ll keep getting less effective results.  And it won’t end until we replace the less effective habit with a more effective one.

Many LDS singles have the less effective habit of making a beeline for anyone appearing to promise hope for marriage.  But when you understand how everything works, you’ll realize you need to ditch the beeline.

Here’s how it works.  Marriage means the agency of another person is involved.  You can’t choose for others.  Someone else has to choose you.  That means the most you can do is influence that choice.

That’s why you keep hearing platitudes like “Just be yourself” or “Keep working on yourself.”  They’re all true up to a point.  Doing these things will influence the right person to choose you.

But beyond that point lies the reality where we all live.  This most important choice has many influences in addition to the one you exert.  And these other considerations outside your control can drown any hope of acquiring desired blessings.  Your challenge, then, is to exert your best influence, trusting the Lord to cross your path with someone who will choose you.  Are you up to it?

Rise to the challenge

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You can best rise to the challenge by letting go of pursuing marriage directly and adopting a personal ministry.  This really is your best approach for exerting your best influence.

Here’s why.  When you pursue marriage directly, you broadcast to everyone around you you’re all about marriage.  No one really wants to marry someone who’s more interested in some personal agenda.  So you come off appearing desperate.

When you drop the beeline and adopt a personal ministry, you’re about something bigger than yourself.  You let your best self shine while serving others.  Devoting yourself to your own personal ministry shakes off the scales of desperation so that others see you as someone interesting, someone worth getting to know better, maybe even share a life with.

Guess what? Now you’re influencing others to decide in your favor.

Other powerful influences exist, yes, but that’s where walking by faith comes in.  When you partner with the Lord, He’ll lead you to those with whom your best influence will be more than good enough.  That’s because they’ll hearken to the voice of the Spirit when He says, “Give this one a chance.”

Embrace your best self

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Many LDS singles live in fear that their desired blessings won’t come.  But that’s no way to live.  It’s much more joyful to let go of directly pursuing marriage and instead pursue what will influence others to choose in your favor.

Devoting yourself to your own personal ministry can make the waiting more joyful, however long that waiting lasts.  Do you want just to endure to the end?  Or do you want to thrive?

Of course, you should keep looking for and pursuing opportunities that arise.  But your universe won’t be rotating around them.  So let go of directly pursuing marriage.  Let it come to you.  When you devote yourself to your personal ministry, you can embrace your best self.  And that will bring you more joy in your journey.

You can listen to the monologue from today's episode of Joy In The Journey Radio here.  Please also feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment below.  Want to hear more?  Listen to the whole show by going to the show page for this episode!
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Replace judgment with love

10/19/2016

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You can listen to the host of Joy In The Journey Radio read this blog post by using the player here.  Feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment. And be sure to catch the latest episode of Joy in the Journey Radio by going to the Recent Shows page!
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Occasionally I step into social media.  What I see usually doesn’t strike me as all that meaningful, further convincing me to limit my social media participation.

Still, what I sometimes see makes me think.  And sometimes I see something like that often enough that I feel compelled to say something.  In one form or another, it’s an incarnation of the meme you see here.

I have no issue with imparting advice.  Social media seems especially adept for that, and I’ve certainly done as much repeatedly in my blog and on my program.  Just last week I gave advice to local leaders on how to partner in order to minister to singles.  So giving advice doesn’t annoy me.

What annoys me is the advice being given.  Let’s dig a bit deeper into what we have here.

Standing in the way

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On the surface, the advice seems to make sense.  Step out of your rose-smelling world and take a whiff of reality.  Guys chase after what they want, so if he’s not chasing you, he’s not interested in you.

But that logic rests on a false assumption.  Yes, guys chase after what they want, provided they have no issues standing in their way.  Last time I checked, guys are human beings with lots of imperfections.

I’m fully qualified to speak here because I am a guy and (hard as it may be for some of you to believe) I do have imperfections.  In fact, I’ve never claimed to be anything less than a walking construction zone.

I can recall many moments when I failed to chase an interesting woman.  Mostly I abdicated my own agency to some unresolved issue because I did not own my life.

When I was younger, I feared getting rejected.  I know some women scoff at that very real issue, but having lived through it I can tell you repeated rejection does horrible things to a man’s psyche and his sense of self.  Simply discounting that reality prevents understanding and keeps many of us — men and women — single longer than we need to be.

Understanding a better way

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We’re called adults, but the truth is we all mature at different rates, at different times, and in different ways.

When I was in my 20s, fear could easily block my path.  I hadn’t yet matured beyond my fear.  I didn’t really realize what an illusion fear really is.  Thus, I would often fail to take advantage of opportunities to secure the blessings I longed to have.

What would have happened, though, had someone reached out and helped me to overcome my obstacles?  How different would my life be today?  How many more righteous families would exist today?

Rejecting a potential candidate simply for having an imperfection seems incredibly immature (and especially when you phrase it like that).  But last time I checked, women are human beings, too.  They have their own imperfections.  They’re walking construction zones in their own right.

Our journey would be much more enjoyable if we replaced judgment with love and a quickness to reject with an eagerness to understand.  That doesn’t mean we don’t have standards.  But it does mean we lend support to those who, as they are right now, fail to meet those standards today.  True friendship means extending understanding and support to reach a higher standard.

Besides, being willing to help one another along the road to perfection characterizes the best marriages.  If we can’t help each other while we’re single, even when a relationship has no romantic aspect to it, what can we expect from marriage?

Helping along the way

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Instead of spreading pseudo-common-sense based on faulty assumptions that serve more to keep us separated, let’s spread understanding based on fortifying love — the kind of love embodied in the Atonement of our Lord and Savior.  His example of reaching out to the one and showing compassion for individual needs and concerns should inspire our interactions with one another.  That applies to men and women alike.

And who knows?  Perhaps in encouraging someone to overcome personal issues, you may find the very companion you are seeking.  What at first may not have captured your attention because he or she was “obviously” not right for you may unveil itself to be more than you ever hoped of having and calling yours.

Again, we can have standards in our search for eternal companionship, as well we should. But we should not abandon others simply because they don’t meet those standards.  We should instead abandon the rashness to judgment that blinds us from seeing others as they truly are.  Helping each other along the way, whether or not offering that help provides us with any immediate advantage, will surely bring us more joy in our journey.

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Choose Christ

4/20/2016

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Last week I discussed the importance for LDS singles to move forward in order to balance their lives without the eternal companion many of them desire to have.  That forward motion can be difficult to maintain or even start if you feel bereft of any hope in a glorious future.

If you feel this way, what you feel is both very real and not indicative of reality.  That’s not the  contradiction  it  might  sound  like.   What you feel
is the very real result of choices you and others have made.  But that doesn’t mean you’ve lost a glorious future.  There is always hope because there is always Christ.

Many LDS singles easily feel their hopes of a temple marriage reside far outside their reach, if they even exist at all.  Yet our reality abounds with opportunities for us to have the blessings we desire.  We simply need eyes to see what’s really there around us.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf testified of that.  His April 2016 General Conference address entitled “He Will Place You on His Shoulders and Carry You Home” reminds us of the hope all of us can have in a bright and wonderful future.

God can rebuild you

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President Uchtdorf recounted his childhood experience living near Dresden, Germany, during World War II.  Bombing totally devastated that city.  President Uchtdorf particularly noted the destruction of the Lutheran church the Church of Our Lady.  The war reduced this once grand monument to rubble.

Yet 70 years later, the city now stands completely renewed.  This includes the Lutheran church.  Some of the old stones were used in its reconstruction.  President Uchtdorf describes the sight of these stones within the structure as “‘scars’ [which] are not only a reminder of the war history of this building but also a monument to hope — a magnificent symbol of man’s ability to create new life from ashes.”

President Uchtdorf then remarks,

God will reach after you

Our need to choose the Savior doesn’t mean He hasn’t already chosen us.  President Uchtdorf shared the parable of the lost sheep to illustrate the Savior’s desire to seek after each of us individually.

While the parable of the lost sheep is often used as a call to search after the lost and wandering (which use President Uchtdorf commended), President Uchtdorf asks,
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As I pondered the history of Dresden and marveled at the ingenuity and resolve of those who restored what had been so completely destroyed, I felt the sweet influence of the Holy Spirit. Surely, I thought, if man can take the ruins, rubble, and remains of a broken city and rebuild an awe-inspiring structure that rises toward the heavens, how much more capable is our Almighty Father to restore His children who have fallen, struggled, or become lost?

It matters not how completely ruined our lives may seem. It matters not how scarlet our sins, how deep our bitterness, how lonely, abandoned, or broken our hearts may be. Even those who are without hope, who live in despair, who have betrayed trust, surrendered their integrity, or turned away from God can be rebuilt. Save those rare sons of perdition, there is no life so shattered that it cannot be restored.

No matter how derailed you feel your life may be, you can get it back on track.  Through the Atonement, Christ can heal anyone and restore anything.  But He won’t violate individual agency.  We need to choose Him to effect His marvelous Atonement in our lives.

Is it possible that Jesus’s purpose, first and foremost, was to teach about the work of the Good Shepherd?

Is it possible that He was testifying of God’s love for His wayward children?

Is it possible that the Savior’s message was that God is fully aware of those who are lost—and that He will find them, that He will reach out to them, and that He will rescue them?

Of course the Savior will.  That’s the whole purpose behind His Atonement — to rescue us from an impossible situation separated from God.  While not on the same scale, many LDS singles experience their own individual impossible situations.  “With all my deficiencies, how could anyone want to marry me in the temple?”  “How can I ever rebuild my life after losing my marriage to divorce?”  “How can my life have any meaning now that my spouse has died?”

No matter the question, choosing Christ is the answer.  That’s because choosing Christ is always the answer to life’s difficult questions.  Centering our lives around Him provides us with the perspective we need to journey home.

And because He’s already feeling after you, you’re sure to find and feel His love once you choose Christ.  President Uchtdorf proclaimed,

To me, the parable of the lost sheep is one of the most hopeful passages in all of scripture.

Our Savior, the Good Shepherd, knows and loves us. He knows and loves you.

He knows when you are lost, and He knows where you are. He knows your grief. Your silent pleadings. Your fears. Your tears.

It matters not how you became lost—whether because of your own poor choices or because of circumstances beyond your control.

What matters is that you are His child. And He loves you. He loves His children.

Feeling God’s love heals our souls, transforming our view of ourselves and our world.  It’s then easier to believe more in God’s glorious promises to us and, though we may not completely understand how, that the fulfillment of those promises will come.

Reach after it

President Uchtdorf reminds us that “as we increase in faith, we must also increase in faithfulness” because “obedience is the lifeblood of faith. It is by obedience that we gather light into our souls.”

He then offers a unique perspective on obedience.
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But sometimes I think we misunderstand obedience. We may see obedience as an end in itself, rather than a means to an end. Or we may pound the metaphorical hammer of obedience against the iron anvil of the commandments in an effort to shape those we love, through constant heating and repeated battering, into holier, heavenly matter.

No doubt about it, there are times when we need a stern call to repentance. Certainly, there are some who may be reached only in this manner.

But perhaps there is a different metaphor that can explain why we obey the commandments of God. Maybe obedience is not so much the process of bending, twisting, and pounding our souls into something we are not. Instead, it is the process by which we discover what we truly are made of.

We are created by the Almighty God. He is our Heavenly Father. We are literally His spirit children. We are made of supernal material most precious and highly refined, and thus we carry within ourselves the substance of divinity.

Here on earth, however, our thoughts and actions become encumbered with that which is corrupt, unholy, and impure. The dust and filth of the world stain our souls, making it difficult to recognize and remember our birthright and purpose.

But all this cannot change who we truly are. The fundamental divinity of our nature remains. And the moment we choose to incline our hearts to our beloved Savior and set foot upon the path of discipleship, something miraculous happens. The love of God fills our hearts, the light of truth fills our minds, we start to lose the desire to sin, and we do not want to walk any longer in darkness.

We come to see obedience not as a punishment but as a liberating path to our divine destiny. And gradually, the corruption, dust, and limitations of this earth begin to fall away. Eventually, the priceless, eternal spirit of the heavenly being within us is revealed, and a radiance of goodness becomes our nature.

You are made of more glorious matter than what your earthly eyes can see.  No matter how lost or despairing you may feel, the eternal God of the universe Who has always and will always love you is still in control.  Your eternal destination has not changed.  Although earthly circumstances may necessitate a different path than what you anticipated, that eternal destination is still within your reach.

So reach after it.  Abandon your doubts and embrace your faith.  Forsake your fears and face the glorious future awaiting you.  When you choose Christ, He’ll stand by you for each step you can take and carry you for each step you cannot.  Choose Him today and start to experience the hope that can lead to more joy in your journey home.
You can listen to the host of Joy In The Journey Radio read this blog post by using the player here.  Feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment. And be sure to catch the latest episode of Joy in the Journey Radio by going to the Recent Shows page!
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You are already accepted

3/12/2014

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In Western culture we adore people supposedly born with unique talent.  Of course, we should congratulate those who have talent.

The problem comes when we think those at the top have been born with “it.”  That type of thinking leads to so much failure.

The cultural notion of "it"

We think like this more often than we might realize.  Ever heard someone say “I’m just not good at math”?  People learn math all the time, and yet some persist in thinking they're “different”.  This thinking reflects the cultural notion of “it”, the idea that you either have “it” or you don’t.

The insidiousness of Western culture

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From cradle to grave, Western society teaches us to compare ourselves with others and to believe that those on top must have “it”.  How else, the culture reasons, could they have succeeded?

What results from this thinking?  Everyone keeps climbing all over each other trying to prove how great they are.  They seek to validate their own sense of self-worth within the culture.  Unless you prove that you're better than someone else — that you have “it” — Western culture teaches that you aren’t validated.

The cultural notion of “it” also encourages you to do everything on your own.  If you need help, you obviously don’t have “it”.  This notion explains why so many of us find it hard to accept service from others.  Because of our cultural programming, we don’t want to appear like we don’t have “it”.

"It" discourages righteous families

This one cultural influence frustrates many LDS singles as they try to create families.  For example, suppose you have some bad experiences with dating.  OK, so maybe you don’t have to suppose.  Is your normal response to give up because you think you don’t have “it”?

Wired as we are by our culture, we very easily think, If we weren’t born with whatever wonderful something it is that we believe we need to have to succeed, then why even try?

We also compare ourselves with others or some hypothetical ideal and think we don’t measure up.  Often in such instances we quit without ever really trying.  It’s obvious you don’t have “it” if you aren’t as wonderful as someone else.  So why torture yourself by proving what you fear, that you're unable to have your righteous desires?  After all, you just don’t have “it”.

Turn the tide with the truth

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It doesn’t have to be that way.  Replace the idea of “it” with the idea that talent can be learned.  You can then see service from others as an opportunity to learn something new and to improve upon yourself.  That makes it easier to embrace.

No talent of any kind is innate.  Learning line upon line is part of the experience we came to mortality to have.

Even people who think that they aren't “math people” can learn math.  I saw it all the time in a former life as a night school instructor.  Talent can be learned.

And because it is learned, you need to see failure as a chance to improve yourself.  Remember that your focus determines your reality.

For example, it’s easy to think you're somehow defective because you can’t get a date.  And as long as you focus on how “defective” you are, your reality will feel to confirm just that.

But when you focus instead on your efforts, your failure to get a date doesn’t mean something is wrong with you but rather with your effort.  Ask yourself, “Why was it exactly that my effort to get a date failed?” and then keep following that trail until you find real answers.

You are already accepted

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Ultimately the Savior has already accepted you.  He would not have suffered all He did if you were not worth redeeming.  That means you don’t have to prove or validate yourself or even compare yourself with anyone else.  You are already accepted.

His acceptance is the only one that matters.  When you accept that truth, you free yourself from feeling you must have a significant other in order to be accepted.  You can more easily be real in your interactions with other people.  You don’t have to pretend you're something you really aren’t.  That freedom makes life so much more enjoyable.

If you don’t feel that freedom now, then pray for it.  The Lord will guide you to embrace your true worth.  After all, He knows that you're worth it.

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    Howdy! I'm Lance, host of Joy in the Journey Radio. I've been blogging about LDS singles life since 2012, and since 2018 I've been producing a weekly Internet radio show to help LDS singles have  more joy in their journey and bring all Latter-day Saints together. Let's engage a conversation that will increase the faith of LDS singles and bring singles and marrieds together in a true unity of the faith.

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