Monday, January 16, 2012
Perspective
Last night I started to get frustrated. I was trying to find a home for something in my fridge and it was not going so well. My fridge was just too disorderly because there was too much stuff in it. But then I paused, gained a little perspective, and sent my frustration out the door. I am so grateful that my fridge is full.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
New Year
On making New Years Resolutions: I have changed my outlook a bit.
I have come to the conclusion that last years list was not really a list of resolutions. It was a list of goals. But mostly it was a glorified to-do list.
While in many ways the terms "resolutions" and "goals" are interchangeable, and goals do require resolve to be accomplished, I would like this years resolution to focus more on a resolve for change.
Yes, I just said resolution, singular. Because no matter how long my to do list is, or how many meaningful goals I have or would like to set, I would like to start out this new year with one single resolution.
And here it is: I resolve to be more patient.
Most definitions say that to be patient is to tolerate, bear, endure and be uncomplaining. I feel like when I have tried increase my patience in the past it has been more of this "putting up with" type of patience. That's not quite what I'm going for this year.
I have come to the conclusion that last years list was not really a list of resolutions. It was a list of goals. But mostly it was a glorified to-do list.
While in many ways the terms "resolutions" and "goals" are interchangeable, and goals do require resolve to be accomplished, I would like this years resolution to focus more on a resolve for change.
Yes, I just said resolution, singular. Because no matter how long my to do list is, or how many meaningful goals I have or would like to set, I would like to start out this new year with one single resolution.
And here it is: I resolve to be more patient.
Most definitions say that to be patient is to tolerate, bear, endure and be uncomplaining. I feel like when I have tried increase my patience in the past it has been more of this "putting up with" type of patience. That's not quite what I'm going for this year.
I would like to embrace patience on a more meaningful level. The kind of patience I would like to embody is that described by President Uchtdorf:
Patience is a godly attribute that can heal souls, unlock treasures of knowledge and understanding, and transform ordinary men and women into saints and angels. Patience is truly a fruit of the Spirit.
Patience means staying with something until the end. It means delaying immediate gratification for future blessings. It means reining in anger and holding back the unkind word. It means resisting evil, even when it appears to be making others rich.
Patience means accepting that which cannot be changed and facing it with courage, grace, and faith. It means being “willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us], even as a child doth submit to his father.” Ultimately, patience means being “firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord” every hour of every day, even when it is hard to do so. In the words of John the Revelator, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and … faith [in] Jesus.”
Patience is a process of perfection. The Savior Himself said that in your patience you possess your souls. Or, to use another translation of the Greek text, in your patience you win mastery of your souls. Patience means to abide in faith, knowing that sometimes it is in the waiting rather than in the receiving that we grow the most. This was true in the time of the Savior. It is true in our time as well, for we are commanded in these latter days to “continue in patience until ye are perfected.”
Patience means staying with something until the end. It means delaying immediate gratification for future blessings. It means reining in anger and holding back the unkind word. It means resisting evil, even when it appears to be making others rich.
Patience means accepting that which cannot be changed and facing it with courage, grace, and faith. It means being “willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us], even as a child doth submit to his father.” Ultimately, patience means being “firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord” every hour of every day, even when it is hard to do so. In the words of John the Revelator, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and … faith [in] Jesus.”
Patience is a process of perfection. The Savior Himself said that in your patience you possess your souls. Or, to use another translation of the Greek text, in your patience you win mastery of your souls. Patience means to abide in faith, knowing that sometimes it is in the waiting rather than in the receiving that we grow the most. This was true in the time of the Savior. It is true in our time as well, for we are commanded in these latter days to “continue in patience until ye are perfected.”
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