Resolutions
Whenever a new
year comes around we like to reflect on the past year and then make resolutions
for the new year. If you are like me those resolutions last a week or so.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, 2nd Counselor in the First Presidency
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, tells of a man that made a
long list of resolutions for the new year:
“One man who had made a long list of New
Year’s resolutions felt pretty good about his progress. He thought to himself,
“So far, I’ve stuck to my diet, I haven’t lost my temper, I’ve kept to my
budget, and I haven’t once complained about the neighbor’s dog. But today is
January 2 and the alarm just went off and it’s time I got out of bed. It’s
going to take a miracle to keep my streak going.” (“The
Best Time to Plant a Tree”, First Presidency Message, Ensign, January 2014)
I am lucky if my
resolutions make it that long. President Uchtdorf continues:
“There is something incredibly hopeful about a
fresh start. I suppose at one time or another we have all wanted to start again
with a clean slate.
“I love getting a new computer with a clean
hard drive. For a time it works perfectly. But as the days and weeks pass by
and more and more programs get installed (some intentional, some not so
intentional), eventually the computer begins to stall, and things it used to do
quickly and efficiently become sluggish. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all. Even
getting it to start can become a chore as the hard drive becomes cluttered with
miscellaneous chaos and electronic debris. There are times when the only
recourse is to reformat the computer and start over.
“Human beings can likewise become cluttered
with fears, doubts, and burdensome guilt. The mistakes we have made (both
intentional and unintentional) can weigh upon us until it may seem hard to do
what we know we should.
“In the
case of sin, there is a wonderful reformatting process called repentance that
allows us to clear our internal hard drives of the clutter that burdens our
hearts. The gospel, through the miraculous and compassionate Atonement of Jesus
Christ, shows us
the way to cleanse our souls of the stain of sin and once again become new,
pure, and as innocent as a child”. (“The
Best Time to Plant a Tree”, First Presidency Message, Ensign, January 2014)
As I write this,
my computer is acting like it needs to be wiped and have a clean start. I keep
getting this message that the library needs to be repaired to run properly. It
happens about every 20 seconds and is really annoying and I cannot do anything
until I put in my password and hit continue. If I try to hit cancel, the
message just comes back. Sometime our lives get that way. Satan is continually
popping up telling us we need to fix something that does not need fixing, or
the Holy Ghost tells us that we need to fix something that really does need
fixing. Either way our lives seem stuck until we respond to the Holy Ghost and
fix it and we let Satan know that his pop up messages are not going to work and
we dismiss him permanently.
The Atonement of
Jesus Christ can be a great blessing in our lives if we are willing to allow it
to reformat our spiritual hard drives and change our lives. As we recognize the
things that we need to change and make the changes we can have the fresh start
that President Uchtdorf talks about. Sometimes it involves repenting of
something we have done and should not have done. Other times it means promising
to do something that we should be doing. Either way through the mercies of the
atonement we can begin again and walk the gospel path that leads us to becoming
a more perfect person through Jesus Christ.
I have decided
that there are three things that I would like to work on in my life this year
that would hopefully bring me closer the Holy Ghost and allow me to take
advantage of the atonement of Jesus Christ:
1.
I
want to find greater joy and happiness in the things I do.
2.
I
want to be a greater service to others and help them find joy and happiness in
their lives.
3.
Increase
my sensitivity to the Holy Ghost to allow me to know when I am wandering off the
Gospel Path.
Resolution #1 –
finding greater joy and happiness in life. Sometimes we take ourselves too
seriously and do not enjoy what we are doing. I also think we need to slow down
and enjoy life, laugh a little more. Sharon Samuelson, the wife of Cecil
Samuelson the President of BYU, had this to say about the importance of humor
in our lives:
“President Gordon B. Hinckley
and his wife, Marjorie, were wonderful examples during their lives of optimism
and humor. Sheri L. Dew’s description of them mentions that “Gordon and
Marjorie were attracted to each other’s sense of humor, love for the gospel,
innate optimism, and love of life” (Go
Forward with Faith: The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1996],
106). Sister Dew also described their marriage as one in which “Gordon’s dry
wit delighted Marjorie, who loved the fact that although her beau was
practical, self-disciplined, and serious about the things that mattered to him,
he didn’t take himself very seriously and was often the first to poke fun at
his own quirks” (Go Forward, 106).
“Listen to the words of
Sister Hinckley as she gave advice on the way to get through life:
“Another thing that we tried to do is not take ourselves too
seriously. You get into a lot of trouble when you do that. I tried to laugh
instead of cry when you felt like crying. It was always better to laugh, [like] the day I took a beautiful casserole from
the oven and my six-year-old boy said, “Mom, how come you baked the garbage?”
Children are like that. There are days when it is hard to laugh. [Marjorie Pay Hinckley, BYU Women’s
Conference, 2 May 1996; see also Marjorie Hinckley in Glimpses
into the Life and Heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley, ed. Virginia H. Pearce (Salt Lake
City: Deseret Book, 1999), 61]
“This is insightful advice
from a witty, cheerful, and gentle woman that we would be wise to follow.
“In another instance of
speaking concerning laughter, Sister Hinckley added, “The only way to get
through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry.
I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache” (Marjorie Pay Hinckley, Small
and Simple Things [Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book, 2003], 126; also Glimpses, 107).
“Laughing instead of crying
helps you to move forward and face your challenges as you fill your lives with
the virtuous, lovely, and praiseworthy things of life. Good effects can come
from communicating with humor and laughing with friends and family.” (“Shall I
Laugh, or Shall I Cry”, BYU Devotional Address, September 10, 2013)
Another part of
not taking ourselves to seriously is that we should not be offended too easily.
If something happens or someone says something that is rude or hurtful, we need
to step back and realize there is something going on in that person’s life that
is causing him or her to say what he or she did or act that way. I have been a
referee for youth, high school and college sports for over 20 years. If I got
offended and quite every time someone yelled insulting comments to me, I would
have had a short career as a referee. They usually are not expressing those
comments to me personally, but as a referee. Usually they don’t understand what
is really happening in the game or why the rules are being applied the way they
are at the time. So we need to lighten up and not get offended, laugh and go
on.
Resolution #2 –
Be more service oriented. Helping others find joy in their lives will help me
fulfill my first resolution. If we open our hearts and our eyes we will see
that there are individuals all around that need our help and love. As you are
walking down the street watch for those whose eyes are sad, or hurting. Most of
the time all they need simple hello or other kind word. Open the door for them,
help them with their groceries, comfort a crying child. Doing something simple
goes a long way. Do you know a young couple that cannot afford a babysitter?
Offer to watch their children one evening while they get away for a few hours.
President Thomas
S. Monson, President of the LDS Church, made this comment about serving others:
“To find real happiness, we must seek for it in a focus outside
ourselves. No one has learned the meaning of living until he has surrendered
his ego to the service of his fellow man. Service to others is akin to duty—the
fulfillment of which brings true joy.” (“Guideposts
for Life’s Journey,” BYU devotional address, 13 November 2007)
If we pray to
have the Holy Ghost guide us each day, we will come to know who is lonely or in
need of our help and when we feel those prompting, we need to be willing to do
something or say something to brighten their day. If they need more help than
you can give at the time let them know you will follow up and then do it. It is
my goal to strive to live worthy of the Lord’s spirit to direct me to those
that need uplifting and when that happens, that I will be willing to help in
anyway I can.
The third
resolution is a bit more involved and I have a lot of work to do here. I want
to live my life so that the Holy Ghost can be my constant companion and that I
will know when I am wandering from the Gospel Path that leads back to our
Heavenly Father and our Savior. I listened to a talk recently by Gary Barton
where he described the lesson he learned when he was learning to be a welder.
He was working in a local bronze foundry. He had never welded anything. He was
given the proper instructions and equipment to protect him, but when he put on
the welding helmet everything went dark. He said:
“The lens on a welding helmet
is very darkly tinted in order to protect the eyes of the person welding from
the extremely bright light produced by the welder. How could I weld if I
couldn’t see? I lifted the helmet, turned to my supervisor, and shared my
dilemma. He patiently explained that in order to see through the lens, I must rely
on the light produced by the welder. I must learn to use the light. What a
revelation!
“I again checked to make sure
everything was prepared, lowered the helmet, and, as perspiration trickled down
my face, started the welder. With a flash I could see. My vision wasn’t clear,
but I was able to see well enough to learn.
“As we are confronted with
difficult choices and decisions, especially those related to our eternal
progress, we must prepare ourselves, act in faith, and learn to use and rely on
the light. As we do so, the personal lens through which each of us sees can
become clearer, and we will be better able to make decisions that will bless
our lives and lead us to Christ.” (“The Light
Trough the Dark Glass”, Gary C. Barton, BYU Devotional Address, July 23,
2013)
I know many time
I do not trust the light to show me the way. Sometimes my life has not been in
harmony with the commandants enough that I am worthy to have the light of
Christ with me. It is my hope that I can have an increase of faith and desire
to keep the commandments so I can be worthy of the companionship of the Holy
Ghost enough so I will be able to see clearly the gospel path even though I am
surrounded by the darkness of the world.
I know that if I
can work on these three goals that my life will be full of joy and happiness
and that the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ will shine through me to all
of our Heavenly Father’s children and bring them greater joy and happiness as
well.
Your comments
are welcome.
