I watched a video this past week called the hero's journey. The speaker brought up the question, "Do I really have what it takes to succeed?" I really thought about this and then shared the video with my wife. I then ask myself, What does it take to succeed? I loved this video because it really made me think deeply about what is truly important as we take our life's journey.

Lately, I have struggled with the use of my time. I really do have a desire to complete my bachelor's degree, but I struggle finding the time to do the work needed. In the video, A hero's journey, the speaker says, "Live every moment of your life like it matters, because it does." Wow, I really needed to hear that. All to often I find myself wasting the moments watching a baseball game or scrolling through facebook. These are the are moments, it seems, that I am wasting on things that don't really matter at all. Learning and studying, spending time with my children, working towards my goals are things that I should be focused on. I really do need to live every moment like it matters, because it really does!

He also said it is important to see struggles as adventures and setbacks as lessons. I look back on the last year of my life and see the truth in this. Having my father-in-law live with us was indeed an adventure. Never in my life would I have learned the lessons I did if we did not care for him during his final moments on earth. At one point we truly believed it was a sad setback in our lives by having someone with dementia and Parkinson's living with us. But, in the end we realized we learned so many meaningful lessons that we truly our thankful to our Heavenly Father that he was able to live with us.

Another key takeaway from the video was: "what matters most isn't the prize at the end, but how the hero is changed in the process." I can see why this is important. We are all God's children here on this earth being tested to see if we will be faithful in all things. If we are not changed from our "natural" state to a true follower of Jesus Christ and "becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patent, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." (Mosiah 3:19, Book of Mormon) If this isn't the case, then we didn't change in the process of becoming like Jesus Christ.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

As I reflect on my reading this past week, one thought stand out above the rest. President Monson says, "This is a wonderful time to be living here on earth. Our opportunities are limitless. While there are some things wrong in the world today, there are many things right..." It seems as if I let me self dwell on the negative things that are going on around me, instead of being grateful for the wonderful things I have in my life. I often give way to the forces that would have us think that there is no good in this world and there is no use trying. President Monson goes on by saying, "We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude." I am truly uplifted when I am around people who are grateful for all that they have and also those who always express there gratitude for even the smallest blessings. I have come to realize how happy I am when my children expre...
Read more
Virtue and integrity are so vital to our economy because without it the game becomes so unreliable that nobody will want to play it. Markets will empty and share prices will collapse if people think the markets are rigged. If CEO's and CFO's conceal losses and make things look like they company is doing wonderful, and then later on it's found that the company is not actually on good footings, people will lose confidence and trust in investing in these companies. According to Charles Handy, the real justification for the existence of business is to make a profit so that the business can do something more or better.
Read more
After reading Elder Holland's talk, However Long and Hard the Road, I thought about one of my races along the continental divide between Idaho and Montana. I remember as we neared the finish line, my body completely gave out. I laid down in the dirt because it hurt too much to stand. I felt excruciating pain in every part of my body. I was probably dehydrated and lacking even the smallest amounts of nutrition the body needs to keep going. With a quarter mile or so to the finish line, it seemed there was no possible way for me to get my body to cross that line where my wife anxiously waited for me to finish. My body and mind was ready to quit, or had already done so. I had run 62.25 miles over the last 19 hours and had nothing left for the last .25. Another runner was trying to give me a pep talk and do all that he could to get me going. Finally in desperation, I mustered all I could do to say a prayer in my mind asking Heavenly Father to help me finish. That's all I wanted at t...
Read more