I believe we choose our destiny. I believe things happen for a reason, good or bad, to test and try us, to refine us. Sometimes we are affected by the bad choices of others and feel like its unfair and undeserved and like we didn't get a choice, however it is then up to us to choose how we respond. So, there is always a choice and even when we sit back and don't make decisions and just let things happen... that is a decision in itself and we will experience consequences accordingly.
I have been really enjoying (more than I thought I would) my new "smart" phone :) I have been able to do more reading on my commute to and from work than I otherwise would have. Reading on a small handheld device is so much easier and lighter than carrying around a big book AND I have the entire lds library on my phone, it is awesome!
I was inspired by a talk I read entitled 'Start Moving'. I found it very relevant especially as I have felt lately that my husband and I have had to make a LOT of decisions about work, finances, purchasing a car, insurance, living arrangements, baby etc... It can get quite hectic and I find myself extremely stressed, mentally & physically exhausted especially as I usually try and take on most of the work surrounding decisions myself - setting up bank accounts, purchasing the car, moving finances, planning meals, being organised for baby's arrival etc.
When there is a difficult decision to make I usually think it out, rely on the Lord & pray, but answers don't always come right away and this really frustrates me at times. I have always seemed to find decision making difficult, whether it be choosing a movie at the video store or deciding where to live, I am always hesitant or perhaps cautious. I want to do the right thing always but it's especially hard when there is more than one option and no one option is really wrong. Sometimes there may not be a huge decision to make but I'm just trying to figure out what I should be doing, what more I could be doing, how I can better fulfill my purpose on earth or reach my potential, what the Lord would have me do? and I don't know what to do?! No answers or confirmations come. It's in this situation that people become tempted to just sit back and do nothing. To just wait it out or wait for someone else to make the decisions for them. I have done this. Well, Elder Von. G Keetch says "Relaxing on the ridge may seem a safe way to avoid making mistakes, but it’s also a way to avoid making progress." He related a story but I'll skip that part and jump to the quote that I thought was most relevant. He says:
"Often in our need for spiritual guidance and direction, we can be tempted to do exactly what the smoke jumpers did. We find ourselves in unfamiliar territory. We see several paths available to us, and we’re not sure which one to take. We have been promised inspiration and help from our Heavenly Father. But it doesn’t always come immediately. We grow frustrated and decide we are simply going to sit down and wait until the promised guidance comes. We wait and we wait and we wait, wondering why the divine Dispatcher doesn’t help us with our course. In so doing, we ignore an important principle of revelation. Our Father in Heaven expects us to use our own intelligence, ability, and experience to chart our initial course. As we press forward along the path we have chosen, we are in a much better position to receive the course corrections He may have for us. But if we simply plop down on the ridge and recline on our backpacks until He gives us instruction, we risk finding ourselves in a spiritual dead spot."
That statement rings so true! We have our own intelligence, ability and agency and we need not always sit and wait for answers.
And to follow that, the words of President Boyd K. Packer:
“We are expected to use the light and knowledge we already possess to work out our lives. We should not need a revelation to instruct us to be up and about our duty, for we have been told to do that already in the scriptures; nor should we expect revelation to replace the spiritual or temporal intelligence which we have already received—only to extend it. We must go about our life in an ordinary, workaday way, following the routines and rules and regulations that govern life. Rules and regulations and commandments are valuable protection. If we need revealed instruction to alter our course, it will be waiting along the way as we arrive at the point of need.”
What this means to me is that we need to have determination, hope, faith & courage and to press forward in life. Elder Keetch continues, "To those of you who are waiting upon the Lord for guidance in your lives—who need help with a major decision or question—I give you this challenge: Prayerfully and carefully use your own intelligence and your own resources to choose a path that seems right to you. Then become anxiously engaged in walking that path. When the time for course correction comes, He will be there to help you and to guide you. The best and clearest direction comes in our lives not when we are just waiting for our Heavenly Father to send help and guidance but when we are anxiously engaged with our back bent to the task."
So, to my dear friends who bother with reading this blog :) I hope this enlightens your day too. Be of good cheer! Start moving and making the decisions that chart your course toward your desired goals whether they be as small as losing weight or as big as living with your family forever. Destiny is a choice!
For some good reading:
Hi Tahlia!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this post. It is all so true!! It's a good reminder that we need to not be unwise servants, but use our choices wisely.
Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy. Your little one will be here before you know it :)
Love Jessima
So True, thanks for your comments.
ReplyDeletexo