Some changes are welcome, others are not. Some are unexpected, but most come slowly and incrementally.
“The difference between the changes in my life and the changes in yours are only in the details.”
“. . . that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have the time to do all that you want to do.”
I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey – now.
Many years ago, Arthur Gordon wrote in a national magazine, and I quote:
“When I was around thirteen and my brother ten, Father had promised to take us to the circus. But at lunchtime there was a phone call; some urgent business required his attention downtown. We braced ourselves for disappointment.
“Then we heard him say [into the phone], ‘No, I won’t be down. It’ll have to wait.’
“When he came back to the table, Mother smiled. ‘The circus keeps coming back, you know,’ [she said.]
“‘I know,’ said Father. ‘But childhood doesn’t.’”
Arthur Gordon, A Touch of Wonder (1974), 77-78.
Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important – and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. . . Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.
“These things are important: temple marriage, mission, college. Press on, set goals, write history, take pictures twice a year.”
when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present – love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness] – the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.” (Sarah Ban Breathnach, in John Cook, comp., The Book of Positive Quotations, 2nd ed. (2007), 342.)
If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.
Brothers and sisters, my sincere prayer is that we may adapt to the changes in our lives, that we may realize what is most important, that we may express our gratitude always and thus find joy in the journey.
- Instruction:
- May we be found among those who give our thanks to our Heavenly Father.
- may we fill our days with those things which matter most.
- May we cherish those we hold dear and express our love to them in word and in deed.
- Let us follow Him. Let us emulate His example. Let us obey His word.
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