#31: D is for Divine Nature

“There is something of divinity within each of you. You have such tremendous potential with that quality as a part of your inherited nature. Every one of you was endowed by your Father in Heaven with a tremendous capacity to do good in the world. Train your minds and your hands that you may be equipped to serve well in the society of which you are a part. Cultivate the art of being kind, of being thoughtful, of being helpful. Refine within you the quality of mercy which comes as a part of the divine attributes you have inherited.

Some of you may feel that you are not as attractive and beautiful and glamorous as you would like to be. Rise above any such feelings, cultivate the light you have within you, and it will shine through as a radiant expression that will be seen by others.

You need never feel inferior. You need never feel that you were born without talents or without opportunities to give them expression. Cultivate whatever talents you have, and they will grow and refine and become an expression of your true self appreciated by others.

In summary, try a little harder to measure up to the divine within each of you. As Alma said, “Awake and arouse your faculties” (Alma 32:27).”

President Gordon B. Hinckley gave this inspired message several years ago. Even though he was speaking to the young women of the church, his message is to all. Each one of us is a child of God. YOU are a child of God! He loves you because you are His child. And just as in any other parent/child relationship you have inherited certain qualities from Him.

2 Peter 1:4 says

“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature…”

We have been given so many unique gifts and traits because of our relationship to our Heavenly Father. We can discover what specific talents and qualities we have been given through sincere prayer and careful scripture study. And I hope that each of you will take the time to ask Heavenly Father what you have inherited from Him. He’s waiting to tell you and to help you expand your divine nature.

D is for Divine Nature

#28: A is for Attitude

Talking with my companion this morning I related an experience I had over a year ago before this whole crazy adventure started. It was back in the spring of 2011 and I was getting ready to graduate. I had spent the last 18 years of my life in school. My whole life to that point had been focused on my formal education. Don't get me wrong—I had church, friends, family, extracurriculars, work, etc. tied in there as well—but for the past 18 years if someone had asked me what I did or who I was, my response was "I'm a student." My identity was wrapped up in my schooling.

I was a student. That’s what I did. That’s who I was.

With graduation looming, and in the midst of the excitement of finally finishing my degree I was struck with a moment of panic. I wouldn’t be in school any more.

And if I wasn’t a student…

...then who was I?

Yes, panic took over for a moment. Fear of the unknown was starting to creep in and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to find out what life outside of college looked like. The mountain in front of me looked awfully intimidating. But then I had this wonderful sense of freedom come over me. I wasn’t a student anymore. I wasn’t anything right now. And that meant I could be anything I wanted. I didn’t have any labels; I wasn’t stuck in any ruts. I was at the bottom of the mountain and I could pick any trail I wanted to climb. And with that simple change of attitude about the situation, my perspective was transformed and what was initially frightening became exciting and engaging.

Any situation we find ourselves in can be transformed into an opportunity if we will approach it with the right attitude. I’m not perfect at this but I’m working on it and every time I get a little closer, I find greater joy for life and its many opportunities. I know the same can happen for you.

A is for Attitude

#26: Guest Post--Set Goals to Obtain Greatness!

One of the great things about this life is that we get to learn from one another and share our thoughts and ideas. One of the other California Santa Rosa missionaries shared this story with me recently and I liked it so much I asked him if he wouldn't mind writing it down for my blog. So with Elder Balaich's permission I present the first of what (I hope) will be several guest posts. Take it away Elder Balaich!

As a high school athlete I had the great opportunity and blessing to be coached by some great men. (One of which even played in the NFL for some years then after an injury went on to professionally lift weights and body build.) One summer, this coach taught me something great, something I’ll never forget.

It was early morning workouts; we lifted, ran drills, conditioned, and things like that. One drill is called the standing broad jump. Basically, you try to jump out as far as you possible can. This drill is done often at combines to display an athlete’s explosiveness and to compare athletes side by side to see who can jump further.

To practice this drill, we all went into the gym to the basketball court. We got in a line behind the baseline and just simply jumped out as far as we could. We each did this a few times, with coach not saying anything out of the ordinary but observing closely like he always did.

After this we moved on to some other drills, the L-drill, shuttle drill, ladders—things like that. Then we went to the baseline to once again do standing broad jumps. As before we all did the drill. Simply jumping from the baseline got boring so we moved to the half-court line instead, doing the same drill. This time though, Coach brought out a cone. He watched how far most of us were jumping and set it a few inches beyond where we landed. Then he challenged us to jump beyond the cone. Some of us did and some of us didn’t. Seemingly satisfied, he had us move on once again to some different drills.

But once again, we came back to the broad jump. We all lined up single file on the baseline and coach set up his cone a good distance beyond the baseline and said to all of us, basically something to the sorts of,

“Okay, we’ve practiced this off and on all morning. Now you all MUST jump past this cone I’ve set up here. ALL of you HAVE to do it. I know that all of you can, it’s up to you right now to just do it.”

We all took our turns, one by one. And all of us succeeded. We all jumped beyond the cone. Coach was all sorts of excited. What he knew—that we didn’t—what he had slyly done to make us all better, still sticks with me to this day. None of us had noticed but Coach had been measuring how far we jumped with his steps. Measuring the first attempts and then pushing us a little bit farther the second time. Finally, for the last time, he measured the furthest we had jumped and stepped a few feet beyond that and placed the cone there. Further than any of us had jumped.

None of us knew he was measuring us or even pushing us further. Until at last, when all of us jumped past the last cone he let us all know what we had just done.

"It's all in your heads!" I remember him saying.

The first time we were told to jump as far as we could, we all put some effort into it. But the big difference between the first feeble attempt and the last, great success was that a mark had been set.

A goal was made and failure was not an option. We didn't care about how far we had jumped before because we didn't even really know. But with that cone set there, we could see how far we must jump.

After we all jumped past the cone on our last try, coach took quite a few steps back towards the baseline, measuring carefully and standing in one spot where he said,

“This is the furthest any of you jumped the first time.”

The difference was so big that it has always been a reminder to me of how much impact setting a good goal can truly make—as opposed to simply going out and just “doing our best”.

The conditions of the drill never changed, neither did our technique. Sure we had a few practice jumps but the difference between the first and last jump is that the greatness of personal achievement was obtained by setting up a piece of plastic on a hardwood gym floor, a simple cone, a profound goal.

#24: A Perfect Plan + Cool Graphics = The Path to True Joy

Okay, I had to post this video. It's amazing! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints produces short videos on a variety of topics and calls them "Mormon Messages". Every year, they just keep getting better! I just found this one thanks to the miracle of social media. :)

This video, titled "Our Eternal Life" lays out one of the most basic beliefs that Mormons have--the Plan of Salvation. This plan answers the questions: where did I come from, why am I here, and where do I go after this life. And the graphics in the video are so cool I couldn't wait to share it! The LDS media department is so cool :)

Hope you enjoy!

If this video piqued your interest and you'd like to know more. Check out the rest of the story at mormon.org/plan-of-happiness. Or message me on facebook and I can tell you more (I do this full time!)