Taking Steps Into the Dark

One of the most profound lessons I have ever learned happened while I was a missionary in training for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I was struggling a lot with the concept of the divine inspiration and guidance as opposed to my own thoughts and desires. How could I, or anyone for that matter, tell the difference? An inspired instructor of mine shared a clip with me that was a portion of a talk given by Elder David A. Bednar, one of the twelve apostles of the church I was about to go out into Las Vegas to represent. Elder Bednar said simply that if we are being "good boys and good girls" that we will inevitably be led by the spirit to do that which is in line with the will of God. Or in other more simple words, we will be inspired to do those things that will bring us and our loved ones and those whom we will associate with throughout our lives, great happiness.So if you can't figure out what the next steps are in life, no matter how much you pray and fast and seek for answers, then perhaps the answer that God is giving you is to move forward with faith, seeking after those things that are good and uplifting and we will ultimately be led to do those things that we should.

DDDS...

... Or in other words, "Don't Do Dumb Stuff". I had the opportunity of being the senior patrol leader for a group of boy scouts as we hiked more than 70 miles through the mountains of Philmont, in northern New Mexico. Our adult leaders, being the wise and intelligent beings that adulthood had turned them into, came up with this motto that would become the foundation of our time during those two weeks together. I can remember many occasions when an important difference in the outcome of events had been changed due to the heed that we all gave to this one simple little phrase. In the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ, we are also counseled that it simple and easy to give heed to the word of God, the which will lead us on to eternal life and everlasting happiness. So "Don't Do Dumb Stuff" by cheating yourself out of everything that you could have had for the rest of forever because you were too caught up in instant gratification. Happiness is really so easy to obtain, the reason why it perhaps isn't as much as a large part of our lives as we would like is because there are dumb things that we don't want to give up.

Happiness and Investments

What is an investment? I think that it is simply a sacrifice of something that we could have now for a greater return in the future. That being said, do we invest enough in ourselves? in our own happiness?  and if so, to what extent and do we do it enough? just as in the "real world" there are many different types of investments of to make. Whether you are investing in bonds, stocks, or whatever else it may be (not to mention all of the smaller categories that make up bonds and stocks) they have all differences that will produce different results. and so the next question to consider is, if we are investing a good amount, is it in the right things? We could spend all of our time investing in ourselves, in our own happiness and success, but never achieve either because we are simply investing in the wrong things. When we truly invest in true happiness we cut out a lot of the things that are said to make one happy, things like; alcohol, tobacco, pornography, pre-marital sex or any sort of sexually intimate relationship outside of legal and lawful marriage, etc.... These are the things that the world teaches us will make one happy, and perhaps that in the moment they will provide a certain level of "satisfaction" or carnal "fulfillment". But remember the definition of investing? we sacrifice lesser things so that we can have greater things! By giving up the pleasures of the world today we are investing in the treasures of heaven for tomorrow. Treasures that rust and moth cannot corrupt and where thieves cannot break through and steal or spoil. Treasures that truly mean something and will not only be valuable here but invaluable for the rest of time and eternity. Investing in things like selfless service, abstinence, keeping the commandments, preaching the gospel and others are those things that are of most worth to us and will only become more and more valuable as we invest in them. These are the things that will lead us on to not only eternal life, but also eternal happiness.