Satan uses self doubt against me. I know this, but I don't know if I always realized it as a tactic. I am fairly open and honest because I am confident in who I can become, but I stutter with who I am now. Self doubt causes fear and inaction - this I do know and have fought/have to continue fighting. At least I know who I can become.
I like the opinions of others, but over time, I have learned to take them with a grain of salt. People will always have opinions. The noise can be confusing - I have enough in my own head.
I finally finished the book, Outliers, and outside of the research and interesting stories, I mainly just enjoyed the overarching concept that genius is not genius alone, and is hardly genius at all. So much, aka everything, was aligned by God's plan (of course the book did not define the source). If Bill Gates was not prepared to create Microsoft, someone else would have. The difference between him and others is his opportunity and the genius in him was his ability to be prepared and take action.
We don't know when our time will be - to prove our preparation. And at the end of the day, what matters most is not the company you created, but the home you've built. It starts at home. Everything starts at home. The family is the very foundation for our eternal existence. The world is forgetting that. Time for people - parents as teachers, fathers as providers and mothers as nurturers - are missing.
You question intolerance, you question tolerance, you question stereotypes, you question inefficiency, you question safety, you question morality, etc... but it starts with us. Teach your children to work hard; teach your children to be accountable to God and their neighbor; teach kids to learn; teach kids that love is ever present; teach kids to act. You cannot teach them to be in the right place at the right time because we don't know what that is. We cannot predict those moments, but it is not fate and it is not chance if we have developed our skills and ventured to be proactive in what our time and circumstances have allowed. How do you teach them to follow their heart? You listen and you provide the best way you can. People have interests for a reason. We have desires for a reason. Again, we do not control the desires of others, but we definitely have an influence and your personal desires are completely under your control. They will see your desires.
"Pray about your feelings," she used to say. She taught her three children that we should pray to have the right kind of feelings about our experiences--positive or negative--and about the people we knew. If our feelings were right, we would be more likely to take right actions and to act for the right reasons." - Oaks, 1985
Sometimes, giving in to the little things appears to cause no harm, but here's the deal. When you deny yourself the influence of the Spirit of God, you deny yourself the truest asset to moral discernment and protection. We may lie to ourselves and to others if we say we are not amongst materialism, covetousness, anger, unforgiveness, lust, selfishness, and the disguise of righteousness.
Despair is not allowing yourself a way out.
Dear home, be a place of comfort, opportunity, and cheer. Home, be a place of love. Home, be a place for good desires to prosper.
"Let us remember that desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. In addition, it is our actions and our desires that cause us to become something, whether a true friend, a gifted teacher, or one who has qualified for eternal life." - Oaks 2011
That talk was my favorite from this past conference.
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