Well, I overslept and missed church this morning! Mind you I was up till 2 am preparing for a guest who was to arrive at 8 this morning, but I still lament missing the lessons I could have learned today. Plus I feel bad because I know of at least one person who was looking forward to this Sunday post since they don't really have much choice in whether they can go to church or not. So, for this I truly apologize.
You know, I could have avoided this predicament if I had prepared before the last day. To be fair, I had been preparing for the last week, but I truly didn't put it into gear until the night before last.
I'm in the middle of remodeling my kitchen, so sawdust from sanding the cabinets was everywhere! It's true that I have a lot going on and so no one could argue when I said that I had too many things on my plate and I would get to it later before company arrived. So, that's what I did. I kept saying that now was not a good time and "I will get to it when I have a chance."
And there is the root of it "I will later." which translates into, "I'm not doing anything right now, maybe later." AKA "Procrastination."
The truth of the matter is that life rarely presents a "good time" and "later" often gets here before we even recognize it and then we scramble about, panicked that we won't get it done in time and of course there is always something that we didn't anticipate that crops up and we sufficiently stress ourselves out more than if we would have forbidden ourselves to say "I will do it later." in the first place!
I should have taken a small portion of my day to prepare, just to do ONE thing. It could have been small. For example if a week ago I would have cleaned out just one cabinet a day I wouldn't have had anything left to do yesterday. Instead I worked on the guest room, in the garden, in the yard, in my room, decorated for the season and said, "I will do the kitchen later."
So, the lesson of the story is omit "I will later." from your vocabulary and insert. "I am (insert one thing to do) each day starting right now." and I bet your life will become a lot less chaotic and you'll actually get that project you've been putting on hold done!
The same is true for preparing for the end of this life and the beginning of the next. You can add just one thing a month, like, "I will respect the house of my eternal spirit and treat my body like the temple it is.
"Lets say you want to cut out soda. You know its bad for your body. Then, rather than cutting out soda all together and sabotaging yourself, just say each day, "I replace one soda with water instead." Then graduate to replacing more until you eventually do not drink soda at all. Before you know it you've accomplished one goal. Congratulations! Good Job! Just make sure you keep at it. Once you've succeeded in one goal do another.
If you want to become spiritually grounded, start by saying, "I am reading one scripture verse a day." You will be amazed at how this one small daily act will change the course you are on.
To be more charitable, start by saying, "I am going to be exceptionally kind to one person today, even if I feel they are undeserving of it." Incidentally, I believe that this is the only way the world can begin to change and it also prepares our hearts for receiving blessings ourselves.
I hope this is helpful to you. Please feel free to share your testimony of the lesson of preparedness.
Alma 34:34
“Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful acrisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth bpossess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.” 3Another prophet adds, “He that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still.”
John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Hel. 13:38. Behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is … too late.
~Henry Van Dyke, “The Sun-Dial at Wells College,” in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1911), 345. Sundial and poem displayed at Wells College, Aurora, New York.
The nigh hour comes when were not looking and without warning.
You know, I could have avoided this predicament if I had prepared before the last day. To be fair, I had been preparing for the last week, but I truly didn't put it into gear until the night before last.
I'm in the middle of remodeling my kitchen, so sawdust from sanding the cabinets was everywhere! It's true that I have a lot going on and so no one could argue when I said that I had too many things on my plate and I would get to it later before company arrived. So, that's what I did. I kept saying that now was not a good time and "I will get to it when I have a chance."
And there is the root of it "I will later." which translates into, "I'm not doing anything right now, maybe later." AKA "Procrastination."
The truth of the matter is that life rarely presents a "good time" and "later" often gets here before we even recognize it and then we scramble about, panicked that we won't get it done in time and of course there is always something that we didn't anticipate that crops up and we sufficiently stress ourselves out more than if we would have forbidden ourselves to say "I will do it later." in the first place!
I should have taken a small portion of my day to prepare, just to do ONE thing. It could have been small. For example if a week ago I would have cleaned out just one cabinet a day I wouldn't have had anything left to do yesterday. Instead I worked on the guest room, in the garden, in the yard, in my room, decorated for the season and said, "I will do the kitchen later."
So, the lesson of the story is omit "I will later." from your vocabulary and insert. "I am (insert one thing to do) each day starting right now." and I bet your life will become a lot less chaotic and you'll actually get that project you've been putting on hold done!
The same is true for preparing for the end of this life and the beginning of the next. You can add just one thing a month, like, "I will respect the house of my eternal spirit and treat my body like the temple it is.
"Lets say you want to cut out soda. You know its bad for your body. Then, rather than cutting out soda all together and sabotaging yourself, just say each day, "I replace one soda with water instead." Then graduate to replacing more until you eventually do not drink soda at all. Before you know it you've accomplished one goal. Congratulations! Good Job! Just make sure you keep at it. Once you've succeeded in one goal do another.
If you want to become spiritually grounded, start by saying, "I am reading one scripture verse a day." You will be amazed at how this one small daily act will change the course you are on.
To be more charitable, start by saying, "I am going to be exceptionally kind to one person today, even if I feel they are undeserving of it." Incidentally, I believe that this is the only way the world can begin to change and it also prepares our hearts for receiving blessings ourselves.
I hope this is helpful to you. Please feel free to share your testimony of the lesson of preparedness.
Alma 34:34
“Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful acrisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth bpossess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.” 3Another prophet adds, “He that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still.”
John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Hel. 13:38. Behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is … too late.
The shadow by my finger cast
Divides the future from the past:
Before it, sleeps the unborn hour,
In darkness, and beyond thy power:
Behind its unreturning line,
The vanished hour, no longer thine:
One hour alone is in thy hands,—
The NOW on which the shadow stands.
The nigh hour comes when were not looking and without warning.
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