Thursday, January 10, 2013

Standing Alone

Lets look at life as a race. We all start our race at the time of birth for the mortal portion of eternity. Here as Sons and Daughters of God we are to help and uplift one another. At some points of this race we have to stand alone. Are we really alone though? I know for me it really feels like I am alone.

Whether you are a family member waiting for your soldier to return home to them or the soldier far away from his family and not being able to talk to them and be with them. You could be a student at college and its your first time leaving the house not knowing anybody there. You could just be having a bad day and your friends or family are not around to talk to. Or in another situation you may have been in prison where you are alone without family and friends. How will you stand alone?

Are you going to give up on everything you have learned and know to be true? Are you going to learn from the situations? Are you gonna give it your all and look back and honestly say I gave it my all in troubled times?

Now I may only be 22 years old but I have experienced a lot in my life. More than anyone actually knows. We all have experienced different things that have taken us to our limits. Admit it! So as I said we are all here to help each other. We can only help to a certain point though. Unfortunately that is how it works.

So we have started this race and get to a point that we have to stand alone. How will we manage? The thing I try to do is remember what I either had or what I have to look forward to to keep my mind on where I am going. It is totally fine at this point in life to sit down and cry. We are human. We are gonna feel lost and not know what to do. I like to take time to do nothing but just think. Whether I have to go somewhere to be able to do this or just as I am lying in bed waiting to fall asleep. I think of what good I have done, what I wish I could have done and most importantly what I did that I did not like. I think about that last one because I want to improve and change. I don't want to make that same stupid decision. I want to say for example over addictions big or small, jobs hard or easy that I have conquered and learned. Don't you agree?

Lets look at a time in someones life where they have given everything to this race. This athlete has trained and practice continually for this race. But the unexpected happens. He sustains an injury. Watch the video!
How does he respond to this trial? Who comes to help him in tough times but lets him be alone to conquer on his own?

That's right his father ran through security to go to the aid of his son. He was there in a time of need. Of course his father was limited on what he could do but what he could do was be there and support him.

Like this father we have a Father in Heaven who may not actually be with us physically but He is there even when we don't realize it. He comes to our aid whether it be through a friend, family or some complete stranger who comes to help. Now we are learning slowly, but we are learning how to conquer times of hardship. Time after time we are gonna have hardship here on earth. Sorry but it is just a part of life. We need to learn how to deal with it.

Watch this video of a girl who all she wanted for Christmas was her dad home from Iraq.
This poor girl has so sadly missed her dad and she could careless about earthly possessions but she wants only that which is truly important to her. Imagine how hard it is for that girl. Many of you may have experienced this in one way or another.

I have so much to learn in life yet as hopefully I have quite a few years of training ahead yet. We never know when our race is going to end. It could be today, 10 years from now or 50 years from now. We need to endure to the end of the race. Until then we have got to learn to conquer instead of giving up and beating ourselves down.

So are you going to stand alone or are you going to let Heavenly Father stand with you? Its your choice! Whether I show it or not I truly do know that He is there for me even when I don't do everything right. His Son Jesus Christ made it possible for our Heavenly Father to be able to receive His children into His Kingdom for eternity.


Orson F. Whitney
“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God . . . and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven.”
Orson F. Whitney