Traveling in Truth

The farther down the street of Positivity you get the easier it is to travel.

At first Living in Truth is difficult. You are changing old habits and establishing new ones. You are changing old ways of thinking and thinking in new ways. It takes times to change habits and attitudes of thought, but with persistence it can be done.

The wonderful thing is that when we persist in Living in Truth, it begins to habituate so that Living in Truth is habit and the Truth is the way we think. Then Living in Truth becomes easy.

As Sharon Begley explains in her book, Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain,  

“The brain can change as a result of the thoughts 

we have thought.”

In other words there are actual physical changes that take place in us when we think differently and when those changes occur we are a different person. We act differently. Our habitual behavior is different. Our natural, first thoughts are different so that we aren't always fighting off what first comes to us and trying to replace it with something better.

When we Live in Truth we are different and so is the world around us!                  

I'm Grateful For Gratitude!

Happiness researchers have identified eight reasons that cultivating an “Attitude of Gratitude” makes people happier. Many of these eight reasons are intuitive and are things we’ve all thought about. But some aren’t. For example, happiness researcher Sonya Lyubomirsky says that expressing gratitude bolsters self-worth and self-esteem. Why? Because when you concentrate on how much people have done for you, how many good things have happened in your life, or how many things you have accomplished you feel more loved and confident.

Lyubomirsky also explains that the research clearly shows that living with an “Attitude of Gratitude” encourages moral behavior. This happens because grateful people are aware of what even a small gesture of kindness means to them and they in turn are eager to reciprocate. They go about their days naturally doing small and large acts of kindness for others and in other ways doing all kinds of good.

Another result of a gratitude attitude is that it builds social bonds because it tends to strengthen existing relationships and nurtures new ones. Several studies have shown that people who feel gratitude toward others, even if they don’t express it, experience higher quality relationships with those people.

We all know the wonderful feeling that comes when we express gratitude, but there are many other benefits to living with an Attitude of Gratitude.

Learning Time

Look closely at this photo. The "Y" is made up of new students standing in the football stadium bleachers!

Today was my first day of school. BYU actually began their classes yesterday, but this semester I teach all four of my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I have Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to do research and other things. It will be nice.

First days are always exciting. Seeing all those young, beautiful faces out there and knowing that in a few weeks they will be my new friends energizes me. I love it.

But it is also fun as the semester wears on to see the personalities of the students come out. I have the most interesting, talented, and wonderful students. They constantly amaze me.

But once in a great while there is a student who amazes me in negative ways like one student today who kept rolling his eyes in obvious disagreement and questioning the things I said--and mostly what we did today was go over the expectations for the class. I already know he isn't going to like my class. And that makes me think about how many times I've gone into a situation where I could have learned so much, but my negative or prideful attitude kept me from learning and enjoying.

Mind you, I have over 220 students and that was the only one who was openly negative. But I learned something from him and I'm excited about the more positive things I'm going to learn from the other 219 students during the semester. I'm not sure who learns the most in my classes, the students or me!

Are You The Landlord Or A Tenant?

In his book Mere Christianity C. S. Lewis gives some good advice on what our attitude toward ourselves should be. He poses the question: “Does it not make a great difference whether I am, so to speak, the landlord of my own mind and body, or only a tenant, responsible to the real landlord? If somebody else made me, for his own purposes, then I shall have a lot of duties which I should not have if I simply belonged to myself.”

This perception makes a lot of difference in life. If I think of myself as the landlord I make decisions differently and thus live differently—more selfishly. But if I understand that I am only a tenant in this body and that I belong to Jesus Christ, I make decisions based on what He would have me do. I consult with Him before doing things. I make sure I have His approval. I live selflessly with the intention of making a profit for the Landlord.

I think this is one of the things we are admonished to do when we are told to remember Christ. Remembering Him means, in part, remembering our relationship to Him. He is our Landlord and, therefore, we are obligated to care for His property in a way that will preserve that property and give Him interest on His investment.

Sowing Seeds

This year our apricot trees have more apricots than leaves. I’ve never seen the branches so full of fruit—too full of fruit. But the winds and rains the last few day have caused a lot of the fruit to fall to the ground so that the patio is covered in what looks like tiny green marbles. As I’ve picked them up I’ve wondered about the miracle that such a small seed inside that little ball has within it the promise of becoming a huge tree like the one that towers over me. But despite the enormous power to become an apricot tree, it has absolutely no power to become an apple or an orange tree. Genetically it is programmed to be an apricot and it can be nothing else.

Likewise as I go through my day and think thoughts about what is happening to me or around me, those thoughts, like seeds, grow into feelings and the feelings direct other thoughts and especially decisions. The type of thought I plant determines what will grow in my life.

So like any good gardener, I need to occasionally do some weeding. I need to get rid of the noxious thoughts that will grow into hatred, jealousy, envy or anything bad and make more room for the good thoughts that will grow into prosperity, harmony, and friendship. I will never have a beautiful garden if I sow seeds of doubt, fear, or anger. It just can’t happen. Doubt, fear, or anger don’t have the genetic potential to be anything but noxious.

But if I plant seeds of faith, hope, and charity I will have a beautiful garden because they can grow into nothing but beauty. Sure there will be storms, wind may destroy some of my crop, but in the end those storms will only thin the crop a little so that the remaining fruit will be bigger and better. And the rain, well it may be a little overpowering at times, but the rain will feed my garden and make it better.

The kind of thoughts I plant will determine what will grow in my life. So today I’m going to plant lots of love.

Saving Attitude

Yesterday we celebrated the Resurrection of the Savior and the life He has made possible for us. Today I am celebrating the fact that He has invited me and you to be part of His work. We do it daily whether we are changing a diaper, disciplining a child, or visiting an ailing friend. In anything we do, if we do it with love and with an eye to His glory, we are helping in His work. What a trust He has placed in us!

President John Taylor once said that “we are here as saviors of men” (JD, 24:268). While Jesus Christ is our Savior, to help in His work means that we are to be saviors also. Note that our being saviors is savior with a small “s”, and is different that the great work He did, but in some ways similar. A savior is someone who does something for others that they cannot do for themselves. Obviously we could not save ourselves from sin and death, but He could. But how do we act as saviors?

As women we give life to others—something they cannot do for themselves. As men we administer the life-giving ordinances to others—something they cannot do for themselves. As followers of Christ, we do temple work for those who were unable to do it for themselves. Anytime we do things for others that they cannot do for themselves, we are acting as a savior thus the mundane task of changing a diaper or feeding a newborn is a saving act.

There is something beautiful that happens inside us as we go about our days with this realization. What could be dismissed as a trivial act becomes a glorious opportunity and can feed our souls with joy and delight depending on how we approach the task. When we think of ourselves as saviors helping in The Savior’s work, life is different.

It's All in the Attitude

Throughout the story of Nephi and his brothers, Laman and Lemuel, is the constant reminder that Laman and Lemuel murmured against their father. They complained and grumbled about everything, and as we read we tend to think of them as the bad guys. Eventually they do fit the bad guy definition as they seek to kill Nephi, but in the beginning of the story they are simply grumblers.

In the beginning they didn’t like what their father told them to do and they complained, but they did it. They went back for the plates. They went back for Ishmael. They traveled eight years in the desert. They helped build a ship, and they sailed the ocean to the New World. In the beginning the difference wasn’t in behavior it was in attitude. Their story helps me to remember how important attitude is.

Attitude determines thoughts. Thoughts determine actions. Actions determine life. It all starts with attitude and when we Live in Truth and take charge of our attitude, we Live in Happiness and Joy. It starts in the mind-so choose a happy attitude and have a happy day!