Memorize the Good

Today is a gorgeous day where I live. Sunny, warm, clear crisp air, with an autumn stillness hovering like a protective hand. I love it, and so I'm going to memorize every second of it so that when dark, cold, drizzly winter days come I can close my eyes and remember today.

It really works! Our minds are powerful tools that we don't use well enough. But we can learn to use our memory, imagination, and interpretation of experience to help us Live in Truth.

Have a sunny day!

The Power of Memory

This isn't the wood pecker I saw, but it is similar.

Just outside my 2^nd floor window is a balcony and three feet from the balcony grow two large, beautiful quaking aspen trees. Yesterday while watching the wind gently rustle the aspen leaves two wood peckers landed in the tree and began pecking at the trunk. I’ve never seen a wood pecker that close before and was startle by the how brilliant the blue feathers sparkled in the sun. There is an awe and reverence that comes when I see nature up close and for some reason the magnificence of that sight filled me with more awe than usual as I watched the two beautiful birds.

After a few minutes the birds flew away, but the sight and feeling has not left me. God has given us such an amazing world and I am grateful for it. I’m also grateful for the power He has given me to remember the beautiful moments so that when times aren’t as wonderful as they were yesterday I can recall the beauty and bring it into the present. What a blessing! A beautiful world and the gift of memory to recall the beauty when the storms come. God thought of everything, didn’t He!

I hope you are all having a wonderful day, and if you aren’t I hope you remember!

Using the Power of Memory

Way back in the days of manual typewriters—before word processing and before electric typewriters—I learned to test out the touch of a typewriter by typing this sentence: “Now is the time for all good boys to come to the aid of their country.” Supposedly this sentence covers most of the keys on the typewriter so you can get the feel of it. To this day, every time I put my hands on a key pad those words go through my head.

Touching my fingers to alphabet keys also brings back another memory every time I touch them. In my freshman year of college I was taking a linguistics class where we had to memorize the phonetic symbols. I transcribed the "good boys" sentence into phonetic symbols figuring if it had most of the keys it would be an easy way to learn most of the symbols. To my surprise the final exam asked us to write out that “good boys” sentence in phonetic symbols. I aced the exam!

The fact that forty-plus years later the simple act of putting my fingers on a key pad brings back those memories is intriguing to me. Our minds are powerful and if instead of just letting things happen we recognize the power of the mind and memory we can make them work for us. Last week I wrote about Alma's sermon in which he encouraged the people to use the power to imagine. In that same sermon (Alma 5) he urges the people to also use the power to remember. But we don't have to wait for something to happen to us and then remember it. We can make associates with things we see each day so that every time we see that thing we remember what we have associated it with.

For example, I have a fan over my bed that has five blades. In symbology the number five represents the Atonement. Each morning as I wake up the first thing I see is that fan and I remember and give thanks for the Atonement. It is a magnificent way to start the day!

Create Your Day

This restful week is coming to an end, but I’ve got lots of beautiful memories now to get me through the busy weeks ahead. I was able to enjoy all of my favorite things—good food, bicycling on the old Union Pacific Rail Trail, walking at least three miles a day in the fresh mountain air, swimming and hot tubing at night, writing, reading, and good food. (Oh, I said that, but it’s worth saying again!) Now life moves on.

Fall semester starts on Monday, and I’ll be teaching five classes. It will be a busy semester, but I’m rested and ready now. And any time life gets hectic I can close my eyes and remember this feeling. I can bring it all back any time I need it. The power to remember is a beautiful gift that we all should use more. Store up the good memories, let go of the bad and then review those good memories any time you want.

Too often we do the opposite. We cling to the bad and forget the good. But when we realize it is a choice that we have power over, we can exercise that power and choose to savor the good. Try it right now. Close your eyes and think of a fantastic moment in your life. Let the good feelings fill you. Savor all the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures from that moment. Make it as real as possible and then come back to now. Feels good, doesn’t it! And you can do it any time you want to.

While it’s important to live in the present, every once in a while the present can be enhanced by remembering the good of the past!

The Power of Memory

One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is the story of Joseph. Wrongly abused, wrongly accused, and forsaken by those who should have loved him most, he faithfully makes the best of every situation and triumphs. I’ve often wondered what he did to survive.

The precious coat of many colors his father had given him was taken away when he was sold into bondage. Everything else was also taken from him. He was alone and destitute. But neither his brothers  or his captors could not take away his memories. Those memories had to be one of the major factors in his ability to stay true and faithful. 

Likewise we can use memories to fuel and help us in times of need. We can recall the sweetness of bygone moments, the warmth of relationships, the things that have been given to us by those we love, but especially we can savor the spiritual experiences that have enriched our lives.

Memory is a powerful tool if we use it to remember the good and not the bad. Dwelling on good memories creates more good. It fills our hearts with love and gratitude and joy and those three things can empower us to overcome the many obstacles that we encounter in our journey back to God.

Motivating Myself

Way back in the days of manual typewriters—before word processing and before electric typewriters—I learned to test out the touch of a typewriter by typing this sentence: “Now is the time for all good boys to come to the aid of their country.” Supposedly this sentence covers most of the keys on the typewriter so you can get the feel of it. To this day, every time I put my hands on a key pad those words go through my head.

Touching my fingers to alphabet keys also brings back another memory every time I touch them. In my freshman year of college I was taking a linguistics class where we had to memorize the phonetic symbols. I transcribed the "good boys" sentence into phonetic symbols figuring if it had most of the keys it would be an easy way to learn most of the symbols. To my surprise the final exam asked us to write out that “good boys” sentence in phonetic symbols. I aced the exam!

The fact that forty-plus years later the simple act of putting my fingers on a key pad brings back those memories is intriguing to me. Our minds are powerful and if instead of just letting things happen we recognize the power of the mind and memory we can make them work for us. We can purposely make associations that will constantly remind us of the things that will make us better, bring us closer to God, and help us remember His ways.

I’ve told you before that glancing at my side-by-side refrigerator reminds me that I am yoked side-by-side with Jesus Christ. I know that sounds a little strange, but it works to motivate and encourage me. And writing this has given me an idea I wish I'd thought of years ago. I'm going to change the “good boys” sentence into something meaningful for me so that every time I put my fingers on the keys I’ll think “Now is the time for me to be the best that I can be.”

Wow! That's a good one. Thanks for being out there so I could think this up to share with you!

The Power of Memory

In Alma’s great speech to the people of Zarahemla, one of the first things he asks is if they have “sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers?” He goes on to ask them if they have remembered God’s mercy and longsuffering toward them and how through the atonement Christ has delivered them from hell. He asks if they have remembered how the hearts of the people were changed and how they were freed from bondage.

This is one of the great powers of the mind that help us to use our agency correctly. If we use our minds to remember Christ and all the marvelous things He has done for us and our forefathers, it becomes very difficult to give into temptation. Learning these stories and then thinking about them often is empowering.

 I have many family stories I often recall about the hardships my ancestors endured so that I could be a member of Christ’s church. There are also a lot of Church history stories that are the heritage of all members of the Church.  I also have many experiences of the tender mercies of the Lord in my own life that I recall often to help me remember how much the Lord loves me and how He has helped me. But most of all, as Alma says, I am blessed by remembering the Atonement and what it means to me personally.

 If we constantly keep these things in our memory, we are fortified to make right choices and every time we make right choices our faith grows. Remembering the good and remembering Christ fortifies us. Memory, therefore, is a powerful tool that helps us draw closer to God.