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My mother emailed the following quote a few minutes ago. I really like it, since it addresses not only one of our main missions here but also the fact that what we want to do (each of us here, not just the site) is not easy: Quote:Make it thy business to know thyself, which is the most difficult lesson in the world.
Whether God exists outside us or not, our belief that we are gods and children of God means, in a very practical way, that knowing and “sanctifying” ourselves is an important part of knowing God.
Thanks for sharing this Ray! It made me think of Shakespeare’s “To thine own self be true”. In life I strongly believe that humans need to be themselves and to be active in the pursuit of their own dreams.
I came across this thread today and felt like I should bump it up for new participants to read. I just spoke at a RS activity the other night. The topic they gave me was “How to be calm, cool, and collected.” I’m not sure what they were expecting, but I basically spoke about how the only way to live a relatively calm and peaceful life is to truly know and accept ourselves the way God made us and not worry so much about conforming to what outside influences(parents, friends, church, society, etc.) try to tell us we ‘should’ be. I got a bit personal and related my own experience of spending years trying to be what the church leaders and my in-laws wanted me to be and how I finally started to feel peace and happiness when I sought to understand myself and to act according to my individual values, desires, and needs. I finally let go of trying to be the epitome of young Mormon mommydom and began to be myself. Many of the women came up and thanked me afterward for being so honest and said I had given them lots to think about. Really knowing ourselves is difficult because we are ever changing and developing, but I’m finding it to be liberating and exciting process.
🙂 MayB wrote:I just spoke at a RS activity the other night. The topic they gave me was “How to be calm, cool, and collected.” I’m not sure what they were expecting, but I basically spoke about how the only way to live a relatively calm and peaceful life is to truly know and accept ourselves the way God made us and not worry so much about conforming to what outside influences(parents, friends, church, society, etc.) try to tell us we ‘should’ be. I got a bit personal and related my own experience of spending years trying to be what the church leaders and my in-laws wanted me to be and how I finally started to feel peace and happiness when I sought to understand myself and to act according to my individual values, desires, and needs. I finally let go of trying to be the epitome of young Mormon mommydom and began to be myself. Many of the women came up and thanked me afterward for being so honest and said I had given them lots to think about.
Really knowing ourselves is difficult because we are ever changing and developing, but I’m finding it to be liberating and exciting process.
🙂 It’s so refreshing to hear of you getting responses like that.
I think humility and sincerity is often met with welcome arms.
Yes, something that sounds more like a “confessional” generally is accepted, compared to something that is seen as a “broadside”. People feel empathy and concern for someone who is struggling but trying to “endure to the end”. They tend to get defensive if they feel they are being attacked.
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