its fascinating to me how the meaning of words you have read over and over
can take on new meaning in different stages of your life
two words
two words i have read in scripture a myriad of times seemed to be a direct message from Heavenly Father to me this week
seek learning
{Doctrine and Covenants 88:118}seek learning
do we seek out opportunities to learn
do we pursue, search to find, look hard
do we want to become more
i have been feeling propelled into learning right now
because of the needs I was asking the Lord to help fulfill,
he answered them in the form of opportunities
many opportunities
i didn't know what form they would come in
they weren't just handed to me
they have come through a series of testing and moving forward
and they have come
in forms i never would have imagined
and with this help comes an extraordinary amount of learning
learning to balance
learning to preservere
learning to have faith
learning to have confidence in what i know
learning to trust
so whether i think so or not, i did seek after learning, i just didn't realize it then
but now that i have been propelled into learning and have these tremendous opportunities to grow
am i going to seek learning within them
am i going to just endure through them putting one step in front of the other
or am i going to raise my head and look around at all the things i can gather along my trail
an apple from the tree
a pinecone off the ground
a dandelion to scatter its seeds in the wind
seeking to learn from these new opportunities, these answers to my prayer
requires work, effort, stretching, opening my eyes a little bit wider, reaching out a little bit further
from the conference i attended last weekend and mentioned here in this post
i was able to listen to an extremely gifted man, David Byrd
listening to this man for just a few hours
i was able to discover things about myself that i have been trying to put a finger on for years
he helped me to examine my reasoning behind patterns in lack of motivation
i will attempt to explain it in the way he did
he asked, why do you think we have a problem with consistency and sustainability?
because we all have natural human instincts created to keep us safe, for self-preservation
we feel heat we pull our hand back
this serves a very good purpose however
we have become so instinctive that if we don't know anything different or haven't learned another way, we can live simply instinctively
misinterpreting change as a threat
and sameness as security
we instinctively develop a reactive response to life
holding onto old habits, comfort zones, unproductive behaviors, harmful addictions, false assumptions, and 'life as it has always been'
regardless of whether all those things are moving us forward or not
he believes that we were not created to live instinctively
but to live above natural instincts
above the natural man
we were designed to grow from the next level to the next level through two gifts we were given
imagination and
the power of choice
he drew this chart with 3 parallel horizontal lines
at the bottom, failure
middle, survival
top, success
then he drew bell curves that started from the bottom, peaked just above the survival line, and then head back on down
this represented the curves of living in our lives
some of us manage events in our lives until we get just a little bit about the survival line, endure and resolve the situation, then settle right back down into what was comfortable before
oh my word that completely opened my eyes
i do this
i interpret change as a threat instead of an opportunity
i press forward to pass through something difficult
i endure and the situation always is resolved
and then sadly i can see myself sinking back down into what was comfortable before the growth took place
now i cannot say that i do not learn and grow
to say that i am not forever affected by my experiences would be discounting the effects of my Savior on me, and that is not what i am sharing
what i am sharing is that my first reaction to change continues to be threat and fear
with instinctual habits of resistance to permanent change
simply knowing why i do this has given me such freedom and so much hope
its not that i know the complete answer to conquer this dilemma yet
its that there is understanding behind my actions
and that gives me hope
there is hope
proactive thinking and action, based on dreams and goals
most effectively propelled by faith
{proactive thinking like the insight i shared in this post}
managing the quality of your choices
learning how to be more effective in your life
planning to grow
seeking to learn
oh there is so much more i could share
but i want you to know that there are people and tools out there to help each of us to grow
we must seek learning
look for the key lessons you are intended to discover as you pass through difficulties
keep your eyes open for them, looking up and around
instead of the ground passing beneath you and the rocks you stumble over
change is possible
i can feel it
i can see it
has there been a time in your life when you resisted change?
were you able to recognize growth in the difficulty?
have you been able to continue to grow?
would love to hear your life insights
photo source: HUEphotography
