The Reflection in the Water

Please read this post. It is written by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf and is positively phenomenal for all. Yes. This one is specific to the CES young adults, but I bet, if you try, you can find some precious and eternal truths even if it does not directly apply to you.

 It is rather long, so plan accordingly. I promise it will help bring peace and healing to your soul.

Read it here

Some quotes I love:

But Shakespeare was wrong — "To be, or not to be" is not the question at all. There are other options beyond that simple contradiction. For my taste, I'd have Hamlet turn to the audience and say: "Knowing that I am a child of God, what need I do and be to live up to this potential? That is the question." Now, I understand that such an edit would hopelessly ruin one of the greatest literary masterpieces of all time. Nevertheless, if I were writing a script for you, that is how I would word it.

Discovering who we really are is part of this great adventure called life. Mankind's greatest minds have wrestled endlessly with these questions: Where did we come from? Why are we here? What happens after we die? And how does all this fit together — how does it make sense?

Once we begin to understand the answers to these questions — not with the mind only, but with the heart and the soul — we will begin to understand who we are, and we will feel like the wanderer who is finally finding home. We will feel like the young swan who has discovered at last who he really is. Everything finally makes sense.

The challenge is that the answers to these questions are simply beyond man's earthly capacity to logically determine. Questions that reach into spiritual things require spiritual answers. Those who reject revelation and insist on tangible evidence can only speculate or deny that there is life before or after this mortal sphere. Consequently, they may never understand who they really are or what true purpose life has.

Another error you might easily make in dating is expecting to find perfection in the person you are with. The truth is, the only perfect people you might know are those you don't know very well. Everyone has imperfections. Now, I'm not suggesting you lower your standards and marry someone with whom you can't be happy. But one of the things I've realized as I've matured in life is that if someone is willing to accept me — imperfect as I am — then I should be willing to be patient with others' imperfections as well. Since you won't find perfection in your partner, and your partner won't find it in you, your only chance at perfection is in creating perfection together.

There are those who do not marry because they feel a lack of "magic" in the relationship. By "magic" I assume they mean sparks of attraction. Falling in love is a wonderful feeling, and I would never counsel you to marry someone you do not love. Nevertheless — and here is another thing that is sometimes hard to accept — that magic sparkle needs continuous polishing. When the magic endures in a relationship, it's because the couple made it happen, not because it mystically appeared due to some cosmic force.

Remember that there is "a time to weep" but also "a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance." If your heart has been heavy for a while, perhaps it is time to allow the light of the Son of God into your heart. I plead with you — just look into the water and see your true reflection! Realize the purpose for which you were created! Lift your face toward the far horizon!

It is well for you to laugh! It is well for you to be happy! Lift up your voices and "praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving."

You don't need to wait for permission to fill your hearts with thanksgiving and happiness. You can do this nicely on your own. 

There will always be voices telling you that you are foolish to believe that you are swans, insisting you are but ugly ducklings and that you can't expect to become anything else.

But you know better. Because of the revealed word of a merciful God, you have seen your true reflection in the water and you have felt the eternal glory of that divine spirit within you. You are no ordinary beings, my beloved young friends all around the world. You are glorious and eternal.

No matter your circumstances or trials in life, I urge you to remember who you are, where you came from, and where you are going — for the answers to those questions will truly provide confidence and direction for your life.

Ok. That is all I am going to post on here. Choose to go read the rest of it. It's amazing.