The Strength to Endure.

Every morning when we wake up, we face a new day filled with the challenges of life. These challenges come in many forms: physical challenges, financial setbacks, difficulties with relationships, emotional trials, and even struggles with one’s faith.

Many of the challenges we face in life can be solved and overcome; however, others may be difficult to understand and impossible to overcome and will be with us until we pass on to the next life. As we temporarily endure the challenges we can solve and as we continue to endure the challenges we cannot solve, it is important to remember that the spiritual strength we develop will help us successfully endure all the challenges we face in life.

As an anonymous author once said, “You must become the rock the river cannot wash away.”

A few lessons from the TED.com talk I watched today http://www.ted.com/talks/diana_nyad_never_ever_give_up.html

1. If you have a dream – find a way!

2. Never ever give up.

3. You can chase your dream at any age.

64-year-old Diana Nyad, in her 5^th attempt, swam over 100 miles from Cuba to Key West, FL in 53 hours. It was not an individual accomplishment, but a team effort.

Goals. There's no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There's no telling what you can do when you believe in them. And there's no telling what will happen when you act upon them. - Jim Rohn

Do You Deserve Grace or Mercy?

Grace and Mercy are related in the fact that we don't deserve or 

earn Grace or Mercy. Grace means to receive a blessing you 

DON'T deserve, and Mercy means avoiding a punishment you 

DO deserve. So they are actually on different sides of the same 

doctrinal coin.

People are only difficult to the extent that you and I have not...

There is no such thing as a difficult person. We are talking about behaviors, not the person. 


People are only difficult to the extent that you and I have not developed the skills needed to deal with behaviors they bring to the table. 


One of the skills in dealing with those we deem "difficult" is meeting people where they are, getting on the same level as the person. Attempting to understand where they are coming from can go a long way. 


Gather more information before you judge, perspective is everything. Learning the skill of validation is an important lesson to learn in dealing with difficult people. Validation is allowing the other person to have their opinion and their emotions about a situation. 


-from Steven Eastmond (therapist specializing in individual, couple and family counseling)

The greatest need of a human being.

This is one of the greatest insights in the field of human motivation - satisfied needs do not motivate. It's only the unsatisfied need that motivates. Next to physical survival, the greatest need of a human being is psychological survival--to be understood, to be affirmed, to be validated, to be appreciated.

Judge Not.

"There is really no way we can know the heart, the intentions, or the circumstances of someone who might say or do something we find reason to criticize. Thus the commandment: 'Judge not.'" 

—Thomas S. Monson