Upwards and Onwards
Up.
Up is the word of progression, the word that shows things are moving along nicely. It's a simple two-letter word, but has a whole array of connotations. The notion of moving up creates a sense of advancement, a sense of becoming something new. Up is used in the common term "growing up."
All of us grow up a little bit from day to day and from year to year. It's difficult to see any progression from day to day, but as the days string together to form weeks and months we begin to inch a little taller and enrich our minds more and more. Just from looking at the past school year in comparison to this school year, I can see a change in myself from the quiet new kid to the rambunctious sophomore that I am. And starting off as the "quiet Mormon" and becoming a bit louder, people wonder if I'm being "corrupted?" But another friend pointed out, it's not corruption, it's just growing up.
As we grow up, we acquire new characteristics and skills. We clear out our old bad habits and less likable qualities to make room for the attributes we really want to hold. We learn to love more and live more. The key to life is progression. If you're not progressing because of fear of what lies ahead, then you are not living. Boyd K. Packer said that "Fear is the opposite of faith. We move forward, certain that the Lord will watch over us, particularly in the family." We must continues to progress in the right direction, certain in our ability to become better. As we progress, we need to consider what things in our life are valuable assets and what things are just extra baggage. We must keep important things like the gospel and our families, while shedding less important things like the constant status updating or tweeting that so many do today.
In our journey through each day, things seem to become harder. As we go on through school, more and more work amounts upon our shoulders. We go from learning our ABC's to writing multi-paged original research papers in only a matter of years. As a child, our curious minds craved over what it would be like to be a big kid, but now it seems like we all want the carefree life we once owned as a child. We all must make an active effort to grow up. Along with the subconscious adding of inches to our height comes the conscious decision every day to be better. We all need to wake up each day and determine that this day will be better than the last. Steve Jobs says that "for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?'" I extend the same question to all of us. Each day we need to keep growing up, and to keep getting better at what we do. We need to come closer to the Lord everyday and follow His teachings. We need to love our families a little bit more and be a little bit more kind. We need to grow up so that everyday is one that counts. Upwards and onwards on the path of truth.
Up is the word of progression, the word that shows things are moving along nicely. It's a simple two-letter word, but has a whole array of connotations. The notion of moving up creates a sense of advancement, a sense of becoming something new. Up is used in the common term "growing up."
All of us grow up a little bit from day to day and from year to year. It's difficult to see any progression from day to day, but as the days string together to form weeks and months we begin to inch a little taller and enrich our minds more and more. Just from looking at the past school year in comparison to this school year, I can see a change in myself from the quiet new kid to the rambunctious sophomore that I am. And starting off as the "quiet Mormon" and becoming a bit louder, people wonder if I'm being "corrupted?" But another friend pointed out, it's not corruption, it's just growing up.
As we grow up, we acquire new characteristics and skills. We clear out our old bad habits and less likable qualities to make room for the attributes we really want to hold. We learn to love more and live more. The key to life is progression. If you're not progressing because of fear of what lies ahead, then you are not living. Boyd K. Packer said that "Fear is the opposite of faith. We move forward, certain that the Lord will watch over us, particularly in the family." We must continues to progress in the right direction, certain in our ability to become better. As we progress, we need to consider what things in our life are valuable assets and what things are just extra baggage. We must keep important things like the gospel and our families, while shedding less important things like the constant status updating or tweeting that so many do today.
In our journey through each day, things seem to become harder. As we go on through school, more and more work amounts upon our shoulders. We go from learning our ABC's to writing multi-paged original research papers in only a matter of years. As a child, our curious minds craved over what it would be like to be a big kid, but now it seems like we all want the carefree life we once owned as a child. We all must make an active effort to grow up. Along with the subconscious adding of inches to our height comes the conscious decision every day to be better. We all need to wake up each day and determine that this day will be better than the last. Steve Jobs says that "for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?'" I extend the same question to all of us. Each day we need to keep growing up, and to keep getting better at what we do. We need to come closer to the Lord everyday and follow His teachings. We need to love our families a little bit more and be a little bit more kind. We need to grow up so that everyday is one that counts. Upwards and onwards on the path of truth.
Thank you.
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