In Review
I've always liked the idea of making resolutions at the beginning of each new year. Even though January 1st is essentially no different from any of the other 364 days on the calendar, it feels like a good time to start fresh and become a little bit better. For several years when I was younger, I would prepare an annual "time capsule" for my family, where we would reflect on the previous year and make a few resolutions for the next year. Because youth is usually marked by rapid change and growth (in schooling, extracurricular activities, etc.), it was always exciting to see the difference from one year to the next. In our time capsule, I would even include pages for each person to trace their foot. Of course, I was eager to see how much bigger my feet were after a whole year, but I now realize that it probably wasn't as interesting for my parents to trace their same-sized adult foot every twelve months.
Anyway, despite my now constant-sized feet, each year seems to bring with it considerable change, and I still think that it is beneficial for each of us to reflect on where we have been and where we are going. Last week I was talking with some friends about our resolutions from 2019, and frankly, I couldn't recall any specific goals I had set for the new year. At this time last year I was eagerly anticipating the experiences that I had already planned for the upcoming year. I was looking forward to traveling around Europe for a few weeks in May and seeing amazing attractions of history and culture. I hoped to have a great adventure in Austin, Texas, where I'd be spending the summer working as an intern at a robotics company. I expected to enjoy my classes, especially the Crocker Innovation Fellowship, and better define my career path. And I figured that there would be many other unanticipated events where I could meet new people and experience new things.
As is the case, some of my hopes going into 2019 turned into enjoyable experiences (Europe: 10/10, would recommend), and others led to real struggles. For instance, being in Austin was not the perfectly perfect experience that I hoped it would be. I enjoyed living there and did a lot of fun and great things, but it was also a time flecked with being way outside of my comfort zone and feeling loneliness and doubt. Being in a totally new environment without any familiar friends or family coupled with the looming decisions surrounding my future career and education were burdens that weren't always easy to bear. Even when I was back in the familiarity of Provo in the fall, I still carried a lot of uncertainty and worry. Many of you have had similar feelings, and I know that many of you have trials that are much more taxing. Certainly, I feel blessed in so many ways, and I am content with the path my life is on, but that doesn't mean it's always easy.
From my personal challenges, I have learned a few things, and I hope that you have learned from yours. In the past year, there were two inspiring messages that I returned to over and over again. The first is a video of a young woman who competed at the international level in synchronized swimming coming to terms with the fact that life wasn't perfect, and that she shouldn't expect it to be. To be clear, her story is not the same as my own, but some of the feelings she expressed really resonated with me. I find most inspiring her simple declaration that "I am good because I know God, I am good because I want God, and I am good because I believe in God. And that's enough." I watched this video many times during the summer, and that message stood out every time. Life rarely goes exactly according to our plans, but that's okay. If we know God and trust in God, we are doing enough. Sometimes just doing enough doesn't feel like enough, and we might feel that we are so far off from where we hope to be. But that's okay, we are enough. Each person has struggles and weaknesses, but God declares that "if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them" (Ether 12:27).
The second message I frequently turned to was a video in which Matthew O. Richardson recounts a time of doubt and discouragement. His opening words might as well be my own, as he says that "at the beginning of my senior year at BYU, I began worrying whether I was making the right decision about my future." While counseling with his wife, he decided that if anyone could help him figure things out, it must be the president of the university, which was Jeffrey R. Holland at the time. On a particularly rainy day, he had a chance encounter where President and Sister Holland offered him a ride home. While they talked, President Holland told Brother Richardson that his problem was that he didn't believe: not that he didn't have faith in God, but that he didn't believe that God would work His mighty miracles in his life like he would for others. "You gotta believe," President Holland counseled. Each one of us has to learn to trust in God and trust that He has a plan for us, we have to believe that through the ups and the downs He is leading us to great things, for if we are faithful, we can live in a "blessed and happy state" and be with God "in a state of never-ending happiness" (Mosiah 2:41). Often during the fall semester I came back to this video, and I hope and pray that I can see the hand of God and believe that He will work His miracles in my own life.
I hope that my 2019 experience helps you in some way, but really I hope that you look back at the 2019 chapter of your own life. As we begin 2020, I'm not sure what experiences I will have. I know I'll be in school until June, but after that life is pretty much a blank slate. Despite the uncertainty, I feel peace about where I am and where I am going. One of my goals this year is to come to know Christ better and to become more like Him. He invites us all to come unto Him:
Anyway, despite my now constant-sized feet, each year seems to bring with it considerable change, and I still think that it is beneficial for each of us to reflect on where we have been and where we are going. Last week I was talking with some friends about our resolutions from 2019, and frankly, I couldn't recall any specific goals I had set for the new year. At this time last year I was eagerly anticipating the experiences that I had already planned for the upcoming year. I was looking forward to traveling around Europe for a few weeks in May and seeing amazing attractions of history and culture. I hoped to have a great adventure in Austin, Texas, where I'd be spending the summer working as an intern at a robotics company. I expected to enjoy my classes, especially the Crocker Innovation Fellowship, and better define my career path. And I figured that there would be many other unanticipated events where I could meet new people and experience new things.
As is the case, some of my hopes going into 2019 turned into enjoyable experiences (Europe: 10/10, would recommend), and others led to real struggles. For instance, being in Austin was not the perfectly perfect experience that I hoped it would be. I enjoyed living there and did a lot of fun and great things, but it was also a time flecked with being way outside of my comfort zone and feeling loneliness and doubt. Being in a totally new environment without any familiar friends or family coupled with the looming decisions surrounding my future career and education were burdens that weren't always easy to bear. Even when I was back in the familiarity of Provo in the fall, I still carried a lot of uncertainty and worry. Many of you have had similar feelings, and I know that many of you have trials that are much more taxing. Certainly, I feel blessed in so many ways, and I am content with the path my life is on, but that doesn't mean it's always easy.
From my personal challenges, I have learned a few things, and I hope that you have learned from yours. In the past year, there were two inspiring messages that I returned to over and over again. The first is a video of a young woman who competed at the international level in synchronized swimming coming to terms with the fact that life wasn't perfect, and that she shouldn't expect it to be. To be clear, her story is not the same as my own, but some of the feelings she expressed really resonated with me. I find most inspiring her simple declaration that "I am good because I know God, I am good because I want God, and I am good because I believe in God. And that's enough." I watched this video many times during the summer, and that message stood out every time. Life rarely goes exactly according to our plans, but that's okay. If we know God and trust in God, we are doing enough. Sometimes just doing enough doesn't feel like enough, and we might feel that we are so far off from where we hope to be. But that's okay, we are enough. Each person has struggles and weaknesses, but God declares that "if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them" (Ether 12:27).
The second message I frequently turned to was a video in which Matthew O. Richardson recounts a time of doubt and discouragement. His opening words might as well be my own, as he says that "at the beginning of my senior year at BYU, I began worrying whether I was making the right decision about my future." While counseling with his wife, he decided that if anyone could help him figure things out, it must be the president of the university, which was Jeffrey R. Holland at the time. On a particularly rainy day, he had a chance encounter where President and Sister Holland offered him a ride home. While they talked, President Holland told Brother Richardson that his problem was that he didn't believe: not that he didn't have faith in God, but that he didn't believe that God would work His mighty miracles in his life like he would for others. "You gotta believe," President Holland counseled. Each one of us has to learn to trust in God and trust that He has a plan for us, we have to believe that through the ups and the downs He is leading us to great things, for if we are faithful, we can live in a "blessed and happy state" and be with God "in a state of never-ending happiness" (Mosiah 2:41). Often during the fall semester I came back to this video, and I hope and pray that I can see the hand of God and believe that He will work His miracles in my own life.
I hope that my 2019 experience helps you in some way, but really I hope that you look back at the 2019 chapter of your own life. As we begin 2020, I'm not sure what experiences I will have. I know I'll be in school until June, but after that life is pretty much a blank slate. Despite the uncertainty, I feel peace about where I am and where I am going. One of my goals this year is to come to know Christ better and to become more like Him. He invites us all to come unto Him:
"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.Take Christ's invitation, trust in God, and believe in His promises. Those are some of the messages that I am taking into 2020 thanks to the life that I lived in 2019. What have you learned, and what will you do differently this year?
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30
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