It struck me this morning that a good life is a mental creation. A bad life is also a mental creation. Life gives us a jumbled mass of experiences and then we choose to see the parts as blessings or irritations.
As JonathaHaidt observed: Events in the world affect us only through our interpretations of them, so if we can control our interpretations, we can control our world.
This is surprisingly similar to God’s work. He takes a jumbled up mess of kids and makes us glorious by seeing and treating us that way.
Author: H. Wallace Goddard
Wally Goddard is a retired professor of Family Life having served in Arkansas and Alabama. He developed programs on personal well-being, marriage, and parenting. He is well known for his many creative family programs, including The Marriage Garden, The Parenting Journey, and Blueprint for Happiness. Wally has authored or co-authored several books including Between Parent and Child, The Soft-Spoken Parent, and Drawing Heaven into Your Marriage. He has been recognized by his colleagues with several awards including the Outstanding Family Life Educator Award. Wally and his wife, Nancy, have three adult children, fourteen grandchildren, and have cared for many foster children over the years. Wally describes Nancy as the finest human being he has ever known.
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I have long used the phrase, “it is what it is.” You’re right, a more correct statement would be, “it is what I perceive it to be.” But since my perceptions are wrong much of the time, I’m not too comfortable with that. The other day my wife asked me to abandon “it is what it is” in favor of, “come what may and love it.” That’s from Elder Wirthlin’s talk in conference. I like it and think it conforms to what you’re saying here.
Maybe this is what underlies Descartes’ statement, “I think, therefore I am”? [Having not read Descartes himself, I am shooting from the lip.]
Candleman, thank you for setting aside “it is what it is”; a couple of my girls use that phrase, and I stifle a shriek every time I hear it. May I give you a knitting ovation [a five double-pointed needle salute?] for choosing “come what may…”, instead?
I actually think this is what Elder Bednar was saying in HIS conference talk! He spoke about a spiritual and temporal creation of our day through our prayers, hopefully following our righteous intentions with our matching actions.
I’ve enlarged this creation concept in my mind to the way I want to live during the week, as a prelude to partaking of the Sacrament each Sabbath: create the kind of life each day (by continuing repentance and prayer, etc. as Elder Bednar teaches) that will lead me to the Sacrament table ready to complete my repentance, feel gratitude for His gift, and receive strength to keep going. Each day is a creation cycle and each week can be one too, and it looks like Br. Goddard is saying our whole life is also.
I’ve only thought of this during the last couple of weeks, but feel it is right and will help me. It already did yesterday!
Kristen,
I love the connection with Elder Bednar’s talk and the creation cycle!
Beautiful!
Thank you for the insights.
Wally