The Good Life - Part 2: Why?

The scriptures have a lot of insights to offer when it comes to our reason for being here. If you read it very selectively a certain not so positive pattern emerges. Lets look at a few passages. In the Book of Abraham the Lord said this during a revelation where Abraham was allowed to see us in the preexistence:

...and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all the things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them. (Abraham 3:25)

To Moses he stated his whole reason for everything he does:

For behold, this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (Moses 1:39)

Over and over the scriptures speak of the importance of obedience, the seriousness of our eternal destiny's, the fate of the unfaithful and so on. We learn that life is a test to be endured. Phrases like: "Endure to the end" and "Return with honour" can get a pretty grim meaning when the gospel is being seen through this lens. Thats why we need to point out a few nuggets in the scriptures that help us put all of this into perspective. When John the Beloved wanted to sum up what the gospel was all about he said this:

For God so loved the world , that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

This puts it all in different perspective. God is not just a demanding perfectionist that wants us to be perfect and forces us to live dull dreary lives to get there. He actually loves us. Every command, every experience, every event we go through is given us out of love. Now thats something to think about next time we feel like complaining about something.
But what about the dull dreariness? Is life really supposed to be a series of trials and misfortunes and is any kind of relaxation and happiness or fun a sin? Perhaps Lehi said it best when he told his son that:

Adam fell that men might be. And men are that they might have joy. (2 Ne 2:25)

What do we learn from this? The part that will stand out the most is that we exist to have joy. What about the obedience and the trials? Weren't we supposed to endure life in order to get our reward in the hereafter? Well obviously that wasn't our fathers plan. He in fact intended that we be happy. That we have joy.

But that only comes if we are perfect right? Wrong! Notice how it states that Adam fell? And yet in the same verse he states that we can have joy. And this is the miracle of the plan. No matter the trials we go through. No matter how low we sink in life, his hand is always stretched out. He is always there, ready to take us by the hand, to bring us through the hard times and show us how to find joy and happiness in life.

I think this is enough for today. In my next entry I will answer the question "When?" Until then, May you find joy in the journey!

Phoenix rising

It is with some embarrassment that I once again write here. Looking at my blog I realise that a month and a half has passed since I last wrote anything. Well, lots have happened since last time. There have been ups and downs. Moments of happiness and moments of sorrow. Helping hands and bumpy roads... In short, it hasn't been that much different from what you have experienced yourself these last six weeks.

So how is the war going then? I hear you wonder. Well, I'd be lying if I said it is going great. I seem to have entirely dropped most of the good habits I have developed. I've found myself drifting back to entertainment as a form of escape rather than relaxation, and my sleeping patterns are suffering accordingly. Some people would think that this was it. I couldn't do it. It doesn't work. Man can't change his destiny. We are doomed to be the way we are for the rest of our lives.

Well I wont stand for it! I will show myself and the world that no matter how many times you fall or the depth to which you have fallen you can rise again. Infact the falling is insignificant. What is significant is the fact that you rise again.

I like the legend of the Phoenix. It has a lot of parallels to us as humans. The Phoenix is eternal yet it dies. But every time it dies, consumed in a flame, it is reborn. From the ashes of its former life it rises to a new life. Just like the Phoenix we are eternal, and yet we are born and die. But when we die we will rise again. From the ashes of our former bodies and lives we rise to live eternally. And so it is with every experience. Every time we fall we rise again. Like the Phoenix we can rise to a new life, drawing on our experience of the past yet untainted by our former sins and mistakes, leaving them behind in the ashes of our past.

Lets not forget what makes this possible though. Lets not forget the sacrifice that was made, the price that was paid. In fact this is the most amazing thing in the whole atonement. Christ didn't wonder if we would accept his sacrifice. He didn't look into the future to determine who would accept him to then only pay the price for their sins (allthough this was surely in his power.) Instead he willingly paid for all of us. Even if we never turn to him he has paid the price! He has left the prison doors wide open and are waiting for us to step outside. Do we have the courage to do it?
Do we have the courage to rise again? To try one more time? To trust in his mercy? Well I do. And with his help I will rise again like the Phoenix from the ashes to a new life. Will it be hard? Definitely! Will I fall again? Absolutely, but I know that he is there to catch me, to take me by the hand and lift me again. And as long as I keep taking his hand he will keep lifting me, until the day comes that I stand before him.

But that day is far in the future. This day is now, and it is time for this phoenix to fly. Until next time, fare well.

The war: Return to flight

About two weeks ago I told you that I had to start thinking about my 50000ft level visions and goals. I will here try to explain what that is. I was recently introduced to something called "the 6 level life planning model." The basic idea is that everything we do is based on the longterm plans and the image of ourself that we have. It's about the broader perspective. So in order to really come to terms with it one can divide it up in different "levels." The analogy that explains it the best is the one that was used to explain it to me: The airplane analogy.

Here are the six levels and what they represent:

• 50000ft: Life
• 40000ft: 3- to 5- year visions
• 30000ft: 1- to 2- year goals
• 20000ft: Areas of responsibility
• 10000ft: Current projects
• Runway: Current actions

Life
Who am I? Why am I here? What do I have to accomplish? Where am I going? These are all questions that need to be answered on this level. They determine more than we think about whether we are happy or not. If my current job does not match my idea of who I am then I should probably start looking for alternatives. If a project I'm working on goes against the basic values I live by then I should consider leaving it. What education is best in line with what I believe to be true about my purpose on this planet?

There situations will be more or less impossible to decide on if we haven't clearly defined these things. And don't think that just because you are a member of the church and have been spoon fed the answers to these questions since birth, that you are safe. General answers are good but they don't answer the question of what YOU, insert-own-name-here, are doing on this planet. They give pointers but the rest is for you to find out/decide.

3- to 5- year visions
What will my life be like in 5 years? Will I be in school? working? Married? Have children? Live in a foreign country? Be in the army? Decide what your vision of the future is. What will you have accomplished? Where will you have lived, what jobs will you have had? You get the idea.

1- to 2- year goals
This level blends together with the one above it in many cases and is very similar. The exception is that the goals and visions laid out here tend to be a little clearer and more defined since the outcomes are closer in time.

Areas of responsibility
What "hats" do you wear? What roles do you have in your society? What responsibilities do you have in your job? Are you a student? A parent? Do you have responsibilities in your Church? Club? Your kids sports team? etc. The list can be made long. By defining all you roles you get a clearer picture of what your life actually consists of and it gives you a chance to decide what roles are consistent with the higher levels of you life planning.

Current projects
This is where it gets easy. What projects are you working on right now? Planning trips, looking for a new couch, writing a thesis and planning a major project at work, all go into this category. This is where it starts getting "hands on" and you feel like you can work with things in a more frequent level then the higher levels of planning.

Current actions
This is where we spend most of our time. This is where we actually do stuff. Everything from taking the trash out to sending in your tax-declaration to proposing to that special someone takes place here.


The airplane analogy is an incredibly apt one for this. If the runway is all cluttered up with trash (Stuff in our lives that hasn't been properly taken care of) its impossible to take of with our plane and go to the higher levels. And at the same time we might, once we make it to the higher levels, realize that a lot of the actions we are doing on the runway level are actually part of projects that don't fit into our life plans. So while we need to spend most of our time taking care of everything on the runway level we definitely need to make frequent trips to the higher altitudes to assess where we are in the bigger picture. Here we can add and remove projects and areas of responsibility based on our life- and 1-5 year- goals as well as adjusting our goals according to our perception of our direction in life.


I myself haven't been terribly good at this but I have started looking at the higher levels. The last week however my runway had a bad case of being cluttered so the last few days have been spent on clearing the way. Now I once again feel I can have a look at those higher levels again.

I'm signing of for tonight but will be back soon with more. Dont forget to check out my new miniseries "the Good life".