We live in the, "On Demand" era where everything is at our fingertips with just a touch of a button or a couple of keystrokes. With it comes just the tiniest lack of patience...
How many people get sucked in by things that offer results FAST and drawn to various get rich quick schemes? Too many times its just because we naturally want to take the shortcut to get what we want even when there rarely IS no real shortcut. It needs be that lots of little pieces of work need to go in between our first setting out and the large hoped for end result. Confucius is credited with saying, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step".
A scripture in Alma 37:6-7 talks a little bit on this:
I first did this in basketball as I grew up, putting in little bits of work wherever I could to catch up with the people who were physically superior to me and more physically gifted. Little by little over the course of about four years, I started to make my mark and catch up with them. I really can't say that im ever going to be a really amazing player, but I can definitely be the best that I can be.
I have since been able to carry some of that over with my being on a mission. Every morning, we have a morning routeine that ends at 10:00 am when we go out to work. Before that time, we prepare for the day with our personal and companionship study. I recognize that there are way better missionaries out there, but whats most important is doing things so that I can become better by putting in little bits of consistent effort and work.
Elder Ballard gave an awesome talk for the May 1990 Ensign speaking on "Small and Simple Things", but his last talk in General Conference really caught me. It made me think about all the small and simple things that can be related to little flakes of gold like an old-tyme miner might look for, and how its not the giant nuggets that bring forth wealth so much as the dilligent and consistent treasuring up of tiny flakes.
Now as I go throughout my day, I've started looking for the, "flakes" that over time can add up to equal or outweigh a nugget. The small and simple things, the "here a little and there a little" of the world, are what amount to great things over the course of time.
How many people get sucked in by things that offer results FAST and drawn to various get rich quick schemes? Too many times its just because we naturally want to take the shortcut to get what we want even when there rarely IS no real shortcut. It needs be that lots of little pieces of work need to go in between our first setting out and the large hoped for end result. Confucius is credited with saying, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step".
A scripture in Alma 37:6-7 talks a little bit on this:
Behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.
And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.We all want big things in life, we all want to make big things happen, but if you don't make lots of little things happen you really are not going to get anywhere fast. I have found that there is a need to constantly and consistently build up small things to put together something greater.
I first did this in basketball as I grew up, putting in little bits of work wherever I could to catch up with the people who were physically superior to me and more physically gifted. Little by little over the course of about four years, I started to make my mark and catch up with them. I really can't say that im ever going to be a really amazing player, but I can definitely be the best that I can be.
 |
| Okay, So Maybe Not THAT Good... |
I have since been able to carry some of that over with my being on a mission. Every morning, we have a morning routeine that ends at 10:00 am when we go out to work. Before that time, we prepare for the day with our personal and companionship study. I recognize that there are way better missionaries out there, but whats most important is doing things so that I can become better by putting in little bits of consistent effort and work.
Elder Ballard gave an awesome talk for the May 1990 Ensign speaking on "Small and Simple Things", but his last talk in General Conference really caught me. It made me think about all the small and simple things that can be related to little flakes of gold like an old-tyme miner might look for, and how its not the giant nuggets that bring forth wealth so much as the dilligent and consistent treasuring up of tiny flakes.
Now as I go throughout my day, I've started looking for the, "flakes" that over time can add up to equal or outweigh a nugget. The small and simple things, the "here a little and there a little" of the world, are what amount to great things over the course of time.
No comments:
Post a Comment