I am sure I will be heavily criticized by some for this blog entry but I am willing to endure it (through the use of modern day medication). This is not the most positive of blogs we have written but I just need to finally say it.
I am the first one to admit that I have not exactly been the model of personal responsibility since moving to Michigan and that can be hard for me and others. In the past I have been the person who has had a lot of things on her plate and for the most part I have done them all fairly well. Since moving to Michigan and turning our lives upside down I am not quite the same person I used to be. One day at a time I am taking the steps to do better. I have to say though I don't think I have left anyone in a lurch by my not quite having it all together.
Since March I have thought often about responsibility and why some people think it is okay to do nothing. Why do some people when there are only three in a room not take responsibility to include everyone? Why do some people sleep walk through their calling? Do they realize what kind of impact they are having on the people they serve? Why do people not do their Home or Visiting Teaching? Some of us are lonely and just need a friend. Why do you invite people over for dinner and then just ignore them while they are there? If you are going to invite someone take responsibility and entertain them.
Mike cares deeply for the sheep he is over but it is horrible when he can't sleep at night with all of the problems that there are in the branch. Many of the problems stem from folks not being able to take responsibility for themselves, their families, their callings, and their personal relationships with others. For a while we thought it might be that we weren't unified as a branch, maybe it was even not having great communications among each of the auxiliaries. To me the bottom line is that we as a branch are not living our lives in accordance with the will of the Lord. If we each were reading the scriptures everyday, paying an honest tithe and fast offering, being worthy to attend the temple and attending, and keeping the commandments in the ways we should, all of this would not be happening. We would all be one, there would not be strife, and Mike would not be up in the night with worries over branch, family, and work issues.
I want to love living here. I am going to love it.
Even if what I love has nothing to do with the people but I finally become one with nature.
Below is a statement on hope that I find very uplifting. Hope will get me through this.
Dr. Oz on knowing Randy Pausch, "The biggest lesson of all for a lot of us who have gotten to know you Randy through your works and the great book is that hope is not about a good outcome. Hope is about making sense of what's going on in life."
3 comments:
This post reminds me of what I need to be doing!
Thanks!! :) I need that!
For me, a helpful perspective is to willingly believe that people are doing the best they possible can. It's about my perspective; it's about how I choose to approach others--it has nothing to do with others or their behaviors.
The Peacegiver, the Anatomy of Peace, Bonds that Make us Free--all great books that help flesh out a more constructive approach to human relations.
It is important to take things day by day. I have found over the last couple of years since my diagnosis that there are parts of our lives we have no control over...our trials, how people we care about live their lives, the choices others make, but what we can do is control how we deal with the individual circumstances.
I think it is great that you have given a reminder of taking responsibility because that is important. Thing is I believe most people are doing the best they know how to do with the circumstances they have.
Programs like Visiting and Home Teaching are there so that no one gets lonely, people who are going through trials (which we all have on some level) will have a resource for help, and more. The thing is there is only so much you can do to help someone else. You can pray for them, offer them assistance, etc. but if they are not open to it that is not failure on your part, or on the part of the branch. It just may be that they need some time.
I have found (granted I have not been around that long) that if someone knows the truth and wants a better life, sometimes it just takes a while, but eventually they will come around. Everyone has different trials in life and everyone moves at their own pace.
I know you and am sure you both are doing your very best! :)
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