A Time for
Planting
W. Steve Albrecht
Brigham
Young University–Idaho Devotional
April 5,
2005
Good afternoon. I am very pleased
and excited to be here today. This school is a major part of my life. Years
ago, my wife, LeAnn, then a new convert to the church from Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, came to what was Ricks College to attend school. She had only been a
member of the church for a few months and it was at this school that she formed
her first knowledge and testimony of the Gospel. She can still recall those
professors who made indelible impressions on her. While she was a student, she
served as Vice President of Activities and was involved in the program bureau
as a baton twirler. Now, LeAnn and I are the parents of 5 boys and 1 girl.
While our daughter is leaving in a month for a mission to Switzerland, each of
our five sons has already served and is now married. And guess what. All five
of their wives are graduates from this school. So, even though I went to
BYU-Provo as an undergraduate, every time we get together as a family, all the
girls in our family talk about their fond memories in Rexburg. And, to top that
off, our son was a quarterback on what was the Ricks College Football team
about 10 years ago. You see, our family just can’t get enough of this
outstanding school.
As was noted in my introduction, I have now
been teaching for over 30 years at three major universities. During that
period, there have been several hundred instances where young men and women
have come to me seeking advice about careers, job opportunities, graduate
school, marriage and other major decisions. In each case, I have tried to give
the best, Gospel-based counsel I could. For my few minutes today, I’d like to
assume that you are a student who has come asking for advice. In our own way,
I’d like to think of this presentation today as a one-on-one conversation with
you, hopefully providing some practical guidance that will be helpful as you
make major decisions in your lives.
The Bible states that there is a time and
season for everything. In Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 it states: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the
heaven; A time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to
pluck up that which is planted.” Right now, most of you are fully engaged
in preparing for your future—you are in the planting stage of your lives. This
is a very important time of your life. In fact, much of the happiness or sorrow
and the success or failure you will experience throughout your life will be a
result of the preparation and planting you do now and the options and
opportunities you create for yourself while you are in this planting stage. You
will reap only what you sow and so your goal should be to plant the best crops
possible and to create as many opportunities as you can for yourself.
I am a great believer that we can have much
more success and happiness if we have more opportunities or choices or more of
what I call options. People without options have no freedom. I personally
believe that Heavenly Father wants us to use this planting stage to create as
many and the best options we can for us and our future families.
Let’s talk about what an option
is for a moment. Webster defines an option as a choice; the power, right or
liberty of choosing; something that is or can be chosen; and the right,
acquired for a consideration, to buy or sell something at a fixed price within
a specific time. I’m sure you’ve all heard of stock options or the option to
purchase a piece of land. A stock option is the right to buy a share of stock
at a specific price. For example, if you hold the option to buy a share of
stock at $5 and the market price rises to $15, you can buy the stock for $5 and
immediately sell the stock for $15 on the same day, making $10 per share.
We know that one of the reasons Heavenly
Father sent us to this earth was to see if we could make good choices. This
life is a testing ground. A pre-requisite to making good choices is having
alternatives from which to choose. In fact, it is the ability to make choices
that gives us freedom. A very important success and happiness strategy in this
fast-changing world is to do everything possible to maximize your options and
choices and, hence, freedom.
While we live in a free country and have few,
if any, externally or politically imposed constraints, many of us lose or limit
our freedom by the actions we take and by the choices we make or fail to make.
When the future is uncertain, as it is today, it pays to have a broad range of
options available. Option theory rewards flexibility. In fact, your future
successes and failures will largely depend on what options you provide for
yourself while in this planting stage of your life.
Let me give you a simple, but obvious example.
Assume that two young women start BYU-Idaho on the same day. During their first
three years, one studies harder than the other and earns a 3.6 cumulative GPA.
The other, either explicitly or by default decides that school is a time for
play as well as studying and does not work as hard as her friend. As a result,
after 3 years of college, her cumulative GPA is 2.8. During their junior year,
the two young women decide that they will apply to graduate school. Upon
getting the applications, they realize that the minimum GPA for applying is a
3.0. Unfortunately, only one of the two young women can even apply. Because of
her 2.8 GPA, the second young woman has lost an option.
It is the same with life. In a
rapidly-changing world, you should create and keep open as many options as you
can so you will be nimble and can move quickly and take advantage of these
options. As long as you keep your options open, you have more choices and
freedom and will be more successful and happy in the future. There are several
things you can do to maximize your options and keep yourself nimble and ready
to act. Today, I would like to talk about eight. Hopefully, our discussion of
these option-granting ideas will constitute practical advice that will bring
you greater happiness in the future.
Option producing strategy #1: Do everything
you can to build a good reputation.
People with tarnished reputations,
lose options in life. Sometimes this loss of options occurs at work and
sometimes it happens at home. Let me give you a couple of examples. In the
play, “All My Sons” written by Arthur Miller, there is a place where a son sees
his father cheating in the business world. Up until then, his dad has been his
hero. When he confronts his dad, his father says, “Son, everybody does it. You
have to cheat to be successful.” The son replies, “I know dad, but I thought
you were better than everyone else.” This father just lost options with his
son. In another example, I am aware of a woman who worked for a corporation for
37 years. We believe she was honest for the first 34. During her last three
years, she started embezzling and eventually stole $686,000. When caught, the
company took her home, her cars, her retirement account and most of her other
assets. Through seizing all these assets, the company recovered about $400,000.
She lost her reputation for honesty and the respect of her friends and was
sentenced to serve one year in a federal prison. She is now out of prison but
must make monthly restitution payments of $333 per month to the company. If she
misses one payment, she violates her parole and goes back to jail. In other
words, she must spend the rest of her life either working or in jail. She has
lost options. And, to make matters worse, since stolen money is taxable in the
U.S., the IRS came after her and told her that she had $686,000 of income she
didn’t report on her tax return. When she finished negotiating with the IRS,
they called the $400,000 she repaid the company a loan but assessed taxes on
the $286,000 she will never repay (at $333 per month, she’s not even paying the
interest) With fines, penalties and interest, she owes the IRS over $200,000 and
has entered in an agreement to make tax payments to the IRS of $540 every
month. She is a now a convicted felon who works in a fast-food restaurant at
close to minimum wage. She is 70 years old and has no home or other assets.
This lady has lost not only her reputation, but the freedom to live where she
wants, work where she wants, buy what she wants, travel where she wants, and
even marry who she wants because her husband divorced her. You will have many
more options in the future if you build a good reputation and name. As it says
in Ecclesiastes 7:1 “A good name is
better than precious ointment.”
So how do you gain a
good reputation? I believe there are three keys, all of which we learn about in
the temple: (1) have integrity in all we do; in other words, be honest, (2) be
a finisher, and (3) return and report. We have already discussed the role of
integrity—the lady who stole money lost her reputation because of her
dishonesty.
Let’s now discuss being a finisher. Throughout
our lives, each of us will be given stewardship assignments. We will be
stewards in our jobs, in our homes, in our wards and stakes, as students and in
many other settings. As stewards, we are the ones who have taken on or been
given assignments—to be a father or mother, to be an employee, to be a Bishop
or Relief Society President, etc. We have been called, selected, applied for or
have been given assignments. We know what is expected and we have made
commitments about how we will perform. Our reputation will largely be
determined by how we perform in those responsibilities. I believe we have two
responsibilities: (1) to be a finisher and get the job done (whatever the
assignment) and (2) to return and report. Let me illustrate the finisher
concept by using a story that President Monson tells often. This is a story he
first told in 1972 (Ensign, July 1972.)
On sunlit days during the noon hour, the streets of Salt Lake City
abound with men and women who for a moment leave the confines of the tall
office buildings and engage in that universal delight called window shopping.
On occasion, I, too, am a participant. On Wednesday, I paused before the
elegant show window of a prestigious furniture store. That which caught and
held my attention was not the beautifully designed sofa nor the
comfortable-appearing chair that stood at its side. Neither was it the beautiful
chandelier positioned overhead. Rather, my eyes rested upon a small sign that
had been placed at the bottom righthand corner of the window. Its message was
brief: “Finishers Wanted.” The store had need of those persons who possessed
the talent and the skill to make ready for the final sale the expensive
furniture that the firm manufactured and sold. Finishers wanted. The words
remained with me as I returned to the pressing activities of the day. In life,
as in business, there has always been a need for those persons who could be
called finishers. Their ranks are few, their opportunities many, their
contributions great.
It was Napleon Hill who said: “There is always
room for those who can be relied upon to deliver the goods when they say they
will.”
In my positions as a dean and stake president,
I often make assignments—assignments to serve on committees, to fulfill
assignments, to complete research, and to teach classes. There are some people
I ask often and others I never ask, especially when I need a job done well. I
absolutely hate it when I get no response or feedback and I have to search to
find out what has been done. I will pay a lot of money for someone who will
complete a job; I will pay even more for someone who will complete the job and
return and report.
In most cases, living the Gospel, being a
parent or employee and completing stewardship assignments is not a team sport.
It is very different from basketball or baseball. Rather, it is like wrestling.
We are on our own (with limited help from others.) We pray alone. We plan
alone. We often work alone. And, we, alone, decide whether to be a finisher and
whether or not to return and report.
From the very beginning of our lives, a
fundamental question remains to be answered by each of us who runs the race of
life. That question is: “shall I falter or shall I finish.” On the answer to
that question await the blessings of joy and happiness here in mortality and
eternal life in the world to come. Let’s look at some examples of finishers and
non-finishers from the scriptures.
David was not a finisher. He rode the crest of
popularity. He slew the giant. As he achieved fresh victories, the women
greeted him with a new song: “Saul hath
slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7). Power he
won; peace he lost. It happened one evening when David was walking upon the
roof of the king’s house that he saw from the roof a woman bathing, and the
woman was very beautiful. “And David sent
and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba,…the wife of
Uriah the Hittite?” So “David sent
messengers, and took her” (2 Samuel 11:3-4). The gross sin of adultery was
followed by yet another: “…Set ye Uriah
in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be
smitten, and die” (2 Sam. 11:15). Lust and power had triumphed. David
commenced well the race, then faltered and failed to finish his course.
Another non-finisher was Judas Iscariot. He
commenced his ministry as an apostle of the Lord. He ended it a traitor. For
thirty paltry pieces of silver, he sold his soul. At last, realizing the
enormity of his sin, Judas, to the patrons and tempters of his crime, shrieked:
“I have sinned in that I have betrayed
innocent blood” (Mathew 27:4). He then threw down the pieces of silver and
went and hanged himself.
A finisher was Job.
Pious in his conduct, prosperous in his fortune, Job was to face a series of
tests that would tempt any man. Shorn of his possessions, scorned by his
friends, afflicted by his suffering, and even tempted by his wife, Job was to
declare from the depths of his noble soul:
“…behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high” (Job 16:19); “…I know that my redeemer liveth…” (Job
19:25) Job did not falter; he became a finisher.
Paul was also a finisher. Some of his last
words were “I have fought a good fight, I
have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).
And, the greatest
finisher of all was Jesus Christ. While the task was almost impossible, he
followed through to the bitter end. He said something to the effect of “Father,
if it be possible let this cup pass from me. However, not my will, but thy will
be done.” Think how our lives would be different if Jesus hadn’t been a
finisher.
So, the most important thing you can do is be
a finisher. Here’s a poem about finishers—the author is unknown:
i.Stick to your task, til it sticks to you; ii.Beginners are many, but enders are few. iii.Honor, power, place and praise iv.Will always come to the one who stays
v.Stick to your task til it sticks to you vi.Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it, too; vii.For out
of the bend and the sweat and the smile viii.Will
come life’s victories after a while.
Author Unknown
Another important element in building a good
reputation is to learn to return and report. Remember, no assignment is
complete until you have reported. Think how great it would be if you could
teach your children to report back. I have tried hard as a parent to teach my
children that the last step in any assignment is to report back. If I have them
deliver something, they report back. If I assign them to mow the lawn, they
must report back. Learning to report back is a great skill that is highly
valued in the business world. If there is one thing you learn today, please
commit that whatever you are asked to do, you report back to the person who
issued the assignment. As home and visiting teachers, you should not only visit
but report back. Your
leaders shouldn’t have to call you to see if you’ve
completed your assignment. The temple provides a great example of the power and
necessity of reporting back.
I’m sure you have heard the phrase, “if you
want something done, give it to the busiest person you know.” Nothing could be
truer and the reputation that busy person has earned him- or herself will
create tremendous options for him or her during his or her life.
So the first option-granting strategy is to do
everything possible to earn and keep a good reputation.
Option producing strategy #2: Get as
Much Education and Learning as You Can
A second option- and
freedom-maximizing strategy is to get as much education and learning as
possible. You must become life-long learners if you are going to succeed in the
future. With the fast-paced changes we are experiencing, the content knowledge
you acquire in college probably won’t be relevant very long. You must get as
much education and learning as you can throughout your life. Consider the
following quote by Brigham Young: “We
might ask, when shall we cease to learn? I will give you my opinion about it;
never, never......We shall never cease to learn, unless we apostatize from the
religion of Jesus Christ” (Brigham Young, JD 3:203).
Personally, I am a Certified Public Accountant
or CPA. When I graduated from BYU with a bachelors degree and sat for the CPA
Examination in 1971, there were only 15 professional standards that I had to
learn to prepare for the exam. Today, most of these standards have been
superseded and aren’t relevant anymore. In addition, we now have almost that
many new standards being issued every year. The accounting profession, like all
other professions, has had to change and become more dynamic to keep up with
faced-paced changes in business and the world. If I had to rely on what I
learned at BYU to practice as a CPA today, I would be sued for malpractice.
Indeed, the purpose of college is not to learn facts, but to learn how to
learn.
The
first presidency recognized the value of education in creating options. In the
For the Strength of Youth pamphlet, the first presidency state: “Education will help you to better provide
for yourself, your loved ones, and those in need…You live in a competitive
world where a good education opens the doors of opportunity (another way to
say creates options) that may otherwise
be closed to you.”
To help you understand the value of an
education in monetary terms, consider the following census statistics from the
year 2003:
Median Earnings Unemployment
Rate Education
Attained
$20,592 8.8% Some
high school, no diploma
$28,808 5.5% High
school graduate
$32,344 5.2% Some
college, no degree
$34,944 4.0% Associate
degree
$46,800 3.3% Bachelor’s
degree
$55,328 2.9% Master’s
degree
$67,964 1.7% Professional
degree
$70,148 2.1% Doctoral
degree
Option producing strategy #3: Maintain
Good Health
The third option-maximizing strategy is to maintain good
health. When you lose your health or you become addicted to harmful substances
or habits, you lose freedom. Personally, I am not quite as fit as I would like
to be. I exercise regularly but have trouble watching what I eat. As a result,
I have lost some options that others have. I remember one day riding
motorcycles with my boys on the Boulder Mountain in Southern Utah. We were
riding up a very rough and steep trail. Because they were all young and
physically fit, all four of my older boys cruised right to the top on their
motorcycles. I tried to follow them and tipped over. I tried again and tipped
over a second time. After the third attempt and crash, I laid the bike down,
hiked to the top and told my sons to go back down and bring my bike up for me.
Because I wasn’t as physically fit as them, I had lost an option. Section 89
contains a promise about these health options if we live according to the Word
of Wisdom:
And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings
(meaning maintaining good health and following the word of wisdom), walking in
obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow
to their bones.
And shall find wisdom and great treasures of
knowledge, even hidden treasures;
And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk
and not faint (In other words, you will have more options) (Doctrine Covenants
89:18-20).
I recently listened to a very successful, retired corporate
executive talk about lessons he had learned in his life. He said that he
believed the four most important things we can do are:
1. Take
care of our health
2. Take
care of our family
3. Surround
ourselves with good people
4.
Don’t take ourselves too seriously
Option producing strategy #4: Preserve
Your Financial Freedom
A fourth way to maximize your
options is to preserve your financial freedom. We now live in a world where
everyone borrows–in fact, in the U.S., for every net saver, there are
approximately 19 net borrowers. After graduating (and probably even now),
almost every day in the mail, you will get solicitations from finance and other
companies wanting to extend credit to you. They will use glowing terms and
phrases about giving you financial freedom but what they really want is for you
to enter into financial bondage to them. When you take upon yourself debt, you
lose freedom and options and the ability to act quickly and independently because
someone else tells you how to spend your money. If you are burdened with too
much debt, you may not be able to change jobs, move, make an investment you
should, or even to serve when called upon by the church. Debt is probably okay
for your education, buying a home, buying a first car for work, or making
investments in such things as real estate. But, debt is not okay for most other
things. Let’s consider even school debt for a minute. When you get loans, you
don’t pay taxes on them. So, when you pay them back, you don’t get a tax
deduction. This means that if you make $50,000 per year after you graduate, you
will be taxed on the full amount you make but will have far less cash because
you will be repaying non-deductible loans. As a result, you should try to
minimize the amount of school debt you must use and work wherever possible.
Credit card debts are even worse than school
loans. They carry higher interest rates and using them to spend money defers
the agony of having debt. They almost give you the feeling that you can have
something for nothing. Let me give you an example of the perils of credit card
debt. Let’s assume you have a credit card balance of $2,400 and an interest
rate of 19.8% If you pay the minimum suggested monthly payment of $48 (65% of all
people pay the minimum payment), it would take 43.6 years to pay the debt off.
If you skip December/Christmas payment (an allowable gift from Master Card), it
will take you 85.2 years to pay the debt off. My counsel to you is to avoid
credit card debt wherever possible and if you do have credit card debt pay it
off as soon as possible.
If you want to be happy and successful in the
future, work hard to maintain your financial freedom. There is something very
comforting—even spiritual—about living well within your means. Many scriptures
warn us that debt takes away our freedom. Consider Proverbs 22:7 for example, “the rich ruleth over the poor and the
borrower is servant to the lender.”
Option producing strategy #5: Stay Free
from Guilt and Live so the Spirit is Your Constant Companion
A fifth option-maximizing
strategy is staying free from guilt, maintaining a clear conscience and living
your life so the Spirit is your constant companion. It is impossible to feel
guilty and be happy. I remember a number of years ago, one of our children was
shooting his bow and arrow in the back yard. As parents, we had told him
several times not to get his bow and arrow out unless we were in the mountains,
especially when we were not at home. He had some friends and a younger brother
with him and they started messing around. He got his fancy new bow out. He
thought he was aiming at the target, but instead, he shot the arrow over our
fence, across the road and right through our neighbor’s new garage door. This
happened early in the day. He asked his friends and brother not to say anything
about what happened. He lived with the guilt until about 10:00 p.m. that night
when he could no longer stand it. Finally, he came into our bedroom crying and
admitted what he had done. I immediately got out of bed and got dressed and,
hand-in-hand, we went to the neighbor’s home and he told him what he had done
and we offered to pay for a new garage door, which we did. While our son still
felt badly about doing something he was told not to do, he was a lot happier
facing the consequences of his actions because he didn’t have to harbor that
guilt and know that until he told his parents and the neighbor, inside himself,
he was a liar with a guilty conscience and he had even made his younger brother
and friends be dishonest too. I personally don’t believe you can ever reach
your potential, have freedom of peace of mind, or be happy if you are harboring
guilt. The scriptures make it clear that we cannot live in sin and be happy.
A person I highly
respect once stated that for someone to be happy, they must have the following
three things:
1. A
clear conscience
2. Someone
to love
3.
Work to do
Let’s talk about having the
Spirit as your constant companion. How many of you are returned missionaries?
How many of you loved your missions? How many of you thought your missions were
hard? Isn’t it amazing that we all loved our missions but they were hard and,
as a matter of fact, we were doing things like going door to door that we
wouldn’t want to do the rest of our lives? I believe there is a reason we all
loved our mission and I don’t believe many missionaries understand why. I
believe that for 2 years or 18 months or however long we served, we had the
Spirit with us on a daily basis. And, I believe two things happen when we have
the Spirit in our lives. First, we are happy. I don’t believe it is possible to
have the Spirit in our lives and be unhappy. And, second, when we have the
Spirit in our lives, we don’t think of ourselves but we think of others. Now,
do you think you will have more options if you are a happy person or a sad
person? Do you think you will have more options if you are a selfish person,
always thinking of yourself, or a selfless person, always thinking of others?
When we were missionaries the others that we thought of instead of ourselves
were our investigators and the people we served. But, after our missions, who
is it? I would say it is our coworkers, our spouses and our families? Let’s
assume for a moment that you are married. Don’t you think it would be great for
your marriage if (1) you always put someone else (your spouse) first and (2)
you were happy? So, if having the Spirit in your life gives you options, how do
you get it and keep it? The scriptures tell us that to have the Spirit, we must
have a soft heart (Helaman 6:34). So, how do we get and keep a soft heart?
Certainly, missionaries have figured out how to do it, so let’s think for a
minute together about what missionaries do. Do missionaries ever pray? How many
times a day? Our lives must be full of prayer. Do missionaries ever read their
scriptures? Do missionaries ever serve other people? You see, praying, reading
scriptures, serving others, going to church, attending the temple and other
similar things soften our hearts which allow us to get the Spirit which makes
us happier and which leads to having more happiness and options in life. As a
stake president, when I counsel young people who are getting married, I tell
them to look for opportunities to serve, to pray, read their scriptures, and to
become engaged in other heart-softening activities.
Option producing strategy #6: Marry Someone who
will Make You Better
The sixth option maximizing
strategy I want to discuss with you today is marrying someone who will be a
support to you and who will make you better. A farmer friend of mine always
tells his children to marry up so they improve the gene pool. The truth is, it
is tough to go through life and make progress when you have a
spouse who is holding you down or
causing problems. Marrying a project, say someone with an addiction, is usually
not wise and only leads to lost options in the future. I know a woman who was
divorced and remarried three or four years ago. Her new husband, who is also
divorced, has a great job, but they have to pay $2,500 per month in child
support and alimony—a huge drain on their monthly income. Their divorces have
caused them to lose the option of spending the $2,500 per month how they want
to. You’ve heard the saying that “behind every good man is a better wife” and
the converse is also probably true. Marrying someone who lives by the spirit,
has a strong testimony and who will work together with you will bring you more
options in your life. As you think about who to marry, the most important thing
is to look for someone of faith. Too many of you look mostly at how physically
attractive someone is when choosing a mate. That is the wrong criterion. I can
guarantee you that physical attraction is very temporary and that, especially
that man that you women are looking for, won’t be nearly as attractive when he
is 50 or 60. Rather, he will be bald, overweight or look different in some
other dramatic way. Since finding someone of faith is the most important
criterion, how do you know if one is a person of faith? I believe there are
three way. You look at (1) what they do, (2) what they say and (3) what they
wear and how they look. If you just analyze those three things carefully, you
can tell whether someone is a serious person of faith.
Option producing strategy #7: Build a
Big Network of Friends
The seventh option maximizing
strategy is to build as big a network of friends as you can. There are two ways
to get ahead in life: (1) by earning what you get and (2) by knowing people who
can help you. Only about 510% of all new jobs are posted in classified ads or
on the Internet. The rest are filled by people who know someone. In the
business world, a referral is much more productive than cold calls whether one
is selling goods or services, creating business opportunities, or trying to get
someone hired. An example of the value of networking is my own two children who
are still undergraduate students at BYU. Both have their current parttime jobs
because they knew the person who was hiring, not because they were the most
qualified for the job.
Option producing strategy #8: Think
Big—You Are a Son or Daughter of God
The last option granting strategy we’ll discuss today is to
think positively and big. Too many of us limit ourselves by what we think is
possible. Remember, with God, all things are possible. Some of us do to
ourselves what Satan tries to do to Moses in Moses 1 of the Pearl of Great Price.
In Chapter 1, Moses was caught up in an exceedingly high mountain where he
talked with God. In verses 4, 6, and 7, God tries to show Moses what is
possible. He repeatedly says, “Moses, my son.” He wants Moses to know what his
possibilities are. He wants him to think big. Then, starting in verse 12, Moses
is visited by Satan. What is the first thing that Satan tries to do? He tries
to get Moses to think little. He says, in verse 12, “Moses, son of man.” Too
many of us do the same thing. We limit ourselves internally by thinking things
are too hard for us or that we could never do that. Let me just say to you all,
“you are all sons and daughters of God.” Anything you work hard enough for is
possible. Let me tell you a story of one of our sons.
Our third son is Tyler. Of our six children, I
wouldn’t rank Tyler as the smartest or maybe not even near the top of our kids’
smart chart. In high school, he never got quite as good of grades as most of
our other children. When he got to college, because of his less-than-superior
high school academic experience, he realized that he was behind. In some ways,
he hit a brick wall. Tyler could have done two things. He could have given up,
or he could try to climb the wall and get over it. Fortunately, he did the
latter. He decided that he needed to work extra hard to make up for lost time.
He did and, while his grades weren’t all straight A’s, his GPA rose
considerably. When it was time to take the Dental Aptitude Test (he wanted to
be a dentist), he studied 12-15 hours a day for three months and ended up
scoring in the 99th percentile in the country. He has now finished dental
school and this summer will start a pediatric dental residency at one of the
most prestigious hospitals in the country.
Just like he did to Moses, as recorded in
Moses 1 of the Pearl of Great Price, Satan tries to convince you every day that
you are just a son of man. He wants you to believe that you are just an average
person. And, if you insist on being a member of the true, restored church, he wants
you to be just an average Mormon. He wants to convince you that you can lie a
little, cheat a little and sin a little and still be okay. But, we know
differently. For, example, I know that I am a son of God, just like I know that
you are. I am one of Heavenly Father’s boys and he loves me just like I love my
children. You, too, are Heavenly Father’s boys and girls. And, I know that if I
live appropriately, I can be just like Him. In fact, as it says in the Oath and
Covenant of the Priesthood in section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants, if I am
worthy and magnify my Priesthood, all that He has shall be given unto me and
unto you. I hope I never lose sight of who I am and I hope you don’t either.
Satan will use every tool in the books to confuse you and try to get you to
forget who you are and to limit your vision and goals. He knows your weaknesses
and vulnerabilities.
Anything is possible
if you think big enough and work hard to accomplish the goals. As one other
piece of evidence to show that anything is possible, think back to 1961 when
John Fitzerald Kennedy was president. At the time, the U.S. and Russia had
started exploring space.
On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy stood
before a joint session of Congress to declare it “time for a great new American
enterprise—time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space
achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on earth.”
First,” he said, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving
the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning
him safely to the earth.” Kennedy’s goal was realized on July 20, 1969 (8 years
later). Apollo 11, of course, was the mission that put men on the moon, with
its astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. The
238,000mile trip to the moon took four days. Apollo 11 fell into orbit 60 miles
above the moon's surface, and on July 20 at 1:45 p.m. EDT, the Eagle with
Armstrong and Aldrin inside separated from Columbia. The Eagle crew then put themselves
into a 60-by-9-mile orbit. Neil Armstrong’s quote is now famous: "That's
one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." President Kennedy
knew that with a firm goal and hard work, anything was possible.
As another example of the value
of having big goals, the 1952 graduating class of one of the Ivy League schools
was surveyed to see how many had specific goals at the time of graduation. Only
three percent of the class did. However, 50 years after graduation, it turns
out that that 3 percent with goals had earned more money than all the other 97
percent added together.
Considered together, these eight activities of
(1) building a good reputation, (2) engaging in continuous learning and
education, (3) maintaining good physical health, (4) maintaining financial
freedom, (5) staying guilt free and having the Spirit in your life, (6)
marrying wisely, (7) building networks and (8) thinking big will bring you
choices and opportunities in the future that others won’t have and will allow
you to act quicker than others to seize upon opportunities that will come your
way in this fast-paced world.
So how do you use this option-giving framework
in your life? Every time you have a decision to make, whether it is big or
small, you should ask yourself this question: Which alternative will give me
the most and best options? And, for some decisions, the question will be in
deciding how not to have options taken away. For example, being immoral on a
date, skipping class to go skiing or engaging in other negative behaviors will
reduce and can even eliminate options. With the raising of the bar for
missionaries, participating in certain activities can eliminate the option of
ever serving a full-time mission. Personally, I take this option approach to
life very seriously. Sometimes, the decisions are easy and require very little
thinking to decide what to do. Other times, they are difficult. For example, a
couple of years ago, I had a potential career-changing offer given to me. That
decision required much prayer, fasting and going to the temple. In the end, I
decided that given our family priorities, turning down the opportunity actually
provided more and better options.
In conclusion, I promise you that if you will
always make choices and decisions that give you more options you will be happy
and will have a great life. I also want you to know that I know that decisions
that are consistent with the Gospel are always option-increasing decisions and
that decisions that are inconsistent with the Gospel are also option-decreasing
decisions. Any decision that is not consistent with what Heavenly Father wants
for us will only bring heartache and sorrow, not increased options. I have a
strong testimony that Heavenly Father wants us to be free and to be successful.
He wants us to make good choices. Living the Gospel is the only way to have
true happiness. That you may use this preparatory or “planting” period of your
life to create options for the future is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ,
amen.
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