Forget Me Not

A Lesson in Personal Perspective

One artist of the faith I greatly admire is Dieter Uchtdorf.  While he does embrace much of the orthodox dogma I reject, he spends much of his time speaking to the more founding principles of the Christian movement.  In doing so, he engenders a respect and inclusiveness not always representative in orthodoxy.  For these reasons I consider him my favorite among LDS theologians.

Due to his polished and eloquent nature, instead of paraphrasing, I'd like to share a few excerpts from one of his uniquely focused addresses given to the Relief Society.  Dieter outlined his five pedals of the Forget-Me-Not.

Forget Not to be Patient with Yourself

"I want to tell you something that I hope you will take in the right way: God is fully aware that you and I are not perfect.  Let me add: God is also fully aware that the people you think are perfect are not. 

And yet we spend so much time and energy comparing ourselves to others—usually comparing our weaknesses to their strengths. This drives us to create expectations for ourselves that are impossible to meet. As a result, we never celebrate our good efforts because they seem to be less than what someone else does. 

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses.  It’s wonderful that you have strengths.  And it is part of your mortal experience that you do have weaknesses. 

Our journey toward perfection is long, but we can find wonder and delight in even the tiniest steps in that journey."

Forget Not the Difference Between the Good and Foolish Sacrifice

"An acceptable sacrifice is when we give up something good for something of far greater worth. 

Every person and situation is different, and a good sacrifice in one instance might be a foolish sacrifice in another. 

How can we tell the difference for our own situation? We can ask ourselves, “Am I committing my time and energies to the things that matter most?” There are so many good things to do, but we can’t do all of them. Our Heavenly Father is most pleased when we sacrifice something good for something far greater with an eternal perspective." 

Forget Not to be Happy Now

"There is nothing wrong with righteous yearnings—we hope and seek after things that are “virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy.”  The problem comes when we put our happiness on hold as we wait for some future event—our golden ticket—to appear. 

This is not to say that we should abandon hope or temper our goals. Never stop striving for the best that is within you. Never stop hoping for all of the righteous desires of your heart. But don’t close your eyes and hearts to the simple and elegant beauties of each day’s ordinary moments that make up a rich, well-lived life. 

The happiest people I know are not those who find their golden ticket; they are those who, while in pursuit of worthy goals, discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the everyday moments. They are the ones who, thread by daily thread, weave a tapestry of gratitude and wonder throughout their lives. These are they who are truly happy."

Forget Not the "Why" of the Gospel

"While understanding the “what” and the “how” of the gospel is necessary, the eternal fire and majesty of the gospel springs from the “why.” When we understand why our Heavenly Father has given us this pattern for living, when we remember why we committed to making it a foundational part of our lives, the gospel ceases to become a burden and, instead, becomes a joy and a delight. It becomes precious and sweet."

Forget Not the Lord Loves You

"Just think of it: You are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious Being in the universe! You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time!"

As I struggled to sum up my feelings at the close of this General Conference, an unlikely source of clarity presented itself in his untimely death.

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." 

~ Steve Jobs - 2005 Commencement Address, Stanford University

We need not be limited by another's thinking.  Ideas are fluid and are only limited by our imagination and intellect.  Wisdom may be found anywhere we have the patience to look.  Because one intends to lead us down a particular path of particular thinking, that doesn't mean we must necessarily go.  We can learn to follow our own intuition and find our own path.  But it's important to remember not to be too focused on our own trailblazing and ignore the insights of other travelers we meet on those rare occasions our paths do cross.

Conference is an exchange of ideas.  They are not set by established dogma.  We are free to ponder and interpret them as our personal experience and need requires.  This is how I left Conference.