Its no secret - I'm a people person. I like people and I like interacting and being around people. So given the importance I place on people, relationships of all kind are very important to me. And since I'm not married, friendships have the most focus and analysis. Over the last several months, after much pondering I've come to the conclusion that true friendship is fast vanishing. Let me share my thoughts :)
My first thought is that building strong close relationships is great practice for marriage. Obviously, there are certain things reserved only for marriage and that you can only experience within marriage. However, forming close emotional ties and being able to focus on the welfare, struggles and concerns of someone else need not only happen in marriage. And in fact, I think one of the largest contributing factors to the high divorce rate is that so many couples go into marriage having no idea how to focus on someone other than themselves. And as President Hinckley said -"True love is not so much a matter of romance as it is a matter of anxious concern for the well being of ones companion." And that is what I think it comes down to - anxious concern for another person.
So since I'm an English major lets break this down: the definitions that apply for anxious are #1 - earnestly desirous; eager #2 - attended with or showing solicitude. The definition for concern is #1 - to relate to; be connected with; be of interest or importance to; affect. Basically then, you are you want or desire earnestly to relate to, connect with, and show your interest in the other person. Should this anxious concern only be reserved for marriage?
After much pondering and deliberation the personal answer I've come to is no. I think encompassed in this concept President Hinckley is talking about is charity - the pure love of Christ. I think you could say charity = the anxious concern for another. In looking at the definition that is what Christ does/has done for each of us. He is earnestly desirous that we succeed in this life and through other people and His many tender mercies he shows that He relates to us, is connected with us, and that we are of interest and importance to Him. And last time I checked, the scriptures and the principles of the gospel don't reserve charity only for marriage.
Charity is about three things though - saying, doing, and being. Just as with the gospel - we don't believe by just saying we accept Christ that we are saved - there is action required. We say we love the Lord, but then we must go and do, which helps us to become. The same applies to any type of relationship - saying "I love you or I care about you" only means so much. As the famous saying goes, "Actions speak louder than words." I show the Lord I love Him by following what His commandments, striving to become like Him, serving others, etc. I show people that I love or care for them by and anxious concern for them - what is going on in their lives, anything I can do to share a little cheer on a bad day, or something I can do that makes life easier for them. This helps me become a better person, and also enables me to truly love them - because as the scripture says -"How can a man know (love) a master whom he has not served."
Thus, this doesn't come down to personality differences. That is the things I've probably heard the most - "Oh that is just your personality." I suppose it can be a personality thing - but it should be a personality trait we are all striving for them since we are all trying to become like the Savior. We may not exhibit it in EXACTLY the same way, but "anxious concern" is simply looking out for someone else - how they are feeling, what is going on with them, what they might need help with, then DOING something about it. Not fixing things for them but showing your concern and support when there isn't anything else you could really do. But sometimes there are things you can do to make a difference - are you looking for those opportunities?
So the question becomes - why is friendship in this form vanishing so fast? The main reason I see is selfishness, which is the care and concern mainly or primarily for or about oneself. I think this goes on very subtly that often we don't even recognize it. But think of a relationship that is important to you - when was the last time you were anxiously concerned about this person - and what did you do about it? This anxious concern for other people requires a bit of effort. It requires us to look outside ourselves and make someone else's needs as important (notice I didn't say more important)as our own. It also makes us more vulnerable - a state or feeling most of us despise. Because the more deeply you love or care about someone the more power they have to hurt you. And that can be a very scary thought.
A quick example - yesterday at Church I had to leave Relief Society early because I had a Stake meeting to go to. I didn't tell anyone why I was leaving early because the lesson had started. So I just got up quietly and left as silently as possible. My friend Megan sent me a text later that afternoon, joking that hopefully I had gone to get doughnuts or something equally fabulous. Of course, given it was the Sabbath I had not gone to get doughnuts or anything but I appreciated her #1 - Noticing I had left and #2 - Showing that anxious concern as to why I left because I don't usually leave any Church meeting and I do enjoy RS. Then later in the day because we had not had any time to chat and I had hoped to talk to her at Ward Prayer to see what had been going on with her the last week, she knew that Ward Prayer is often a time we chat so she kindly sent me a text telling me she wasn't going to be there. Did she have to do either of these things? Of course not. I wouldn't have been severely scarred or anything but it shows that anxious concern for someone else and it is one of the things I most appreciate about her. She lets me know she cares by those little things - she doesn't just say she is my friend she SHOWS it.
Ultimately, I feel to truly become like the Savior requires that we work to establish this type of anxious concern across all our relationships - familial, romantic, and friendship. I think as we don't just give lip service to the doctrine of charity, our relationships will begin to be transformed - we will not only feel better about ourselves (remember as is said - when you serve others it almost always helps you to feel better about yourself) but we will also have stronger relationships. Charity has a way of expanding our souls and making everything seem a little better - isn't this what we all want?
So last Thursday, we had a ward Lagoon day. After much pondering I decided I really did want to go even if I had to take time off work (and use my precious PTO). I've always loved Lagoon and have enjoyed going to few times I have. I will be honest I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've gone. Given my age now, I've come to know what kinds of rides I really do enjoy and those I don't particularly.
and I figured that was similar.
This year I let myself be talked into riding on Wicked. Lets just say that rarely can I be talked int something. That says alot for the people I was with :P However, I was "pleasantly" surprised when the ride started that it wasn't a slow climb and a sudden drop as I had thought but rather you speed up the incline and then down as well. Thus, no feeling of anticipation because it all happens so fast. So it was favorite ride but I did agree to go on it again.
We basically looked like we had gone SWIMMING! They had totally changed the ride so if you sat on the front row you got soaked regardless. It was quite funny. I was glad we had just ridden Rattlesnake Rapids so I was already wet so to get a little wetter wasn't a huge deal.
Thankfully I've never gone on a ride where I feel like this -
afterwards. So it isn't a matter of getting sick. This time around I realized what it really is is that I hate the rides where there is the feeling of anticipation of a fall. I HATE that feeling. For example then I HATE the Rocket and refuse to go on it anymore. I've been on it before and I just don't enjoy it. Last year I refused to go on Wicked because it has a huge straight down drop after a big upward climb
and I figured that was similar.
This year I let myself be talked into riding on Wicked. Lets just say that rarely can I be talked int something. That says alot for the people I was with :P However, I was "pleasantly" surprised when the ride started that it wasn't a slow climb and a sudden drop as I had thought but rather you speed up the incline and then down as well. Thus, no feeling of anticipation because it all happens so fast. So it was favorite ride but I did agree to go on it again.
It also makes me laugh when they change a ride because I like to know what to expect. The Cliffhanger has always been one of my favorite rides. And last time I rode it, if you picked a dry seat your chances of getting wet were pretty minimal. I even told this to the lady in line in front of use who asked....LOL....needless to say this is what we looked like after this ride -
We basically looked like we had gone SWIMMING! They had totally changed the ride so if you sat on the front row you got soaked regardless. It was quite funny. I was glad we had just ridden Rattlesnake Rapids so I was already wet so to get a little wetter wasn't a huge deal. Overall it was a great trip - sadly I did take my camera but didn't take any pictures because I didn't want to be carrying it around on rides. But I had a great group to hang with and we had alot of fun!
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So lets see if I can actually keep up two blogs - LOL...I've struggled doing even one but I had a little boost when a couple of people told me within the last week that they read my blog. It is amazing the difference it makes in knowing someone actually reads your blog. It is great incentive! So after almost a year hiatus from this blog I'm going to try and write fairly regularly along with my dream blog. If you haven't checked out my dream blog you should - Land of Dreams.
So today's topic is brought to you by an overactive mind - sometimes a blessing but also a curse! Hence the topic choice :P
The first is that we can only understand strengths and weaknesses because of each other - meaning opposition in all things. To me this means that there must be opposition even with those things we considered strengths. In my experience, this has led me to believe that this opposition doesn't come when something happens that allows us to illustrate that strength because if it is a strength in that way then how can it really be tested?
Thus, strengths are weaknesses and weaknesses strengths. I promise I'm not just trying to sound like I really do have a minor in philosophy but simply that a characteristic or attribute that is a strength to us is often the contributing factor to something we consider a weakness. To make this hopefully a little clearer, let me give an example. Something that I consider a strength and have been told many times is a benefit to me is how much I analyze things. This comes very naturally to me and I feel like especially in my school work and study of the gospel it has been a HUGE blessing. It is something that has increased my knowledge and helped me to be more dedicated to the gospel. But in other areas it is a weakness - a very frustrating weakness - though I suppose all weaknesses can be frustrating. Sometimes though I cannot seem to shut off my mind - it is constantly going. This can become tiring at times when I WANT to have a little bit of quiet time. When it comes to relationships of any kind, my analytic mind is not an asset :P Analyzing relationships in extreme detail is rarely if ever helpful. Thus, something I consider a strength is also a weakness.
Something else I've found interesting and am still pondering is a couple of scriptures from the Book of Mormon. Ether 12:28 reads: "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their aweakness. I bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my cgrace is sufficient for all men that dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make eweak things become strong unto them." I've noticed this is one of the most misread scriptures in all of scripturedom - except for hard to pronounce names like Achaemenid or something. Too often the scripture is read "...I will show unto them their weaknessES." However, that is not how the text reads - it is weakness. This seems to imply that the Lord didn't give each of us a list of weaknesses to overcome - we are to overcome one thing, which the scriptures collaborate - the natural man. That is our weakness. These mortal bodies no matter how wonderful, were created in a fallen state. Now the natural man of course exhibits a variety of weaknesses that differ from person to person, but the over concept is that we have ONE weakness - the natural man or our fallen state.
Perhaps this isn't helpful to anyone else, but it makes a difference to me when I can recognize that my strengths are also my weaknesses because of the natural man. One of the main reasons were came to this earth was to learn but why couldn't we have just learned what we needed to in heaven? Because a mortal body allows us to experience things not possible with just our spirit. We experience life and relationships differently because our physical bodies allows us to feel things physically and mentally in a way our spirit cannot. We also can feel physical pain or suffering which is obviously not something we can experience as a spiritual body. Because of this we are tested in more ways - something we may have gained as an attribute or characteristic in the pre-mortal life and was a strength suddenly has additional sides or avenues that will be tested. These then are weaknesses because how could we have gained experience dealing with it before our mortal bodies?
Ultimately, this pondering has led me to one thought - patience. I sometimes get frustrated with myself when something that is a strength is also a weakness when I have to remember:
A: That is the purpose of this life
B: How can I expect to be good at something that I have not experienced or practiced previously
C: I appreciate my strengths more because they encompass a weakness or weaknesses.
D: This ultimately should lead me to rely more on the Savior - for He is the promised way of how to overcome my weakness - through Christ I can overcome the natural man, which means I can overcome ALL my weaknesses. And that is a pretty cool thought.
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