Changes

Hey everyone,

Well, since classes are done I thought I'd finish a post I started a while ago. This post is about changes and it's based off a quotation I heard years ago. The quote is from Mary Antin and it goes something like this:

"We are not born all at once, but in bits. The body first, and the spirit later. Our mothers are racked with the pains of our physical birth; we ourselves suffer the longer pains of our spiritual growth."

When I first heard this quotation I was pretty young. I don't think I really understood it then. I guess time and a little pain has brought out (at least some of) its truth.

What I take this to mean is that we aren't finished products, we're works in progress. And unfortunately, the process by which we progress often entails pain. Sometimes it's pain caused by our mistakes, other times its pain brought on by the mistakes of others. If you're religious you might view your pain as a trial from God or a temptation from Satan. Sometimes bad things just happen and that's life. But whatever pain you might be going through, if properly dealt with it will make you stronger.

Personal strength is developed very similarly to physical strength--through stress. When you work out you tear your muscles and when they heal they're stronger. After a while you become strong and the weight that previously tore your muscles ceases to do so. At that point you can either continue using the same weight (and stop developing) or you can increase your weight and become stronger . Because of this, when you're working out, if you're not getting sore you're avoiding the next step. The same is true with life. If you're living your life free of pain you're probably avoiding the next step, and you're probably also not becoming stronger. A life lived to its fullest hurts.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying we should look for pain... what I'm saying is that if you're really growing, really pushing the limits of what you can do...if you're doing these things then you're standing for what is right and pain is the inevitable byproduct. Joseph Fielding McConkie said "you can't lift up one end of a stick without moving the other." By this he meant you can't stand for what's right without exciting those who oppose what's right to responsive action. I don't want to go down this line of thinking too far, I only want to point out that if you're doing what's right you'll be opposed, and, because of this, pain results. This might be part of why the person who always did what was right (Christ) suffered more than anyone.

My brother used to have a friend who was a Marine. His friend would often say "pain is just weakness leaving the body." I'm not sure if I agree with that as far as physical things (I doubt the pain of cancer signifies someone getting stronger as their weakness leaves), but I believe this is true of personal/spiritual things. I think this quotation is an accurate heuristic for the spiritual life. I think this because when you suffer, if you view the pain in context, if you understand why it is painful, if you learn from the pain and apply that pain to personal development (thereby growing out of the pain), then your suffering tempers your spirit and your pain quite literally becomes the sign of your weakness leaving you. At that moment you are, as Mary Antin described, suffering the pains of your spiritual growth.

When I look back at my life (the little of it I have lived so far), I often think of the really difficult times. I can't help but look at the painful moments I dealt with properly and feel a sense of pride. But conversely, I often think of the challenges I backed down from or avoided and think about the opportunities I may have missed and I feel a deep sense of regret. I resolved early in my life to never back down from the the opportunities presented to me--no matter how difficult. Unfortunately, I have frequently failed at this-- choosing the cold comfort of consistency over the indeterminacy of opportunity. But regardless of this, I have had some wonderful successes that have made it possible for me to say looking back on it all that the most defining (and beneficial) times in my life were born in uncertainty.

There are so many changes ahead for all of us. I hope we make them correctly, not based on a fear of the painful or unfamiliar, but rather, based on a determination to do what's best. Lets take the higher road (I've been told it makes all the difference) and see what we can become. It may be painful at times, but hey, they're growing pains.

Well, that's about all the motivational sentiment I have, I guess I'll have to go back to posting videos depicting swearing censorship.

**Oh, and I should have probably defined "pain" in this post. I used the term to mean anything from mild discomfort to extreme suffering; basically, I used the word "pain" to represent opposition of any kind.**