http://convergemagazine.com/single-wish-lives-away-12330/

So let’s stop. Focus. Learn contentment by looking out the window at the here and now. Let go of expectations. Realize every stage of life is great and full of its own blessings and challenges and no one is better than the other. Water ourselves exactly where God has planted us so we’re useful. And for heaven’s sake, let’s ride the freaking gondola, OK?

You don’t want to look back over your life and see what could have been if you had only stayed the course. “We feel that under other skies, we would succeed,” C.H. Spurgeon once observed. “I may know something about my weakness in the present trial but I cannot know how I might stagger under another. Be wary of changing your trials. To exchange one trial for another is all the relief you will get.”

Not all who wander are lost, but be careful how, and why you wander.

You don’t want to look back over your life and see what could have been if you had only stayed the course. “We feel that under other skies, we would succeed,” C.H. Spurgeon once observed. “I may know something about my weakness in the present trial but I cannot know how I might stagger under another. Be wary of changing your trials. To exchange one trial for another is all the relief you will get.”

Not all who wander are lost, but be careful how, and why you wander.

Elder George Q. Cannon explained: “Where people are pure and chaste in their thoughts and actions, the Spirit of God has such power with them that they readily perceive and comprehend the truth. It is by this means that the best among the children of God are being gathered out from the various nations. Truth cleaves to truth, light to light and purity to purity. The gospel gathers with its influence those who love its principles; and if any should be gathered in who cannot abide its requirements, they pass off and mingle with the elements that are congenial to the spirit they possess.”

Congenial to the spirit they possess.

Religious Freedom

“It is important to become well-educated on this issue and take responsibility to pass on to future generations the religious freedom you now enjoy,”

Identifying and understanding doctrines and principles

Third NephiThe Book of Nephithe Son of Nephi, Who Was the Son of Helaman

Chapter 17

Jesus directs the people to ponder His words and pray for understanding—He heals their sick—He prays for the people, using language that cannot be written—Angels minister to and fire encircles their little ones. AboutA.D. 34.

 1 Behold, now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked round about again on the multitude, and he said unto them: Behold, my ^atime is at hand.

 2 I ^aperceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot ^bunderstand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time.

 3 Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ^aponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and ^bprepare your minds for the ^cmorrow, and I come unto you again.

 4 But now I ^ago unto the Father, and also to ^bshow myself unto the lost tribes of Israel, for they are not ^clost unto the Father, for he knoweth whither he hath taken them.

MINDSET.

"LIFE IS TO BE ENJOYED, NOT JUST ENDURED." PRES. HINCKLEY

This made my nose tingle a little bit.

The Mormon Stew

So Latter-day Saints are an epistemological stew; we believe that all ways of knowing are important. In fact they provide balance to each other.

In the restored Church, there should never be a mindset that all the thinking and deciding has been done and we need only to digest the truth delivered to us. Our prophets regularly challenge us to develop our own testimonies using all the methods of discovering truth.

We are invited to live the principles of the gospel and observe the blessings they produce (empiricism). Every Saint is encouraged to study and ponder the scriptures and doctrines to gain confirmation of their validity (reason). We have the gift of the Holy Ghost so that each member is entitled to personal insight and inner knowledge (intuition). We are given the opportunity to raise our hands to sustain the brethren and then look to them for godly counsel (authority). And we are startlingly unique in our belief in a living prophet and continuing revelation.

Article: Five Ways of Knowing Truth

Thomas Edison, the man who bathed the world in glowing electric light, said that “the value of an idea lies in the using of it.” 

In a similar way, gospel doctrine becomes more precious when it is put to use.

The what informs, but the why transforms.

The what of gospel teaches us what to do. 

The why inspires the souls.

They helped us see how to apply gospel truth and principles to our specific circumstances and for our specific time. To put it another way, they helped us to see the why of the gospel, and then we had to roll up our sleeves and go to work.

KNOW the WHYS.

 Be patient with yourself, Learn the difference between good sacrifice and foolish sacrifice. Remember to be happy now. Know the whys of the Gospel so that you can be happy doing them and not just be burdened by it.  Always remember the lord loves you. 

Oil Painting from the Getty.

Their soul shall be as a watered garden.

(Jeremiah 31:12)

“What we love determines what we seek. What we seek determines what we think and do. What we think and do determines who we are — and who we will become." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Emblazon it in the air.

"What a joy, what a comfort, what a satisfaction can be added to the lives of our neighbors and friends through kindness. How I would like to write that word in capital letters and emblazon it in the air. 

Kindness is the power that God has given us to unlock hard hearts and subdue stubborn souls and bring them to an understanding of His purposes."

The most important part of planning should be done on your knees.

Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right.

-Ezra Taft Benson