Personal Struggles and the Ability to Push Through...

Hi. :) Someone recently told me of her desire to hear more about my personal struggles and how I have found the ability to push through them... I very quickly sent her a link to a post about overcoming a specific challenge I faced. I realized after sending that link, that there are other really BIG principles which have helped me with overcoming challenges which aren't addressed in that post. So I decided to write this post and share it with her as well as anyone else it might be a blessing to... :)

The principles are simple, but powerful. One is simply the principle of learning about the power of words and positive thinking. To say these words and realize how shallow and unhelpful these words SEEM - though they are powerful - causes me to cringe... How do I begin to relay the huge power have been learning in such simple principles? 

I have written about about the power of words (multiple times) and positive thinking (you can use the search engine on my blog for a list of posts on for more writings about "positive thinking" and "the power of words" if you want to)... but have not yet written about the fact that not all of the thoughts in our minds are actually ours.

We have all seen cute little movie clips of two opposing spirits on the shoulders of a person... one being an angel who whispers to do good and think positive thoughts and the other a devil who whispers ideas to arouse desires for that which is evil, or for one to think negative thoughts about one's self or others etc. But do we ever really think about just how REAL this scenario really is? Do we ever realize that when those whispers come into our minds that we may mistake those whispers as thoughts of our own? If we knew them to be from an angel (or from the Holy Spirit) would we be more inclined to heed? If we knew a "thought" wasn't really ours at all, but a whispering from the adversary in effort to lead us to sorrow - would we be less inclined to do what it tempts us to do, or to believe that depressing or discouraging thought?

For me - acknowledging these principles and striving to recognize the sources of the thoughts in my mind are causing my life to be much more positive and fulfilling (and WAY LESS CHALLENGING ) very rapidly! :D Now that I am more consciously aware, I find myself asking... "Where is that thought coming from? Do I really want to think on this and believe this? Or would I be better off disregarding this thought as a temptation or lie?" I will probably be writing about this principle soon...

Another idea which has been a blessing in my life is the idea of striving to see things as they really are - striving to see people the way my Father in Heaven does. I wrote about the power we have to make ourselves what God created us to be when we can see ourselves as He does; and we help others to achieve their divine potential when we look for the good in them and strive to see them as God does. This gift of seeing what others can not see is coined... Sapere Vedere (click on the word to read a truly wonderful post of mine about this concept. :)

Imagine the healing force of not seeing yourself or your loved ones in our undeveloped current state - but instead as we can and one day will be...

NOW - Here is the most important principle of all... Much (if not most) of pushing thorough our challenges (hanging on, not giving up the race of life...) also has to do with finding the healing that we need when challenges wound us. I have a talk about Healing through Christ some time ago. I learned much while preparing this talk; I learned even more from applying the principles in my life... The biggest principle I learned was to Go to Christ (Ask, Seek, Knock) and then when he gives you direction - DO IT.

**Healing through Christ - talk**

Have you ever had a hard time giving up something - even though you knew God wanted you to? As I strove to do His will, rather than my own - (even when it sometimes seemed impossible and took every ounce of faith in Christ that I possessed...) I learned that we heal through Christ simply by DOING HIS WILL. As we do HIS will rather than our own, we gradually lose all desire for that which is contrary to his will; I know this may sound scary - for there is a reason we desire what we desire - but if our desires bring both bitterness and sweetness, aren't we better off surrendering these painful desires to Christ in exchange for desires which produce only sweet fruits? As our desires become more aligned with His desires, we not only lose bitterness from our lives, but we also begin to see more clearly things as they really are... and we become more like our Savior.

The healing power of the Atonement is there for us, not only to heal and free us from the bondage of our sins, but also to heal us from our sorrows... The healing power of the Atonement is greater than any adverb can begin to describe! Through the power of the Atonement, we change. We are stronger. We are happier. We are made free. We come to know real, true joy and peace...

This all ties in with the power of words and the power of thoughts because it is through "the word" (the words of Christ) that we and our lives are healed and become peaceful... It is our challenge and quest to Ask, Seek, and Knock - to learn His word, and then DO HIS WILL. By doing so, the challenges of this life are diminished - we begin to live by faith,- believing that the JOY which comes from the prize is so great that the sacrifices and struggles to obtain it are incredibly small in comparison to the price... and it is true...

I know this is a lot (and yet so brief). But I hope there is something here in this post for everyone who reads it. I pray that your life journey is filled with hope, happiness, and the joy of overcoming!

This is a photo my son Dausen took while we were camping this past summer...

Believe in yourself. Believe in Christ and in the power He has through His Atoning sacrifice to help you overcome EVERY obstacle and heal from EVERY pain. This is my prayer for you, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen...

Corine :D