Quotes

A little over a year ago when I was on student government at SLCC we had a Leadership Conference and the Keynote speaker was Paul from The Ripples Project. He was an amazing motivational speaker and I loved hearing him. Afterwards he told us that if we would like we could give him our email and we would receive a weekly motivational quote. Of course I signed up for this.

The quotes he sends out are both ones that he has found as well as ones that have been submitted for people like me who get the weekly emails.

I love these emails because they actually include three quotes on the same subject. The quotes vary in depth. The first is called a pebble. Something short and sweet. The next quote is called a boulder which has a little more to it and gives you something to think about. The last is called the ponder, this is to get you really thinking and to really help motivate you.

The very first quotes I got were on taking chances, here is what was in the email:

PEBBLE It's not the opportunities given, but the chances taken! -written & submitted by Unique Zebal, Eureka CA

BOULDER Take a chance! All life is chance. The person who goes furthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. -Dale Carnegie, submitted by Katherine, Milwaukee WI

PONDER Good news!  We don't need to succeed in order to benefit from a chance taken, because we often become braver and stronger and wiser even if the desired outcome isn't achieved.  We learn from our mistakes, and our perspective shifts with the added experience. We don't need guarantees of winning, we just need to be confident that we will scoot closer to our ideal selves.  Of course we need to consider the risks and make sure we have properly prepared; at some point, though, we need to trust the process and just go for it. On your mark, get set... GO! Peace, Paul

 

This topic just went perfectly with a lesson I learned today in Relief Society that I just loved.

We all hear the lesson on how we need to work towards becoming perfect as Christ. This is a goal that we should all have because it is what will help us to become our best selves. There are times however, where people take this idea of perfection too far. A story was told of a woman who was unable to leave her house unless it was clean a spotless. Because she had to have everything in place before she could go out she rarely ever made it out the door.

Are we going to allow our efforts to become this "perfect" person get in the way of living a healthy righteous life? Of course we need to keep our priorities straight and follow our Heavenly Father but we also need to get out there and experience this great life we have been given. Yes we might make a few mistakes along the way. Get some bumps and bruises. But along with that comes our experience that we are able to learn and grow from.

This can also relate to the story of the talents where Christ gave differing amounts of seeds to his servants. After a while the servants returned to share of their seeds. Some had let their seeds dwindle and die, others had shared and developed their seeds so the were strong. And one servant in particular who had only been given one seed had hidden it do that no one would take it away. We learn the lesson of the importance of letting our light shine for all the world to see. To not hide the things we are given but use them to not only benefit ourselves but all those around us.