Why So Different?

My brother is an engineer.  I cannot figure out how to open my jammed stapler.  My sister is a math teacher.  Hearing the word calculus makes me feel like I might pass out.

How could we be so different?  We have the same genes and grew up in same home.  Simply put, that’s just how we came. 

Every person on the earth today lived with Heavenly Father before this life.  During that time, each one of us was blessed with unique characteristics, strengths, and aptitudes. 

As a little girl, I always imagined us lining up in front of Heavenly Father and waiting for Him to sprinkle a little bit of magic dust on our heads.  After the dust was sprinkled, we walked away with our personalities and talents.  That’s definitely a silly way to think of it.  I don’t really know how Heavenly Father made each of us so unique, but I rejoice in knowing that “God is the author of diversity” (Meet the Mormons).

Differences are beautiful.  If everyone was like me, we would all be in touch with our feelings but we would have no way to share them.  We likely wouldn’t have paper and most definitely would not have computers.  In fact, we would probably be living in huts with no electricity.

I am grateful for engineers who use their minds to develop technology that produces paper.  I’m looking at my bed right now and it makes me laugh because I see two journals, a notebook for scribbling down blog post ideas, and a few miscellaneous papers.  I am grateful for people who understand electricity and computers because they allow me to share some of my ideas.

I am grateful for people who understand politics, law, economics, medicine, and communications.  The list goes on.  My life and everyone else’s life is profoundly blessed by the combined strength that our individual differences create.

Even with our differences, there are two common threads that connect every single one of us.  (1) We are all children of Heavenly Father.  (2) We all desire to create.

Heavenly Father loves every one of us, and He loves all of us equally.  Ask any set of parents, and few would ever say that they love one more child more than the other.  They may love their children differently, but still equally.  Heavenly Father is the best parent.  His love is endless and equal for each of us.

We can follow Heavenly Father’s example by seeing every person around us as our equal.  We are, after all, spiritual brothers and sisters.

With regards to the desire to create, a leader in the LDS church explained that “the desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf).  Why would that be?  “Remember that you are spirit [children] of the most creative Being in the universe” (Uchdtdorf).  Because we are God’s children, we possess some of His desire to create.

We all create differently.  I create through words.  My mom creates through flowers.  Some people create through cooking.  Some people create through art.  Some people create through music.  Some people create through woodworking.  The list is infinite.  We all seek to create.

The next time we feel tempted to let ourselves feel divided because we approach creation in different ways, may we work to be more unified because of our common effort to create.  May we also remember, most importantly, our common identity as children of Heavenly Father.

Parable of Love (I mean, "the Talents")

Love is absolutely confusing.  I was blessed to understand a Bible story in a new way today that helped me make better sense of love.  I hope you enjoy...

“For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.  And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one.”

“And he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents…But he that received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money” (Matthew 25: 14-18).

Love can be considered the Savior’s money.  It’s something that He gives to us.  To some He gives a greater measure and to others, not as much.

We are free to choose what we do with the love that He gives us.  We can trade and share that love with others or we can stifle (hide away) that love.

“After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.  And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents…His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.

Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord…And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou has that is thine.  His lord answered and said…take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents” (verses 19-28).

Whatever measure of love that we have been blessed with, the only way for that love to grow and multiply is if we do something with it.  If we withhold love because of fear, it won’t grow.  In fact, one day we will find that it’s gone and we feel nothing because it’s been taken from us.

This means for all of us that when we feel the smallest amount of love, we have to do as much as possible to build it.  Then, suddenly, we will find that it's been multiplied and the cycle continues.

If you would like to see a short movie of this Bible video, click here.

Would You See Her?

If she was twenty pounds lighter, would you see her?  If he didn’t have acne, would you see him?

One of my goals in this very personal post is to reflect about how we let physical appearance influence the attention that we give (or don’t give) to other people.  My other goal is to express gratitude to all of my guy friends who have unknowingly bolstered me throughout the years.   

Before I comment about appearance and attention, allow me to share a little background from my life.  When I was little, I loved life.  As I grew a little older, I started exercising regularly because it made me feel happy and I loved being happy. 

About my junior year of high school, however, I started noticing changes.  I often felt anxious and sad, even after exercising.  That was odd because exercising had always been a cure-all for me.   To my dismay, I also started gaining weight.  Sometimes I exercised two hours a day, but I kept gaining weight.  It didn’t make any sense because I was eating healthy.

Finally, I decided to see a doctor.  I learned, much to my relief, that the weight gain and anxiety wasn’t entirely my fault.  There was something going on inside my body that needed to be addressed.  I was diagnosed with a condition called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).  PCOS is a female hormone disorder which usually manifests itself through weight gain, sugar cravings, acne, extra hair growth, and muscle bulkiness (all those things that girls just hate J).

Ever since that diagnosis, I have been treating the condition.  I feel much better now than I did in high school, but I’ve learned that ultimately treatment is just treatment.  It is not a cure.  That means that there are times when my body, for whatever reason, stops responding to treatment and symptoms which have been under control will come back.

I dislike those times when my PCOS flares up because I feel like I’m not in control of my body.  While some people may believe otherwise, I’ve found that sometimes getting rid of acne isn’t as straightforward as having better hygiene and not eating greasy foods.  Sometimes managing weight isn’t as easy as exercising and eating well.  Sometimes choosing to eat healthy instead of eating sweets isn’t as simple as exercising self-discipline.

So whenever I see a girl at school who is struggling with her weight or with her acne, my heart aches for her.  I wonder if something is going on in her body that is out of her control.  I wonder if she even realizes that something might be wrong.

And then I wonder if boys will see her (I mean really see her), despite her physical imperfections.  Will they talk with her?  Will they help her to feel that she is worth loving?  Will we girls also see her, or will we shy away?

I started thinking about this idea of seeing people last school year.  After a guy that I thought was very handsome paid me a compliment, two questions came to mind--If you had met me a year ago when I was ten pounds heavier and had more acne, would you still have seen me?  Would you have said the same thing to me?  (Now don’t get me wrong—I’m not saying that I think guys are shallow, nor do I believe that I’m the best at remembering to look past outside appearances.  I also firmly believe in attraction when it comes to marriage.)

Just as soon as I thought of these questions, I also remembered all of the wonderful men in my life who had always seen me.  They never knew when I was experiencing a PCOS flare-up, but they had always been there.  During those times when my confidence was suffering, they were simultaneously building it by noticing me and giving me attention.  To all of you dear friends, I say thank you!!!

I pray that by sharing a little bit about myself and my thoughts, we all might feel inspired to work at seeing the people around us.  Let us reach out to them, no matter their physical appearance, just like the Savior would.