As we go through our daily lives, it can be very difficult to stay positive. The world around us seems to know all of the buttons to push on any given day, or sometimes minute, that will degrade our positive thinking.
The theme of this stake conference was "Hastening the Work". The idea is to help the full-time missionaries share the gospel and have the Holy Spirit testify of the divinity of Christ. One of the ways we do this is by befriending these people. So what does this have to do with children's cartoon characters?
Lets think back for a second, for some this might take several seconds. Think about the cartoon Winnie the Pooh, more importantly two main characters, Eeyore and Tigger. These two are polar opposites of from one another.
First you have Tigger. He's fun loving, cheerful, out going, competitive in a friendly way, and has complete confidence in himself. He always seems to be happy and positive and doesn't let anything get him down. Tigger is the type that you want to hang out with. Tigger will jump in to help without thinking about the danger to himself. Tigger is forever the optimist.
Flip this coin over, and there you have Eeyore who is...well, a "Glass half empty", kinda guy. He can be characterized as a pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, anhedonic, old donkey. He is found to be the most reluctant of the group to go along with plans or adventures with his friends, but doesn't oppose them because he believes it would be futile to try.
Now let me ask you a question. Who would you much rather have around? For that matter, who would you rather be? As I said before, this life has a unique way of bringing us down. But there is good new! We don't have to be an Eeyore. We can maintain our positive outlook. How? We have the love of our Father in Heaven to see us through our difficult times. We read time and time again about people overcoming adversity through the power of prayer and actions keeping within the commandments. We can also be washed clean of this sins of this world through the power of the atonement because of the sacrifice that Christ made. Knowing all of this gives me peace that I can handle anything that comes my way. I find it hard to be negative when I think of all that God has done for me.
I know that we all have trials and tests that send us to our breaking point. That's why we're here though. To be tested and to grown spiritually. It seems the more we follow the commandments and live worthily, the more we are tried. I put it like this. There was only one perfect person on this earth, and they crucified Him. So what makes you think that you're going to slide by?
We are all going to be tried and tested in this life. It's something that we can get away from. There are two ways to respond to it though. You can take the Eeyore approach and let it get you down and depressed and unwilling to do anything about it. Or, you can take a note from Tigger's playbook. Be forever the optimist and know that you can overcome anything through your faith and action in Christ. When you do this, people will take notice. They will see a spark in you that will ignite something in their hearts. Soon they will be asking themselves, "what is he/ she doing that I'm not?". This is when you will be able to bless their lives with the gospel. We first have to change our way of thinking before we can ask anyone to change theirs.
I have a strong testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They have blessed my life time and time again. I have challenged myself, and now issue the same challenge to you, to become more like Tigger and have that positive spark that others will want to gain. It will bless your lives.
God Bless
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