It has been a while since the last Bearrie Brother Post! Hopefully the stress of finals hasn't done anyone in yet. I was about to pass away, so I decided to take a break and type one of these out. These seem to always help my brain and (more importantly) my spirit relax.
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It is only fitting, in this time of high-stake test taking, to talk about stress. There is A LOT of crap that we have to do! Life is nuts. There are so many tasks. There are so many problems. Sometimes, I feel like every day I wake up and spend all of my time solving problems! Problems on homework, problems with the smoke detector, problems with a hungry belly, problems with a sad friend, problems with a poor relationship, problems related to housing, problems due to an empty wallet, problems with a blank study guide. PROBLEMS PROBLEMS PROBLEMS.
Sometimes the problems REALLY stress me out. I don't think I am alone on this one- everyone has problems and everyone gets stressed out (in varying degrees, of course).
The other day, I had a really cool experience that helped me realize an important and, dare I say, eternal principle.
Jay, Franklin and I were on a climb in Rock Canyon there above the temple - it is called Lord of the Slings (to be exact). It is a multi-pitch climb... which means that we would climb one length of the rope, reset our belay point and then climb another rope's length from that new spot.
I led the third pitch. I got to the top and began to set up the belay so Franklin and Jay could climb up as well. Everything went well and Franklin began to climb up next. About the time that he got to the top, I found myself looking out at the city below. By this time, we were high enough up that we could see most of Provo beneath us.
As Franklin made it up to the place where I was belaying him, I made the comment, "Man, Provo is SMALL." He just kind of shrugged and was like whatever... "duh, Cees, it looks small... we are three rope lengths up," is probably what Franklin thought, but he is too nice to verbalize that.
I was commenting on the fact that city looked small, but as soon as I verbalized this obvious fact, I had a really weird realization that our time and what we do in this city is small. All at once I had this realization that - all of these things that I was letting stress me out (i.e. finals, work, class registration, money, etc.) really weren't that important at all. They were SMALL.
Finals would end - and in 10 years, I would have NO IDEA what classes I even took. Work stuff would get figured out - and in 5 years, I will forget the name of the girl that I worked with. Money problems will come and go - and in 2 years, there will be different money problems. These "rocky" relationships we have here in Provo will end - someday, with my kids, I will reminisce on those relationships and count my blessings that it worked out the way it did. It is all SMALL.
It reminds me of the scripture when God answers Joseph Smith in prison (D&C 121:7-8)
HOWEVER, it is important to note that this doesn't mean that we can just "blow of these responsibilities" and "not care" - this principle is only to help us realize that we don't need to be stressed out of our brains as we try to do our best.
That is all we can do - our best.
Anyways, hopefully this is a good mid-finals (or mid-life) thought. Take it for what it is worth. Love you guys.
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It is only fitting, in this time of high-stake test taking, to talk about stress. There is A LOT of crap that we have to do! Life is nuts. There are so many tasks. There are so many problems. Sometimes, I feel like every day I wake up and spend all of my time solving problems! Problems on homework, problems with the smoke detector, problems with a hungry belly, problems with a sad friend, problems with a poor relationship, problems related to housing, problems due to an empty wallet, problems with a blank study guide. PROBLEMS PROBLEMS PROBLEMS.
Sometimes the problems REALLY stress me out. I don't think I am alone on this one- everyone has problems and everyone gets stressed out (in varying degrees, of course).
The other day, I had a really cool experience that helped me realize an important and, dare I say, eternal principle.
Jay, Franklin and I were on a climb in Rock Canyon there above the temple - it is called Lord of the Slings (to be exact). It is a multi-pitch climb... which means that we would climb one length of the rope, reset our belay point and then climb another rope's length from that new spot.
I led the third pitch. I got to the top and began to set up the belay so Franklin and Jay could climb up as well. Everything went well and Franklin began to climb up next. About the time that he got to the top, I found myself looking out at the city below. By this time, we were high enough up that we could see most of Provo beneath us.
Here is an actual picture I took as I sat there.
As Franklin made it up to the place where I was belaying him, I made the comment, "Man, Provo is SMALL." He just kind of shrugged and was like whatever... "duh, Cees, it looks small... we are three rope lengths up," is probably what Franklin thought, but he is too nice to verbalize that.
I was commenting on the fact that city looked small, but as soon as I verbalized this obvious fact, I had a really weird realization that our time and what we do in this city is small. All at once I had this realization that - all of these things that I was letting stress me out (i.e. finals, work, class registration, money, etc.) really weren't that important at all. They were SMALL.
Finals would end - and in 10 years, I would have NO IDEA what classes I even took. Work stuff would get figured out - and in 5 years, I will forget the name of the girl that I worked with. Money problems will come and go - and in 2 years, there will be different money problems. These "rocky" relationships we have here in Provo will end - someday, with my kids, I will reminisce on those relationships and count my blessings that it worked out the way it did. It is all SMALL.
It reminds me of the scripture when God answers Joseph Smith in prison (D&C 121:7-8)
7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
These challenges and problems that we face, though in the moment seem overwhelming and stressful, if we take the time to look at them "three rope lengths up", we can see that they really are but a small moment. HOWEVER, it is important to note that this doesn't mean that we can just "blow of these responsibilities" and "not care" - this principle is only to help us realize that we don't need to be stressed out of our brains as we try to do our best.
That is all we can do - our best.
Anyways, hopefully this is a good mid-finals (or mid-life) thought. Take it for what it is worth. Love you guys.
