Personal Potentials, Mistakes, and the Only Way to Be Better

"Falling is what we mortals do. But as long as we are willing to rise up again and continue on the path toward the spiritual goals God has given us, we can learn something from failure and become better and happier as a result." -- PRESIDENT DIETER F. UCHTDORF

Yesterday we moved into a new apartment, and with that a new congregation for church. It's always a nervous feeling that you get when you move into a new ward (term for a congregation boundary). You never know if you will fit into the ward, or if you will have to force yourself to fit. 

As I sat in the chapel with the rest of the congregation a thought came to me... "Cleave, are you living up to your full potential? Are you being 100% Christlike every second of your life?" Of course the answer is no. But there isn't any reason to beat myself up about it. No being that was ever on this Earth was perfect, except for one: Jesus Christ.

Stop and think for a moment. The Son of God came down to Earth to obtain an imperfect body. He went through many trials to be an example for every single person on the Earth. He went around serving and performing miracles, all so that people would be able to recognize Him as the Savior. 

Now I am not saying that it's perfectly fine to be ok with making mistakes, it's just that we shouldn't beat ourselves up over them. How many times do we think that if we spill a bag of popcorn kernels on the floor that it's the end of the world? That we are klutzes and we aren't good for anything?! (Dramatization I know). My point is there are times where we just make ourselves feel so inadequate. Where we get into a downward spiral over a small problem. At least I do. There was something else that President Uchtdorf said in his talk ("You Can Do It Now", Oct 2013):

"...our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble but by the number of times we rise up, dust ourselves off, and move forward."

That is so true. I have been thinking about this a lot today. Why do we waste time thinking about how we could have done something better? Doesn't the Lord say that once we are forgiven that it isn't remembered anymore? Do we really have trust in that promise? Do we truly believe Christ and his words: (Paraphrased) That no matter what if we take the full advantage of the Atonement and do our best to follow the Savior's example, truly repenting when we make mistakes, that we will be able to return with Him and Heavenly Father again?

Please don't think that you, or anyone else is lost. Everyone has a chance to be able to feel love and confidence from above.

I am sitting here typing this with my 2.5 month old sleeping on my lap. I think of what he is going to be like in all aspects of life! There are so many things that I want to teach him, and help him with... but then I realize that because of where he is in life, I am going to have to slow down and wait for him to actually be able to say "Daddy" or "Mommy" until I can really start teaching. 

But most of all if I can teach him one thing in his life, it will be that the Atonement of the Savior is the only way of really being truly happy. Because it is, being clean of mistakes and sins is the best thing that has ever happened for all mankind.