Moving Forward

I've been thinking about DISAPPOINTMENTS and that sometimes they just exist as part of this life experience. It's not that we have to obsess over them, but occasionally I think it important to acknowledge that they exist and then 'stand steady and face them'. I guess there are all kinds ... from the moment-to-moment disappointments we may have in those we love the most (even those darling toddlers), to daily disappointments (like those days when you mysteriously are running at least an hour behind and seem to get nothing done), or bigger disappointments like missed opportunities or life-changing events. Though I suppose there is no point to reminiscing about life's disappointments since that is part of mortality... so moving forward and hopefully onward and upward is the best option. Here are some inspiring quotes on the subject of Adversity that reminded me of the eternal perspective.

President Howard W. Hunter had this to say about pessimistic complaints, "Sounds like we all ought to go and eat a big plate of worms. I want to say to all ... that you have every reason in this world to be happy and to be optimistic and to be confident. Every generation since time began has had some things to overcome and some problems to work out. Furthermore, every individual person has a particular set of challenges that sometimes seem to be earmarked for us individually. We understood that in our premortal existence." (An Anchor to the Souls of Men, BYU Speech, February 1993)

"It was meant to be that life would be a challenge. To suffer some anxiety, some depression, some disappointment, even some failure is normal. Teach our members that if they have a good, miserable day once in a while, or several in a row, to stand steady and face them. Things will straighten out. There is great purpose in our struggle in life." (President Boyd K. Packer, That All May Be Edified)

"We knew before we were born that we were coming to earth for bodies and experience and that we would have joys and sorrows, ease and pain, comforts and hardships, health and sickness, successes and disappointments, and we knew also that after a period of life we would die. We accepted all these eventualities with a glad heart, eager to accept both the favorable and the unfavorable. We eagerly accepted the chance to come earthward even though it might be for only a day or a year. Perhaps we were not so much concerned whether we would die of disease, of accident, or of senility. We were willing to take life as it came and as we might organize and control it, and this without murmur, complaint, or unreasonable demands." (Elder Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle)

"When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window."
(Maria VanTrapp, Sound of Music)