IN the World, but not OF the World

Having attended college in a community highly populated by members of the LDS church, I became accustomed to the easiness of associating myself with others who had the same standards as me. There were still situations in which I found myself slightly uncomfortable because of the choice of activity or conversation, but for the most part I felt no qualms about engaging myself in the community of people with whom I lived.  However, such a community is not the reality for the majority of the world, and as I graduated and moved on with me life, I was faced with the interesting challenge of how to associate with people who had drastically different standards than me in regards to conversation, activities, and morals.

From what little association I had with this new community of people, I already felt the lack of being positively uplifted and much of time I felt slightly uncomfortable and out of place.  I wanted to be a positive influence, and I wanted to have people with whom to interact, but it just seemed easier to maintain my own personal standards if I simply isolated myself from such associations.

Although it was my choice to disassociate myself from certain activities and groups of people, I almost felt as though it was not me that was disassociating, but them.  I wanted nothing more than to interact with people, to do fun activities, to talk of ideas and events, to encourage and uplift; however, my experience did not prove that others always wished to engage in such pursuits.  Would my involvement with such people change the group for the better?  Possibly.  Yet, on the other hand would it be more likely that my involvement would leave me feeling negative, uncomfortable, and out of place?

"How then do we balance the need to positively contribute to the world and to not succumb to the sins of the world?"1  

There are many genuine and good people in this world that may or may not hold the same standards as I do.  However, this is not reason enough to alienate myself from them.  Yet, the 'gulf' between the standards of the world and way our Heavenly Father has commanded us to live is widening ever more.  I believe that we can have positive associations with others who do not hold the same standards as us.  However, I also believe that there are many situations where the positive influence that we can have on a group is to remove ourselves and to not participate at all.

The key to know whether we should participate or refrain is to recognize whether our associations encourage us to live what we believe.  We will always be surrounded by people with different beliefs, perspectives, and opinions.  However, despite these differences, there should be a common goal amongst us to uplift and encourage others to be their best self.  It is when I feel the lack of this common curtesy that I remove myself from such associations.

Sometimes the best thing we can do is to simply be true to ourselves, true to our God, and true to our faith.  In a world that is rapidly separating itself from the eternal truths of our Heavenly Father, we as His disciples will not have to declare where we stand.  The way we live our lives we declare it for us!

1  https://www.lds.org/youth/article/being-in-the-world-but-not-of-the-world?lang=eng

Mac and Cheese

I made myself some macaroni and cheese tonight.  I divided it in half to save some for tomorrow...but ended up eating the whole box! Then, feeling slightly guilty, I looked at the nutrition facts to see how many servings were in one box.  I was expecting it to say at least 4, cuz I mean we used to eat this stuff as kids and it seemed like one box fed five of us!  Guess what the servings per box were?!...2!!  Haha!  Well, at least I didn't feel guilty anymore!  2 servings!?  Really?!  How in the world did that feed so many of us?!  We had to have made like three boxes for a meal, or we just had a lot of hot dogs! Haha!

"And behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness!"

He was 29 years old; single; with unruly, chin-length hair; drinking; smoking; and living out of his van with a black lab puppy when he told me that he was happy.  "Never been more happy than when I've just been living out of my van," he proclaimed.  Not one to assume that I know exactly what makes each and every person happy, I smiled and agreed that such a carefree life would certainly be fun.  However, his comment kept me thinking.  The quest of every human is to find happiness.  I've met many different people in various situations that have claimed to be happy.  Likewise, I've met others in comparable situations to those who claim to be happy who are clearly not satisfied with their lives.  How can one person claim to be happy in a situation that another person would invariably be miserable?  And who are we to look at someone else's life and determine whether they should or should not be happy because of their personal lifestyle choices?  From a religious perspective, there are apparently different levels of happiness.  The more one trusts our Heavenly Father and follows His will for them, we have been promised a greater, more authentic source of happiness.  As I've put this truth to practice in my own life, I have recognized the promised blessings.  Yet as there are varying degrees of happiness, it would be natural to assume that if one does not know what happiness is at a higher level, than he/she would be perfectly content and happy at his/her current level of happiness.  Thus, no one can tell another whether or not they are truly happy, nor can they tell them that there is perhaps more happiness that they could acquire.  Man's search for happiness comes from within.  Our souls know when we are happy, and when we must search for something more in our lives.  However, I will say this; change is the only constant in our lives, and likewise our happiness will never remain stagnant.  Happiness is a direct result of positive actions and obedience to eternal truths.  The more we strive to incorporate those positive actions into our lives, and to live in accordance to those eternal truths, the quality of our happiness will increase as well!