Sunday, November 24, 2013

The New T-Shirt Syndrome - Thanksgiving

The excitement and novelty of buying a new t-shirt usually wears off after wearing it once or twice. It then just becomes another one my shirts. I stop giving it extra-careful attention while doing laundry and instead start treating just like I treat any of my other clothes. I've seen this happen over and over, but I always seem to think that the next new shirt I'm about to buy at the store will make me happier than it actually does.

While studying at the required 9-week training program, a missionary did nothing but talk about how much better life would be once he was out in the area he had been assigned to. Once he was in the first neighborhood of that area, he would talk about how he hoped to be moved to a different one. Or how being home was just the thing he needed. Once home, he was certain that once he graduated from school he would be happy. Or once he was married. Or, then, once he had a family. Or once his children were older.

She didn't like herself very much. She tried to be good and to do her best, but she was always discouraged by how she never seemed to get anywhere in regards to overcoming her faults. She couldn't seem to acknowledge all that she had already learned and become as she had lived life, simply because she was looking to the future, imagining a day when she would be finally be free from her own weaknesses and stupidity.

As he looked in the mirror he was discouraged. He was still too big. Sure, he was healthier than he had ever been in his life. But, just look! Once he had lost another ten pounds, yes, that would make him feel differently.

She sat quietly as her married friends tried to get their squirmy children into their pajamas. As they asked why she wasn't dating anyone and offered suggestions, she faked a smile and gave some sort of amusing answer. Once back a home, she sat in her car long after she had pulled into the parking lot, thinking about how different and happy life would be once she was married.

Dieter Uchtdorf said:

“So often we get caught up in the illusion that there is something just beyond our reach that would bring us happiness: a better family situation, a better financial situation, or the end of a challenging trial.

“We shouldn’t wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to discover that happiness was already available—all the time! Life is not meant to be appreciated only in retrospect. 'This is the day which the Lord hath made … ,' the Psalmist wrote. 'Rejoice and be glad in it.'

“We are commanded 'to give thanks in all things.' So isn’t it better to see with our eyes and hearts even the small things we can be thankful for, rather than magnifying the negative in our current condition?

“The Lord has promised, 'He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold.'

Read Dieter Uchtdorf's complete sermon here: