The Doer of Our Deeds

January 20, 2010

I really enjoyed this article. It really changed my perspective on self-concept and self-esteem. Many times we feel that outward experiences and events shape what we know and how we feel about ourselves but this talk taught me how it should be and it is more inward.
After reading this talk I thought of my lowest-low and my highest high point in life. I also noticed that during my highest high I and my time of greatest self esteem I was trying very hard to be obedient and striving to live as Christ. I noticed that when I was slacking on my prayers or reading my scriptures I was not at my peak. Not to say that when you are being obedient only good things will come from it. Bad things happen to good people- that’s life. But patience and a deeper knowledge from enduring trials will come. Satan wants to make us feel alone. He wants us to feel like we are the ONLY ones who are suffering or experiencing our state of being. As smart as he is, he knows that this will make us feel self-pity and a sense of justification on our acts.
However, just as the scripture says in Moroni 7:16–17, “For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God. But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil
work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.” I love this scripture because it is so simple and straight to the point yet so deep and encompassing that it can be related to anything and everything.
Satan knows our flaws, shortcomings, and weaknesses and in his own conniving ways we oftentimes allow him to use that knowledge against us. He knows the areas we want to keep hidden from others and the thoughts that we let seep into our heads and hearts that will bring us down and further away from Christ. By being hard on ourselves and not loving ourselves we are pushing out the Savior’s view of us and hanging onto what Satan has plotted for us.
When I think back on my lowest low I so badly want to hug her (or in better words: my past self). I become disappointed in myself that I ever viewed such harsh and un-Christ like thoughts about myself- myself being a spirit daughter of God. I know that if I was able to view myself in His eyes I wouldn’t have seen myself as I had. I feel this way to when a loved one, family member, or friend is hard on themselves and speaks negatively having a narrow-minded approach that Satan has sneakily released into their mind. I think to myself, “If only they could see themselves as I see them” and I know that the Savior feels this way about how we look upon ourselves.
The greatest concept I learned from this talk was the principle of faith. In short, having faith is what makes of breaks you. Believing in Christ and his word is what gives us the faith to actively act upon His word. It gives us a sure knowledge of things, and having that faith makes it possible for us to have a hope and to believe in ourselves. It gives us a sort of reassurance that helps us move forward. That is my goal in life- to move forward. Even if it is just a tiny step, as long as I am in the right direction, I know that I will be learning and growing. My dad always said that pace isn't as important as direction. Forward in faith, not backwards in fear.

Compliment Challenge

January 20, 2010

This past week we were challenged to give three sincere compliments and watch for reactions upon giving them.
Right after class I thought about who I wanted to give them too, but realized it would be much more sincere if I just let it come to me on the spot, rather than planning it out. I had a long 3-day weekend to make my goal.
I met up with my friend (you know him! ---Joseph Baxter) and we drove to Lava Hot Springs to go swimming. I have known him for 4 years because he was my FHE brother before he left for his mission. As we were driving we talked a lot about his family and his mother who had died in a car accident when he was 14. He had only ever mentioned her once before in our whole 4 year friendship. After he talked about her for a bit I told him how proud of him she must be, for all the decisions he has made and for who he is. I didn’t even realize I was fulfilling one of my goals for the class, at the moment it just felt right to say. He took it very sincerely and even mentioned her a couple times later, I feel that because of the response I gave he felt more comfortable to talk to me about a hurtful time in his life.
My room mate and I went to a bon-fire. While we were there I noticed she wouldn’t talk to anyone or go out of her way to meet new people. I tried introducing her to everyone and getting her involved in the conversation but she had already made it up in her mind that she didn’t want anything to do with it. She called another room mate to come pick her up and I walked with her to the road. She apologized and said she just has anxiety and feels like she has nothing to offer anyone. This baffled me! I couldn’t think of anyone who would not like her. I told her that I wished she could see herself the way I see her. I told her that she has so much to offer everyone she meets and that by holding back she isn’t sharing her light with others. Then I told her that I know she has it in her to open up and meet others because she served a mission and that takes lots of guts! It was all a matter of mind and believing in yourself that you really do have something to offer others and that you aren’t just a nobody. She still left but my room mate who picked her up said that it was smart of me not to just ruin my night as well on her account, but told me that she had said how much what I said to her meant and impacted her. I didn’t think of this instance as “complimenting” someone either. I was just telling her the truth!
Lastly, there is this girl in my ward who is dating one of my friends. I do not know her well, only her name. But she is someone I would like to get to know. On the way to my door she was passing by and we started as a simple hi and bye passing but I began to ask her what her plans were for the remainder of the weekend. We began chatting and talked for about 10 minutes. When she told me she was glad to talk I told her I was glad I got to know her better and meet her personally and that my first impression of her walking in with her boyfriend (my friend) was right—because I thought she was just a sweet and sincere girl and meeting her only made it more true.

This was a great challenge that I want to further continue. 3 sincere compliments in a week is hardly challenging if you are choosing to be optimistic and look for the best in people, and doing this challenge helped me do that! (:

Scripture on Communication

Two scriptures that really stood out to me concerning communication were:
Colossians 4:6- "Let your speech always be with grace"
Exodus 33:11- "The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend."

I liked these because I believe that the Savior always spoke with love and grace and it is just a reminder to me to speak with that same love. For if I can speak with love then I can truly have a stronger love for them.
I like the second one because it teaches a good principle (especially now days) of speaking face to face. They have had many New Era and ensign articles about how we should text less and communicate face to face more. I think personal communication is much more effective.

Book Chapter Videos

I am trying to get the links so you can just click and watch them but I'm running across a few problems of uploading them so I wrote what you need to write in the youtube site to be able to view them. Enjoy! (:

Perception: youtube- Finding Nemo, "Clown Fish Joke". Marlin tries to tell a joke, but it doesn't
go over so well. The other sea creatures are dissapointed with the joke because clearly he's a clown fish and is supposed to be funny!

Emotion: youtube- "That 70's Show- Eric Don't Share Your Emotions". Eric's uncle just died and Red doesn't want Eric to open up and share emotions. Funny!

Body Language: youtube- "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from Disney's The Little Mermaid. Ursula explains to Ariel that though she won't be able to speak, she has body language to help guide her. Great clip!

Language: youtube- "I Can Change the World." Written words appear as a girl read them front to bottom. Then it changes as she reads the same words bottom to top but gives a completely different meaning. Another thought provoking clip.

Communication Climate: youtube- "The Office- Work Climate." Michael wan'ts everyone to embrace eachother's differences so he has everyone post a index card on their head and has everyone else treat the person that way.

Listening: youtube- "The Office-Launch Party." Michael is lecturing about a new idea and those in the conference room are waiting for the Windows Icon to hit the corner of the computer. They cheer when it almost does and Michael feels they love what he has to say. Hilarious.

YOU Project

I had Nathan Sardoni. It was fun but a little awkward to have to sit and watch him in class, mostly because he's a member of the opposite sex and I didn't want him to think I was stalking him, which I clearly was. But let me tell you, Nathan is a funny, funny kid. You can tell he was a lot on him mind yet he doesn't speak up much in class. But when he does it's deep and profound. The kid is clearly a smart, observant boy. Not to mention he looks exactly like my friend! So as the gift I gave him it was a picture of my friend who looks and acts exactly like him. Its fun to see a picture of your twin. It was also interesting because knowing Brian (his twin) made me more comfortable and warm up quicker with Nathan even though I had never known him before. It was a great project!

What Not to Wear

My scenario was someone who was to testify not guilty in court. I wanted to dress as jailbird, I thought that would be fun, however finding a orange jump suit was difficult enough- I found no luck shopping at the DI. Intead I wore a professional looking outfit. A blazer, white button-up shirt, tights, and heels. I found this looked professional enough. Then I added some cuffs to my hands to give it away a little more. It turned out well. I acted as if i was brought into some room and had a microphone where I would respond, "yes, no, and I plead the fifth." They all guessed pretty quick. It was a fun class day seeing everyone act their part!

Non-verbal Babysitting

I babysat my niece today who is a year and a half. She can say about 4 words, which unlike the ones I choose are, Ma, Dad, Hi, and Bye. After reading this chapter and making my observations today I realized how I spent 6 hours non verbally babysitting. She couldn't tell me what she wanted, or didn't want with her words, so I had to use clues and context and gestures the entire night. Many times I was wrong, many times I was right. It was defiantly trial and error. She was very good at reading me too. She knew he limits. I didn't have to say NO to her for her to know she shouldn't do something, she could see my eyes weren't approving and that was No enough. It was fun to observe and try and conclude to what she was thinking throughout the many different scenarios of the day!