How to 'Unlearn, what You have Learned'.

I want to be a U.S. Marshal.  This means I have a very firm mindset.  I know exactly what I need to do and then I do it.  It leaves very little room for error, and I often tell others what bothers me.   In order to do what I want, I must first become who I want to be.

Unlearning a way of thinking is often very difficult, possibly the most difficult thing anyone would ever do.  With something that is hard physically, you simply go work out and build up strength until you can accomplish the task.  But when your obstacle is Mental you must be able to break it down, and yet not remove the wall.

Black Wall

I have wondered . . . How is it possible to build a Blue wall in the place of a Black wall without removing the Black wall?

Blue Wall

Then a good friend helped me to see that the wall doesn't have to be all one color.  Both colors can be part of the wall.  So all I have to do is figure out which bricks need replaced from the Black, and then remove it and insert a Blue brick.

"And according to his faith 

there was a mighty change wrought in his heart. 

Behold I say unto you that this is all true."

-- Alma 5:12

Knowing what to do is only the beginning, the actually doing it takes time and effort to change not only the way you act, but also the way you think.  Rethinking things and changing your mind is usually not all that difficult, but having a permanent change in how you see things is often a very hard struggle.

Black Wall with Blue Brick 'upgrades'

"And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, 

if ye have experienced a change of heart, 

and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, 

I would ask, can ye feel so now?"

-- Alma 5:26

I have one year left on my Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  In that time I hope to assimilate all the Blue bricks I need to in order to make my wall balanced as it should be.

"And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, 

have ye spiritually been born of God? 

Have ye received his image in your countenances? 

Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?"

-- Alma 5:14

"The bricks are fallen down, 

but we will build with hewn stones; 

the sycamores are cut down, 

but we will change them into cedars."

-- 2 Nephi 19:10

Patience - Children

"Patience means active waiting and enduring. 

It means staying with something and doing all that we can 

working, hoping, and exercising faith; 

bearing hardship with fortitude, 

even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. 

Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!"

 

-- President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

 

Many times in Life we seem to put ourselves in a position we need something but have to wait on others before we will be able to get it.  If we are always trying to move forward it becomes easy to forget that we sometimes need to "be still and know that [He is] God."(Psalms 46:10)

Even when we are pained from seeing someone else struggle, we might be able to help them more by allowing them to figure it out and being patient with them, even if we already have a solution.

“We should learn to be patient with ourselves. 

Recognizing our strengths and our weaknesses, 

we should strive to use good judgment in all of our choices and decisions, 

make good use of every opportunity, 

and do our best in every task we undertake. 

We should not be unduly discouraged 

nor in despair at any time when we are doing the best we can. 

Rather, we should be satisfied with our progress 

even though it may come slowly at times.”

-- Joseph B. Wirthlin

 

I sometimes struggle because I feel that I am not 'good enough'.  A good friend showed me the other day that even if I do something stupid every now and again, it doesn't make me a bad person.

There are 168 hours in a week which is 10,080 minutes.  Even if I was to do something stupid for 30 minutes a day, only 2.08% of my week was stupid.  If 60% was a passing grade, I think most of us are at least C average because we spend roughly 30% of our time in bed.  Knowing that I was doing much better than my brain thought I was has helped me to move forward, feel better about who I am, and what I do.

How do I 'Digivolve' Myself ? ?

We all have different stages of growth.  We learn things as we go through life and they help us to deal with things we will face in the future.  Without learning and growing from trials we simply get frustrated and worried when faced with new obstacles.

This is a clip from Digimon, a show I loved growing up.

Patamon Digivolves into Angemon, and Angemon Digivolves into MagnaAngemon.

Out of all the Digimon of the First season Patamon was the last to Digivolve.  This is because he wasn't sure about what would happen when he did.  Only after he learned that he needed to in order to protect others was he willing to do it, and that willingness to serve is what gave him the strength to Digivolve.

Later on he learns an extra Digi-evolution and Digivolves into MagnaAngemon.  This would be impossible without going through some kind of test to make him stronger.

Just as steel is stronger when it is forged and put through the fire, so to must we each pass through a Spiritual Fire and grow from our trials.  (Numbers 31:23)

By learning from our trials we will be strengthened and increase our capacity to endure, and 'Digivolve' ourselves into a greater ability of obedience to the Commandments of the Gospel.