This week was
rough. I just couldn’t seem to get on top of everything at work, and I felt
like an epic failure (that’s one step beyond failure, for those unfamiliar with
my failure scale).
I even forgot to
eat lunch on one of those days. You know how some people can go a whole day and
say, “Oh dear, I haven’t eaten anything today. How forgetful!” I’m not one of
them. So if I miss a meal, you know it’s a bad day.
It forced me to
rethink my career choice, which threw all of my other decisions into question.
Should I really have had Cheerios for breakfast? Should we have painted the
walls that shade of cream? Seriously deep stuff.
I decided that I
just wasn’t cut out to work. I was actually meant to inherit a large sum of
money and spend my life on a beach with sea turtles and pick pineapples while
convincing my skin to tan, not burn. Clearly I was in the wrong job.
As amazing as
that would be, I realised how farfetched it was if I thought my pasty-white
complexion could ever tan.
After stressing
about the next day of work, I asked myself what it really was that made me so
upset. It wasn’t my job; it was the feeling of inadequacy. I hated feeling like
I was unqualified to work in a field that I had trained so hard to qualify for.
No matter how hard I worked, no matter how early I came in or how late I
stayed, I could never get everything done. I couldn’t do it by myself.
That when I
realized I don't have to do it alone
Someone already
volunteered to help me. My Savior Jesus Christ died for me so I
don’t have to go through life alone. I just need to learn how to rely on Him.
Life can be hard,
but it’s so much better knowing that I have help. Sometimes it’s beautifully
messy and tragically stunning. It’s high and low, bliss and pain, but He’s my
constant.
It gives me so
much comfort, especially in times when I just can’t understand why bad things
happen.
I lost someone a
year ago who was very dear to me. I’ve also seen many friends and family
members encounter huge losses that turn life upside-down.
The pain is real
and consuming at times. How can anyone cope with tragedies? The answer is in
the Savior. I don’t know why certain things happen, but I do know that we don’t
have to face anything alone.
Tomorrow is
Easter, which is a big celebration in Christianity. It’s marks when Jesus
Christ rose again after being crucified for all of mankind. He broke the bonds
of death, which means we can all be with the ones we love forever.
My
feelings about it are summed up by Dieter F Uchtdorf: “Is it any
wonder that whenever we face the bitter endings of life, they seem unacceptable
to us? There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings. Why is
this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings,
children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless and who promises eternal
blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny.”He goes on to say: “The more we learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we realize that endings here in mortality are not endings at all. They are merely interruptions—temporary pauses that one day will seem small compared to the eternal joy awaiting the faithful.”
A lot of things don’t
make sense to me in life, but this does.
We are eternal because
God is eternal. He has the power to help us cope with the pain and make a fresh
start – putting our past behind us.
My alarming inadequacies
are small compared to his abilities.
While I haven’t
completely put aside the idea of sunburning on a beach for a living, I know God
can make far more out of me than I ever imagined.
It’s all because of Him.
Happy Easter!
