Reality

Have you experienced reality?  I mean true reality, with all of the fogginess of this life stripped away?  I wish I could say that I experienced it more often.  That is my goal lately, to make room in my life and my mind for the spirit to enter in and show me "things as the really are."  (Jacob 4:13)

I was blessed with a potent encounter with reality a couple mornings ago.  I have been suffering from a severe case of what I like to call "Mom Brain."  Being a mother is a divine calling, but depending on how we go about fulfilling that calling, we can so easily lose our sharpness and emotional stability.  Everything in my life seems so complex and overwhelming at times.  Even when I know that I can have the Lord's help, sometimes I struggle to feel His spirit.  This is caused by my choices, how I spend my time and energy.  When I make poor choices I lose a degree of the spirit and life gets a little more foggy.

For some reason, on this particular morning, I woke up with a degree of clarity that hadn't felt in a long time.  It was easy to see how precious this life is, how powerful I could be if I was intentional about my actions choices, and how much I longed to be all that God wants me to be.  There was no catalyst that I was aware of, no reason why I should suddenly be feeling this way.  It was, to me, a miracle pure and simple, a blessing to help snap me out of my "Mom Brain."

Something else became supremely clear to me in that moment.  This was something that I had known and forgotten, and it's truth was then so strongly reconfirmed to me:

Satan's most powerful tools are Distraction, Apathy, and Mediocrity.  That order is important because that is exactly the order in which he attacks us.  We are people of God and we know our power and potential, but if Satan can distract us from that with things of this world, he can have a huge impact on our sphere of influence.  Just think of the opportunities for self-improvement and service that you miss out on in any given day when you have lost sight of who you truly are.  Think of the ripple effect for good that we have when are acting on Christ's behalf, and think of the loss when we don't take up those opportunities!  This is why we are warned again and again about avoiding the world.  (1 Nephi 22:23, Alma 1:16, D&C 25:10, 53:2, 59:9, 95:13, 2 Corinthians 6:17)

Heavenly Father knows that one of the biggest struggles for good LDS people in this day and age is avoiding the norms and philosophies of the world.  I certainly have felt that in full force.  It takes courage to step up and be different, even from others who are among your family, friends, or ward.  When we give in to the world we lose our power and fail to live up to our full potential.  When we become distracted long enough, we begin to give in to apathy.  "Who really cares?  Everybody else does this or that.  It doesn't really matter.  It doesn't really make that big of a difference."  These are the lies that Satan is feeding us as truth.  We lose touch with reality.  The end result is mediocrity.  Sure, we're still mostly doing what we should.  We're doing our "best," right?  But we are capable of so much more.

I had forgotten that.  I'm grateful for the wake-up call, and I really hope that I can live up to the renewed knowledge that I have received.  Help keep me on track!  I'll try to keep writing as I learn more and more about the truth of "things as they really are."