10 Things to Do When You're Having A Hard Time
Imagine a world where the sun is always shining, there is no temptation, weakness, or sin. The grass is always green, hair is always shiny, flowers never die, people never misbehave, no illness exists, and the sky is always blue.
Imagine also a world where you never felt joy, you never laughed, you never sang or danced in the kitchen. There was no sweet – there was no color, there was no life. There was no righteousness, no growth, no children, no family.
Oddly enough, these are the same world.
When we chose God’s plan, we knew that this life would be difficult. Our whole purpose in coming to Earth is to be tried and tested. Yet, sometimes when life gets hard, we forget that we CHOSE this.
There must needs be an opposition in all things.
Proverbs 3:5-6 states: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy paths.”
1. Realize and understand your divine nature as a child of God.
There is power in knowing who you are and WHOSE you are. This knowledge has helped me many times over the years as I've struggled with hard things. It's hard to be sad when you know your worth! If you don't know your worth, God is there to answer your prayers. Because of this, you can pray to Him and He will tell you the love that He has for you. After each of the creative periods, God said, "And it was good." God has created all of these beautiful and wonderful things: trees, grass, flowers, dolphins, cats, the ocean, rain, and puppy dogs. All of these things are good. But "the worth of SOULS is GREAT in the sight of God" (D&C 18:10; emphasis added).
2. Pray.
Elder Richard G. Scott said, “…As you exercise that agency and include Him in every aspect of your daily life, your heart will begin to fill with peace, buoyant peace. That peace will focus an eternal light on your struggles. It will help you to manage those challenges from an eternal perspective.”
When I was in Jr. High, I struggled finding friends, because I was so alone, I prayed to God every single day, many times. To me, praying was my way of talking to a friend. When I had no one else, I had a friend in my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the ULTIMATE Friend.
3. Study your scriptures every, every day.
Elder Scott said: “Don’t yield to Satan’s lie that you don’t have time to study the scriptures. Choose to take time to study them. Feasting on the word of God each day is more important than sleep, school, work, television shows, video games, or social media. You may need to reorganize your priorities to provide time for the study of the word of God. If so, do it!”
Reading my scriptures saved me from a dark time in my life. I found comfort in the words "for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16). I received the impression, shortly after reading this message that God loves me THIIIISSS much.
*This is based off of the expression often used by little kids that they love someone as much as their arms can stretch, and more.
Then I thought of the Savior on the cross and the love that He felt as He was dying on the cross for me. He loves me (and you) THIIIISSSS much and more. I would not have had this experience, had I not studied the word of God.
4. Have family home evening every week.
Elder Scott said: “Do not let employment demands, sports, extracurricular activities, homework, or anything else become more important than that time you spend together at home with your family.”
5.Attend the temple regularly.
Elder Scott recommends scheduling a time to go regularly and not letting anything get in the way of attending. My parents have a code word for the temple, so that Satan can't find a way to get them not to go. Do whatever it takes to go. If you're worthy to enter the Lord's temple, you are good enough. Always strive to be worthy for the temple.
6. Be grateful and see the good in the world.
Living righteously (praying, reading the scriptures, etc.) is not enough to be happy. You can read your scriptures all you want, but unless you choose to be happy, grateful, and to see the good in the world, you won't be happy. Happiness is not a destination, it is a quest.
7. Take 30 minutes every day to go for a walk, or do something active.
I have noticed more and more how dual our beings are. We have our evil, carnal, and natural man on one end, and our divine, royal, Child of God status on another. I have noticed that when I exercise my body, I am exercising my spirit, for my body houses my spirit. And when I do so, my two conflicting sides coalesce, and my duality fades. I am more in touch with my divine potential when I exercise my body.
8. Have a hobby you can do that, in essence, "puts oil in your lamp."
If you don't replenish your light, you have no light to give to others. We have to take care of ourselves. For me, that is singing, but find a wholesome activity that allows you to fill your bucket and let your light shine!
9. Help out someone in need and don't allow yourself to dwell in negativity alone for too long.
There was a study done with rats that illustrated this point. There were two sets of rats: one rat alone in a cage with two options of what to drink - pure water, or meth dissolved in water, or multiple rats in a cage with other toys to play with. The second group of rats had the same options of choose from as the first. They noticed that the rat that was alone became addicted to the meth which eventually lead to the rat's death. The rats that had other rats and other things to keep them company didn't purposely choose the meth water because it had other rats around it to socialize with. This is exactly how humans are made. We are social beings and we shouldn't allow ourselves to be alone for too long. It's okay to feel sad, and everyone needs a certain amount of quiet time, but don't allow yourself to dwell on negativity for too long. Find something else to do to help rise above the negative emotions.
10. Forgive.
When we chose God’s plan, we also chose Jesus Christ as our Savior. His Atonement has already happened. It is done. It doesn’t just apply to you and me, it also applies to those that wrong us. When someone wrongs us, we have to realize that their sins have already been covered. Jesus Christ took upon Himself everyone’s sins, so those sins are no longer theirs. They are His. Now it is our job, in essence, to forgive Him. And that’s easy, because we love Him.
To quote our beloved prophet: “…Your Heavenly Father loves you—each of you. That love never changes. It is not influenced by your appearance, by your possessions, or by the amount of money you have in your bank account. It is not changed by your talents and abilities. It is simply there. It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there.”
We chose our Heavenly Father’s plan. This means we chose to experience hard things. But this also means that we chose the Savior! We chose joy! We chose laughter! We chose learning to become like God through good and bad things. We chose family. We chose forever. We chose.
When we acknowledge God in all things, and exercise our faith in Him, He directs us to where He needs us to be.
In the words of Jeffery R. Holland:
“Don't you quit. You keep walking, you keep trying, there is help and happiness ahead. Some blessings come soon. Some come late. Some don't come until heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be alright in the end. Trust God and believe in Good Things to Come.”
Imagine also a world where you never felt joy, you never laughed, you never sang or danced in the kitchen. There was no sweet – there was no color, there was no life. There was no righteousness, no growth, no children, no family.
Oddly enough, these are the same world.
When we chose God’s plan, we knew that this life would be difficult. Our whole purpose in coming to Earth is to be tried and tested. Yet, sometimes when life gets hard, we forget that we CHOSE this.
There must needs be an opposition in all things.
Proverbs 3:5-6 states: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy paths.”
1. Realize and understand your divine nature as a child of God.
There is power in knowing who you are and WHOSE you are. This knowledge has helped me many times over the years as I've struggled with hard things. It's hard to be sad when you know your worth! If you don't know your worth, God is there to answer your prayers. Because of this, you can pray to Him and He will tell you the love that He has for you. After each of the creative periods, God said, "And it was good." God has created all of these beautiful and wonderful things: trees, grass, flowers, dolphins, cats, the ocean, rain, and puppy dogs. All of these things are good. But "the worth of SOULS is GREAT in the sight of God" (D&C 18:10; emphasis added).
2. Pray.
Elder Richard G. Scott said, “…As you exercise that agency and include Him in every aspect of your daily life, your heart will begin to fill with peace, buoyant peace. That peace will focus an eternal light on your struggles. It will help you to manage those challenges from an eternal perspective.”
When I was in Jr. High, I struggled finding friends, because I was so alone, I prayed to God every single day, many times. To me, praying was my way of talking to a friend. When I had no one else, I had a friend in my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the ULTIMATE Friend.
3. Study your scriptures every, every day.
Elder Scott said: “Don’t yield to Satan’s lie that you don’t have time to study the scriptures. Choose to take time to study them. Feasting on the word of God each day is more important than sleep, school, work, television shows, video games, or social media. You may need to reorganize your priorities to provide time for the study of the word of God. If so, do it!”
Reading my scriptures saved me from a dark time in my life. I found comfort in the words "for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16). I received the impression, shortly after reading this message that God loves me THIIIISSS much.
*This is based off of the expression often used by little kids that they love someone as much as their arms can stretch, and more.
Then I thought of the Savior on the cross and the love that He felt as He was dying on the cross for me. He loves me (and you) THIIIISSSS much and more. I would not have had this experience, had I not studied the word of God.
4. Have family home evening every week.
Elder Scott said: “Do not let employment demands, sports, extracurricular activities, homework, or anything else become more important than that time you spend together at home with your family.”
5.Attend the temple regularly.
Elder Scott recommends scheduling a time to go regularly and not letting anything get in the way of attending. My parents have a code word for the temple, so that Satan can't find a way to get them not to go. Do whatever it takes to go. If you're worthy to enter the Lord's temple, you are good enough. Always strive to be worthy for the temple.
6. Be grateful and see the good in the world.
Living righteously (praying, reading the scriptures, etc.) is not enough to be happy. You can read your scriptures all you want, but unless you choose to be happy, grateful, and to see the good in the world, you won't be happy. Happiness is not a destination, it is a quest.
7. Take 30 minutes every day to go for a walk, or do something active.
I have noticed more and more how dual our beings are. We have our evil, carnal, and natural man on one end, and our divine, royal, Child of God status on another. I have noticed that when I exercise my body, I am exercising my spirit, for my body houses my spirit. And when I do so, my two conflicting sides coalesce, and my duality fades. I am more in touch with my divine potential when I exercise my body.
8. Have a hobby you can do that, in essence, "puts oil in your lamp."
If you don't replenish your light, you have no light to give to others. We have to take care of ourselves. For me, that is singing, but find a wholesome activity that allows you to fill your bucket and let your light shine!
9. Help out someone in need and don't allow yourself to dwell in negativity alone for too long.
There was a study done with rats that illustrated this point. There were two sets of rats: one rat alone in a cage with two options of what to drink - pure water, or meth dissolved in water, or multiple rats in a cage with other toys to play with. The second group of rats had the same options of choose from as the first. They noticed that the rat that was alone became addicted to the meth which eventually lead to the rat's death. The rats that had other rats and other things to keep them company didn't purposely choose the meth water because it had other rats around it to socialize with. This is exactly how humans are made. We are social beings and we shouldn't allow ourselves to be alone for too long. It's okay to feel sad, and everyone needs a certain amount of quiet time, but don't allow yourself to dwell on negativity for too long. Find something else to do to help rise above the negative emotions.
10. Forgive.
When we chose God’s plan, we also chose Jesus Christ as our Savior. His Atonement has already happened. It is done. It doesn’t just apply to you and me, it also applies to those that wrong us. When someone wrongs us, we have to realize that their sins have already been covered. Jesus Christ took upon Himself everyone’s sins, so those sins are no longer theirs. They are His. Now it is our job, in essence, to forgive Him. And that’s easy, because we love Him.
To quote our beloved prophet: “…Your Heavenly Father loves you—each of you. That love never changes. It is not influenced by your appearance, by your possessions, or by the amount of money you have in your bank account. It is not changed by your talents and abilities. It is simply there. It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there.”
We chose our Heavenly Father’s plan. This means we chose to experience hard things. But this also means that we chose the Savior! We chose joy! We chose laughter! We chose learning to become like God through good and bad things. We chose family. We chose forever. We chose.
When we acknowledge God in all things, and exercise our faith in Him, He directs us to where He needs us to be.
In the words of Jeffery R. Holland:
“Don't you quit. You keep walking, you keep trying, there is help and happiness ahead. Some blessings come soon. Some come late. Some don't come until heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be alright in the end. Trust God and believe in Good Things to Come.”
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