We often hear the phase of life we’re in described as the “Decade of Decision”.  But really, as I look around at my friends sometimes it seems more appropriately related as the “Decade of Anxiety”.  We’re trying to figure out who we are, what we want to do for a living, who that special someone is, and how we’re supposed to accomplish all that.  That’s a lot of unknowns.  And sometimes people don’t do so well with so many unknowns looming before them.  As I talk with my friends and think of my own experiences, it seems to me that sometimes we let our doubts, weaknesses, and insecurities get the better of us. Today I want to talk about the power of perception and the power of the Atonement in helping us change who we are and how we see ourselves. 

For those of you who don’t know me, I am a Biology major preparing for Veterinary School.  So if there’s a parallel or slightly related connection to the animal world in the course of discussing any topic, I’m likely to let you know.  Like now:  Fleas are small bloodsucking, wingless insects. But they’ve got long legs that are well adapted for jumping.  That’s how they get on your pets (but don’t worry, they don’t survive in Utah, so don’t waste your money on flea stuff).  When I say small I mean about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch long. But a flea can jump vertically up to 7 inches and horizontally up to 13 inches.  So those little bugs can jump about 200 times their own body length, making fleas among the best jumpers in the animal kingdom.  That would be like us jumping the length of a football field.  You may have heard of flea circuses which are little attractions where fleas are jumping all around doing little tricks.  With such a great jumping ability, it makes you wonder why they don’t just jump out their enclosure.  It’s because the fleas are conditioned to jump below their potential.  

When the fleas are purchased they are put in a small container with a lid like a mason jar and then the jar is shaken.  Naturally the fleas are a little freaked out and they start jumping like crazy.  As a result, they go flying through the air until the hit the lid at full speed.  And that hurts. At first you hear tink tink tink tink as they’re jumping all around.  But over time the frequency of those collisions subsides until there’s no sound at all.  After about 30 minutes of this, you can take the lid off of the jar and the fleas will not jump out. They react to the impact of hitting the lid and adapt by jumping with less force and are conditioned to jump just shy of hitting the lid.  So when you put them in the flea circus they won’t jump out. 

You might be thinking that you’re a little more sophisticated than a flea, so we’ll scale it up a bit.  The Asian Elephant is the second largest land dwelling animal in the world.  They can weigh up to 12,000 lbs, live in complex family groups, and share similar brain structure with humans and dolphins.  But these giants are also displayed in circuses.  Restraining an elephant recently captured from the wild is a dangerous process.  Strong chains are tied to their ankles and after days of straining the elephant learns it cannot escape.  These heavy chains are replaced by lighter ones which eventually are replaced by nothing more than a light rope.  As long as the elephant feels the rope on its ankle, it is convinced that there is nothing it can do about, even though a small kick would be enough to free itself. There was even a report of one circus that caught fire where none of the elephants fought for their freedom and eventually died in the flames.

Our lives may not seem as dramatic as that.  But our own attitudes and experiences are constantly defining us. We are these incredible beings with infinite and eternal potential, but somehow we let little things get in our way.   I know this because I’ve seen it in my life and the lives of some of my closest friends.  We let sins, bad habits, less than stellar grades or a few bad dating experiences contaminate how we view ourselves and before we know it we’ve convinced ourselves that we’re too bad, too addicted, too stubborn, too ugly, and too stupid to see any way out. 

Now I don’t think that we feel this way all the time.  After all, life really is incredible and we have so many opportunities and blessings surrounding us.  But today I’m talking about those moments when we forget all that and focus in on the inadequacies of self.  Right now you’ve probably conjured up a dreary little list of your own shortcomings in your head from all this cheerful subject matter I’ve presented you with.  But now is when you stop that.  Because you are not the sum of your faults.  You are a child of God.

Elder Robert C. Oaks reminds us of our divine potential in his devotional address Your Divine Heritage, “You know you are a child of God, a son or a daughter of a loving Father who has structured a glorious plan for the salvation and happiness of each of His children. You understand that you were in the presence of our Father in Heaven in premortal councils, where His plan was presented to all of His children. We accepted His plan. Jesus Christ was there, and He became the leading advocate for the plan—the objective of which is to provide all of God’s children the opportunity to come to earth; obtain a body; and, during our period of mortal probation, prove ourselves in faith, repentance, obedience, and enduring to the end. We accepted that we would one day stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and be judged. Those found worthy would be exalted and would dwell eternally in the presence of the Father and the Son, with eternal family relationships prevailing.” We know that.  We come here every week and talk about it and glory in it.  That’s why I love church.  I need that.  I need to be reminded who I am and what I am capable of.  I also love that Elder Oaks says that we were to prove ourselves in “faith, repentance, obedience, and enduring to the end.”  We’re expected to fall down every now and then, but it’s what we do when we get back up that matters.

Satan knows that too unfortunately and he also knows that one of his greatest tools is getting us to forget the things we know.  Elder Oaks then goes on to discuss identity theft.  There are messages about identity theft all around us.  Maybe some you have experienced it or know of someone who has.  But as bad as having a social security number taken is, it is nothing when compared to forgetting who we really are. 

So how does Satan do it then?  He gets us to doubt, undermines our faith, and fills the world with messages and images that teach us that we are much less than we really are.  He tempts us with sin and the guilt that that brings, convinces us that we are outside the reach of the infinite atonement, and that we will never accomplish anything.  It’s easy to see how quickly one can be paralyzed by these fears. 

But we can’t let that happen.  I’m sure everyone in this room is debilitated by some belief that they aren’t good enough in some area.  Maybe it’s a sin they’re struggling with, or their dating life, or their school or work experience.  There’s a million things that we could dislike about ourselves.  But there’s also a million things that we can make better.

The Lord promises us in Ether 12:27,  “if men come unto me I will show unto them their ^aweakness. I ^bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my ^cgrace is sufficient for all men that ^dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make ^eweak things become strong unto them.”

This life was supposed to be about change.  It’s supposed to be a trying and growing experience.  This decade of decision that we’re in is all about change.  I think that’s why it can be rough on us sometimes.  We’re figuring out who we are, what are challenges are, and who it is we ultimately want to be. 

When Nicodemus sought Jesus out, our Lord told Nicodemus that “except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).  What Christ was calling for was a rebirth, a complete change.  “No man,” said President David O. McKay, “can sincerely resolve to apply in his daily life the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth without sensing a change in his own nature. The phrase ‘born again’ has a deeper significance than many people attach to it. This changed feeling may be indescribable, but it is real.”  We are meant to become wholly new.  President McKay said that Christ called for “an entire revolution” of Nicodemus’s “inner man.” His manner of thinking, feeling, and acting with reference to spiritual things would have to undergo a fundamental and permanent change”

It’s human nature to get by with as little as you can, to just coast.  But Christ doesn’t ask us to get by, He asks us to be even as He is.  So you remember that dreary little list I talked about earlier?  Pull it out again.  Look at it and think about why it is that those things make you feel the way they do.  Maybe it was momentary misunderstanding  and temporary despondency but now that I’ve reminded you who you really are it doesn’t matter anymore. Or maybe there is a legitimate need to improve some area of your life, or maybe repentance is in order.  Whatever it is, make a commitment to yourself and to God that you’re going to work on it starting today.  Make a plan, say a prayer, and get to work. 

Now changing isn’t easy.  It takes real focus.  I mean who here has followed through with every single New Year’s Resolution they’ve made?  I know I haven’t.  Sometimes the same goals are made over and over and over again.  It seems at times that it would be easier to just throw in the towel and accept a lesser version of ourselves.  What hope could we possibly have to become all of the things we’re trying to be?

But Moroni teaches us, “And again, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you concerning ^ahope. How is it that ye can attain unto faith, save ye shall have hope? And what is it that ye shall ^ahope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have ^bhope through the Atonement of Christ.” Paul reminds us “I can do all things through ^aChrist which ^bstrengtheneth me.”

President Benson described the differences between how the Lord changes people compared to how the world seeks to change people. He said, “The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment.”

I love that.  “Christ changes men, who then change their environment.”  Sounds pretty good to me.  I know I’m not everything that He wants me to be yet.  But I wanna be.  I want to let Him in to see what I can become and then how I can change the world.  You see, to me, I think that life is all a matter of perspective.  You can be whatever you want.  You gotta be going somewhere though.  In this life we have to have purpose and we need to be moving forward on the right track in order to be happy.  We all stumble and fall off occasionally, but we’ve got plenty of help to get back up when we do.  We may not have all the answers to all the questions we searching for just quite yet, but as long as we are actively seeking the answers to those questions – who we want to be, how we want to live, what our relationship with the Lord is, and of course who the heck we’re supposed to marry – we’ll be happy. 

One of my favorite poems is Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson.  Ulysses or as he’s better known by his Greek name Odysseus, is the great hero of Homer’s Odyssey.  He goes on an epic quest fighting against the disfavor of the God’s, loses everyone he traveled with, and returns to find his home overrun by suitors trying to get his still faithful wife to wed.  There’s an epic battle, the punks are kicked out, and finally he’s placed back on the throne where he belongs.  It just kinda ends with the happily ever after thing that everyone likes so much.  But Tennyson took the famous story and looked forward a few decades, where Odysseus is still on the throne living in nostalgic and somewhat bittersweet daydreams of his adventures of the past.  He feels like everything’s over, that he has nothing left to give.  The first two-thirds of the poem go on in this heartbreaking recollection of bygones and fading ability.  But then the poem takes an abrupt shift and focuses more instead on what he still has to give.  It ends like this:

President Hinckley has said, “There is something of divinity within each of you. You have such tremendous potential with that quality as a part of your inherited nature. Every one of you was endowed by your Father in Heaven with a tremendous capacity to do good in the world. Train your minds and your hands that you may be equipped to serve well in the society of which you are a part.”

I testify that what he has said is true – that within each of us lies unlimited potential waiting only for us to take hold of it.  We are the literal children of deity.  Let’s act like it.  Let’s become who the Lord wants us to be.  I testify that through the power of the Atonement we can overcome any obstacle in our way.  I know that Joseph Smith has restored the fullness of the gospel to the earth that today we may know exactly how to live up to our potential.  I know that we are led by a living Prophet and that revelation comes continually.  I know that the future is ours for the taking, and I believe fully in the saying of our beloved modern-day prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, “The future [really] is as bright as [our] faith.”

 I say these things in the sacred name of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.