YOU're Responsible

IAT = I am thankful for

CHRISTMAS.

How has six months gone by without a post? No wonder my brain is broken. If I can't take a few minutes every few weeks.....

You can't get very far into personal development without running into the idea that we are responsible for where we are in life. You can blame, whine, complain all you want, but it doesn't change anything. No, you may not have been responsible for how or where or when you were born, or how you were raised, but eventually you DO have some responsibility for yourself.

Too many people are too quick to think they have no influence on where they are in their lives. It takes a long time to realize that you can control, not only how you feel, but how you live. One of my favorite bits of info comes from a really old book. 

There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe.

A thought, in this substance, Produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.

Man can form things in his thought, and, by impressing his thought upon formless substance, can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.

What that says is, YOU ARE WHERE YOU THINK YOU ARE. Negative thoughts absolutely bring negative outcomes. Positive thoughts bring positive outcomes. All. The. Time. You are thinking yourself into your reality and you can think yourself out of it. If you pick up a personal development book and it doesn't have that in there somewhere, move on to another book. If this is new to you, I know what look you have on your face, because I used to have that look on my face.

 Anyway, I was thrilled to read a talk recently that brought the idea into the gospel setting. Because *I* see the principle woven through the scriptures and in talks all the time, but to have the title actually be BE 100% RESPONSIBLE? Too good to be true. I love devotionals and firesides, because we get the deep stuff from the GAs. A fifteen minute conference talk just scrapes the surface.

So read this because it's awesome sauce and try to get it through your head. If you want better circumstances, you have to BELIEVE they are possible, THINK about different circumstances, ACT in every way to bring it about and be GRATEFUL that your circumstances are already changed. Then PERSIST in the thought until the reality has arrived.

Click this.
BE 100% RESPONSIBLE

Here are some of my favorites from it.

complete and total agency comes with complete and total responsibility:

The Anti-Responsibility List (so good!)

It is important to recognize that excuses never equal results. In the case of Laman and Lemuel, all the excuses in the world could never obtain the brass plates. The reason Nephi obtained the plates and Laman and Lemuel didn’t is because Nephi never went to the anti-responsibility list. He was a champion, and champions do not turn to the list.

Having faith in Jesus Christ is to trust that because of His atoning sacrifice, He will correct all injustices, restore all things lost, and mend all things broken, including hearts. He will make all things right, not leaving any detail unattended. Therefore, “ye ought to say in your hearts—let God judge between me and thee, and reward thee according to thy deeds” 

In summary, being 100 percent responsible is accepting yourself as the person in control of your life. If others are at fault and need to change before further progress is made, then you are at their mercy and they are in control over the positive outcomes or desired results in your life. Agency and responsibility are inseparably connected. You cannot avoid responsibility without also diminishing agency. Mercy and justice are also inseparable. You cannot deny the Lord’s justice without also impeding His mercy. Oh, how Satan loves to divide complementary principles and laugh at the resulting devastation!

Just go read it. And then start practicing it. I started 11 years ago. I'm a completely different person and I hope in 11 more years, I'll be completely different again. I hope in a good way.  

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