Comments on: Finding optimism

By: Nikki

Nikki — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:34:36 +0000

I live on the prairies of Kansas and have a clear view of the sky without impediments. Thus, I have always loved watching the clouds ebb and flow, creating their various formations. Particularly inspiring are the cumulus clouds as they billow and surge, often tinted with pastels at sunset. No matter how painful are some of my days, no matter how disturbing is the news, I can always look up and find peace in the glorious creations of God. My mind and heart reflect with joy that our Savior will return in ‘clouds of glory’:…”and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matt. 24:30 When difficult trials seem to bring us down, may we remember to look up!

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:49:35 +0000

You remember correctly. I have come to appreciate some of the charms of Baltimore and to actually like it overall. Certainly, I’m glad my family has had the experience of living here, even if it wasn’t always pleasant and we didn’t always have the best attitude. It was very jarring and depressing when we first moved out here to see the signs of a city in a long decline. But you get used to that stuff and over time it starts to feel more comfortable.

By: Lamonte

Lamonte — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:39:27 +0000

Tom – if memory serves me I recall that you live in Baltimore. And while I agree that Baltimore is full of “boarded up homes and warehouses” it can also be a pleasant environment. I worked in Baltimore for 6 years – drove 65 miles each way everyday from my home in Northern Virginia. I remember standing on a rooftop at the University of Baltimore and looking out over the urban fabric of rowhouses and church steeples and getting sort of a Mary Poppins recollection, so different than the experiences of my youth in a small farm town in Idaho. Maybe as you state, we each see things differently depending on our outlook. The focus of my career has been on the built environment (architecture) and so I may see things from that persepctive. I love the diversity of culture and environment that exists in Baltimore.

Now if you don’t live in Baltimore…I’ve just wasted some time and space.

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:17:02 +0000

Lately I’m more apt to see things make me pessimistic. I live in a city that has a lot of abandoned, boarded up homes and warehouses. It’s a reminder to me of former vitality and present and future decay, in both the temporal and spiritual senses.

We probably see things in a way that reflects our outlook. Others may see in urban blight an opportunity for renaissance. But I struggle to find reasons for that kind of hope.

What does brighten my outlook is seeing families with young children out and about. And I like to see things being built. This is part of why I enjoy my visits to Utah Valley so much.

By: MCQ

MCQ — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:24:59 +0000

Great post Lamonte. I agree about Washington. I find his life inspirational, even more so because he wasn’t perfect.

For me, there is joy every day in my family and the beauty of this world. It’s easy to get discouraged if you dwell on the negative, but I feel optimistic when I think about my children, my health, my family and my friends. There’s so much to be thankful for that it seems wrong to ever get too down about the things that go wrong.

By: Susan M

Susan M — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:22:44 +0000

This song and this song. I also have a CTR bracelet one of the Valiant girls I teach gave me last year. I've worn it ever since. Mostly I like it because it reminds of the girls and how awesome they are.

By: CJ Douglass

CJ Douglass — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:26:01 +0000

Structures inspire me as well.

I don’t ride the train to Manhattan without getting a prime view of the Brooklyn Bridge. If the Roeblings and a handful of gritty New Yorkers can throw up that thing – by 1883 – we can all achieve greatness. At least, that what it means to me.

By: ed42

ed42 — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 02:27:20 +0000

Of course life is good for you, you are eating my bread!

By: Paradox

Paradox — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:48:06 +0000

My first instinct is to say the temple because it encompasses all of the other symbols that get me through the day-to-day, like the Sacrament. I’m also fond of the sun, moon, and stars as symbols because they remind me to see the bigger picture, which I find to be helpful.

But my favorite on a more personal level is the liahona. In the spectrum of iron rod VS liahona, I operate WAY more towards the liahona end of things–relying more on personal revelation than memorizing scriptures and teachings of prophets. This is actually a very difficult thing to do because the certainty that you’re right is almost never there, and you spend a good portion of your time feeling very lost and making mistakes. And you still have to be very knowledgeable in scriptures and teachings in order to be any good at it, but it adapts well to people and situations in ways that don’t require me to think about them because I have the benefit of relying on instinct and listening to the guidance of the Spirit, which I rely upon heavily for the simplest of things.