Focus on the Best Things

Have you ever been so overwhelmed at all there is to do in a day, a week, a month, or a lifetime?  There is a lot of good things for us to do and to put our focus on.  As I've been thinking about the things there are to do, I was reminded of a talk and an experience I had almost two years ago.

We were living in Texas and I had been trying to start a new business, which wasn't working out great.  I was really sick and trying to get rid of a cancer causing parasite in my uterus.  I had recently had two miscarriages.  I had three children under three.  I was stressed out.  I saw everything the people on my Facebook feed were doing and I wondered how I would ever keep up.  I knew there were so many things I wanted and needed to do, but how was I ever going to find the time to do them.  I felt overwhelmed thinking about everything, but I had to keep pushing forward because everyone around me was.  I was becoming depressed because of this weight I was carrying.  

Then one day as I was studying my scriptures I had this thought come.  It wasn't related to anything I was reading, but I decided I had better act on it.  The thought was, "Write down all the things that I wanted or needed to do." So, I began writing a list down of all these things.  I was writing furiously because there was just so much to do.  As I got to about number 17 on my list I had another thought come to mind.  The thought was, "Now go back through your list and cross off everything you want or need to do because someone else does it or they told you, you need to."  As I began crossing off things on my list, I'm thinking to myself,  "Why am I doing this?  I don't understand what this is all about."  Then another thought came for me to look back at my list.  As I looked at the scribbled writing of things I thought were so important many of them were crossed out.  There were a few things left on my list which I don't remember what they are now but they all had something in common.  They were all something that I had received a prompting from the Spirit to do.  I began crying as I realized that my load seemed a bit lighter, and that maybe I could keep pushing forward and actually enjoy it.

The next day I read a talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks titled "Good, Better, Best".   I knew why I had, had those promptings the previous day because He wanted me to focus on the best things, even though the other things on my list I'm sure were good things or even better things, he wanted me to focus on the best.  That experienced has changed my life and I've thought about it a lot since I had it because I see it all the time.  I get around women and men who will say they are so busy because they have so much to do.  Then there are others who will say they feel overwhelmed because of all there is to do and they don't know where to even start.  I've come to learn the place to start is by talking to the Lord or writing down a list.  

Write down a list of the things you want to do or need to do.  Go through it and get rid of the stuff that someone else told you, you need to do or that you want to do.  Then look at the remainder.  If there still feels like there is a lot of things mark them by what the good, better or best things are.  The things left on my list were things God had told me to do, but all the other things I was trying to do were crowding the best things out of my life.  When I focused on the best things on that list I felt peace and let go of all those things that I had scratched off my list.  It doesn't mean none of those things will at some point become the best things for me to do, but it does mean that right then the Lord knew what was best for me.  He knows whats best for all of us and the best things for us to focus on.  I'm grateful that He reminded me of that this morning as I was studying and came across Elder Oaks talk once again.  He must have known I needed a reminder to focus on the best things right now and spending time with my kids is one of those! So, until another prompting comes I'll be playing in the dirt with my kids.