You can be so much more! Don’t just “find yourself.” Build yourself into the person you want to be.
We’ve likely been told that progress comes through hard work—through time set aside for dedicated practice—rather than natural talent. While natural talent certainly influences the skills we master, it doesn’t guarantee them. For instance, Olympic athletes, though physically endowed, compete only after years of rigorous training.
PHOTO BY JURAJ VARGA
Spiritual and interpersonal skills are no different. Inclinations toward kindness must be exercised, spiritual sensitivity strengthened, and good attitudes fostered. However, these vital characteristics are often downplayed or ignored by youth and young adults who need them the most. While finding ourselves can offer positive results, we will feel significantly more fulfilled by building ourselves. As we work to increase our spiritual and interpersonal skills and live with intention, we will become who we want to be.
In his talk “Of Regrets and Resolutions,” President Dieter F. Uchtdorf suggests several ways we can build ourselves as better people, including seeking to become the people God wants us to be. President Uchtdorf explains, “Our Heavenly Father sees our real potential. He knows things about us that we do not know ourselves. He prompts us during our lifetime to fulfill the measure of our creation, to live a good life, and to return to His presence.”
However, as with any skill, becoming our best selves can get derailed if other less-worthy pursuits eat up our time and attention. President Uchtdorf warns, “Why, then, do we devote so much of our time and energy to things that are so fleeting, so inconsequential, and so superficial? Do we refuse to see the folly in the pursuit of the trivial and transient?” Not all that is temporal is bad, but if we let it distract us from our divine potential, our progress to our greatest self will stop.
We have the opportunity to be something more. We can dedicate time to building ourselves and our spiritual skills. We’ll find increased meaning and joy. When we actively construct our characters in the way that God directs, we’ll become the best versions of ourselves.
Discover what else you can do to live a truly fulfilled life in “Of Regrets and Resolutions” by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf.
Source: General Conference
—Lauren Jones, Latter-day Saint Insights
FEATURE IMAGE BY MICHAL JARMOLUK
Find more insights
Learn to use your divine identity to motivate yourself in “Our Identity Gives Us Purpose” by Emma Campbell.
Find more ways to be intentional in Janie Penfield’s devotional “Live Your Life with Purpose.”