We can use the lessons we’ve learned from months of quarantine in order to remember what things matter most.
As I watched the world shut down around me in March 2020, I felt my individual world shut down as well. Weeks of quarantine turned into months and even a year. I went from constantly seeing people, driving to work, walking to school, attending concerts, and viewing sporting events to watching the world suddenly become still.
As my world slowed down, I was reminded of Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s advice in his talk “Of Things That Matter Most.” In this talk, he says, “My dear brothers and sisters, we would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most.” Through the mandatory quarantine, I learned to take a step back, lift my eyes, and see the things that mattered most.
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Suddenly, I had time to go on walks, talk for hours with family and friends, do puzzles, write stories, work outside, and exercise regularly. My fairly slow daily schedule was enjoyable, and I found “beauty and clarity in simplicity,” as Elder Uchtdorf mentions. I found beauty in what matters most.
Elder Uchtdorf further suggests that when our lives feel overwhelming, we should focus on just four relationships: our relationships with God, with family, with fellow men and women, and with ourselves. Though quarantine was at first difficult for me, I eventually realized that, during quarantine, I had much more time to work on those relationships than I previously had.
The lessons I learned about what matters most will be important to remember as the speed of my world picks back up and life goes back to normal. Elder Uchtdorf admonishes each of us, “Let us simplify our lives a little. Let us make the changes necessary to refocus our lives on the sublime beauty of the simple, humble path of Christian discipleship—the path that leads always toward a life of meaning, gladness, and peace.”
Discover how you can create a life focused on the things that matter most by reading Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s talk “Of Things That Matter Most.”
Source: www.churchofjesuschrist.org
—Rebecca Brown, Latter-day Saint Insights
FEATURE IMAGE BY DARIA OBYMAHA
Find more insights
Watch the inspirational video “Moments That Matter Most” to learn how to better focus on the things that matter most.
Read another of Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s talks, “A Summer with Great-Aunt Rose,” for an example of someone who focused on the things that matter most when times were hard.
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