You Can Do it!

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”   -Philippians 4:13

“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.”   -1 Nephi 3:7

“For you, my dear friends, the sky is the limit. You can be excellent in every way. You can be first class. There is no need for you to be a scrub. Respect yourself. Do not feel sorry for yourself. Do not dwell on unkind things others may say about you . . . Polish and refine whatever talents the Lord has given you. Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, but with great and strong purpose in your heart. Love life and look for its opportunities, and forever and always be loyal to the Church. Never forget that you came to earth as a child of the divine Father, with something of divinity in your very makeup. The Lord did not send you here to fail. He did not give you life to waste it. He bestowed upon you the gift of mortality that you might gain experience—positive, wonderful, purposeful experience—that will lead to life eternal.”   -Gordon B. Hinckley, “How Can I Become the Women of Whom I Dream?”, April 2001 General Young Women Meeting

It's midterms, winter time, and we just watched the last day we had off from school for the rest of the semester transition from that place called "the future" into that place called "the past". Most of us are carrying heavy loads. We have school and work and church and service activities and artistic endeavors and friends and sleep and eating and scripture reading and family and a seemingly endless list of other things all demanding our attention, time, talents, and efforts. We're tired. At times we feel like there's no point in finishing the next load of laundry or the next homework assignment because we know there's just going to be more after it. We feel inadequate. We feel like we're doomed. We just want to give up.

In a nutshell: life 'aint all pretty roses and sunshine.

If this is how you feel, then pretty much what I have to say is this: it's going to be okay. Seriously. It will be. I promise. As President Hinckley says: "The Lord did not send you here to fail". He sent you here to be magnificent. He sent you here to thrive. To grow. To learn. To serve. To laugh. To work. To play. To enjoy. Of course, along with all this He also sent us here to struggle, suffer, and stumble; but only so that we could grow closer to Him. 

Ultimately, Heavenly Father sent you here to be awesome. Because you are. And awesome people do awesome things. Like finishing the homework assignment they have due the next day even though they don't feel like doing. Like reading their scriptures even though it's really late. Like helping someone out in need even though the timing is inconvenient. And the most awesome thing about being an awesome person is that when you do awesome things magic happens. I have no clue how it works. Even Harry Potter couldn't explain this kind of magic. The magic is that when you diligently do the things you know to be right, everything turns out okay in the end. No actually, it's not in the end that everything will be okay. It's the "here and now" that it will be okay.  Things will be okay because you will have the peace of knowing that you are doing as the Lord would have you do.  Things will be okay because you will have more determination to face the tasks in front of you.  Things will be okay because you will have confidence in yourself and your abilities because you know you are a child of God and that He loves you.

Don't doubt yourself and the Lord's ability and willingness to help you. Trust Him, and everything will be okay in both the end and the "here and now". Quoting Gordon B. Hinckley again: “Keep trying. Be believing. Be happy. Don’t get discouraged. Things will work out." 

They really will.