j . a . m . k . m . b: Out With The Old, In With The New

Pres. Thomas S. Monson, Oct 2008

"This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now.

... Professor Harold Hill, one of the principal characters in [The Music Man], voices a caution that I share with you. Says he, “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays.”

f you have children who are grown and gone, in all likelihood you have occasionally felt pangs of loss and the recognition that you didn’t appreciate that time of life as much as you should have. Of course, there is no going back, but only forward. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future.

Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.”³ We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.

Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say “I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It’s so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they’re gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of “what if” and “if only.” Said author Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.”

In the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, Church member Jay Hess, an airman, was shot down over North Vietnam. For two years his family had no idea whether he was dead or alive. His captors in Hanoi eventually allowed him to write home but limited his message to less than 25 words. What would you and I say to our families if we were in the same situation—not having seen them for over two years and not knowing if we would ever see them again? Wanting to provide something his family could recognize as having come from him and also wanting to give them valuable counsel, Brother Hess wrote—and I quote: “These things are important: temple marriage, mission, college. Press on, set goals, write history, take pictures twice a year.”

Said one well-known author: “Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend . . . when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”

Said the Lord in a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, “In nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things.”¹⁰ May we be found among those who give our thanks to our Heavenly Father. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.

Brothers and sisters, my sincere prayer is that we may adapt to the changes in our lives, that we may realize what is most important, that we may express our gratitude always and thus find joy in the journey."

Friday, August 14, 2009

Out With The Old, In With The New

I would estimate Angela spends approximately two hours a day in front of the computer, sometimes less, sometimes more. She's been particularly busy lately with all the school stuff she does. That's why when our computer died on Monday evening, it was a serious calamity. We do have my old school laptop that is suitable for smallish tasks, but not having a good computer was just not going to fly. Problem is, you actually have to pay for these newfangled computer thingies, and thanks to this being very unexpected, it's not the ideal time to have to drop a big chunk of change.

So I started doing the research that night, including market research and polling of Mac users vs. PC users, and I was blown away at how many people A) use Macs now, and B) absolutely love them with nothing bad to say at all. Before long it was looking like the iMac was making a serious bid to supplant the long-reigning PC in our home. By Tuesday afternoon, we had decided to radically change our computing habits, and thanks to a very kind friend who works at Apple (and his friends & family discount!), we ordered ourselves a very sleek and amazing new computer.

Shockingly, it was delivered the very next day, and now the kids have proceeded to set each of us up with our own login and preferences, and we are loving the huge new screen that is our new computer. The only remaining problem (other than the credit card bill) is that we would like to recover some of the stuff from off the old computer. I have an external hard drive plugged into it, which has a lot of the pictures and music, but unfortunately it's been a while since I thought to do a backup... So we're hoping we can resurrect old bessie for just one more short stint in order to complete one more backup, and then we'll let her go in peace.

Exciting times!