One Day at a Time

I tend to worry. A lot. Even when I know I shouldn't. I tend to look ahead toward the ending, rather than enjoying the moment. And then sometimes, I even think about every little thing that's going to happen in the upcoming months, creating unnecessary stress which ultimately leads to a mini emotional breakdown. My parents, knowing this all too well, have been telling me for years now to just take it one day at a time. I would tell them, "Yeah I know. But sometimes I HAVE to worry about the future because there are things I need to prepare for. I can't just focus one day at a time or I won't get anything done."
Now I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who likes to overwhelm myself with worries about the future, either the near or the distant future. I'm not a huge fan of the unknown. I like to be in control of things and know what to prepare for. This is a blessing and a curse: I accomplish tasks on time and always finish anything that's required of me. But I often also lose sight of today because I'm worrying too much about what I need to do tomorrow.

Take this for example. I went home this summer for about 2 weeks. It was great. And I was really looking forward to it. But as soon as I would get excited about something, I would immediately think about how I couldn't just relax and enjoy because I needed to be studying for nursing school or looking for a job. Then as I got closer to leaving home, I would get excited to see Jordan who was coming to Rexburg for a week. But then that just reminded me that I was one week closer to starting school and that I would be in Rexburg again...where I needed to be looking for a job. And I started feeling sad about Jordan leaving before he even got there. Ridiculous, right? So in other words (if you can follow my scattered train of thoughts), I wouldn't allow myself to enjoy the moment because I was too worried about what was coming. And if you ask me, that's not the way to live your life.

So my wise father sent me this inspired CES Devotional by D. Todd Christofferson called "Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread" given in January of 2011. It's a really enlightening talk and I would encourage you to take the time to watch it when you can. I won't say much about it because I really think it's worth watching and he explains it much better than I can. But in summary, Elder Christofferson uses the example of the children of Israel in the wilderness to illustrate the idea of asking God only for what we need THAT DAY. God commanded the people to only gather as much manna as they needed for one day and not to worry about the next day because He would provide. And that's where faith plays a role. It might feel scary to surrender our worries of the future and trust that God will take care of things. And if you're like me, then you almost feel guilty not worrying or preparing about the future. But Elder Christofferson said something in his talk that really helped me. I'm paraphrasing it, but in general, he said that the Spirit will let us know when it is necessary for us to look ahead to the future. Otherwise, we should just focus one day at a time. What a relieving idea! As long as I am doing those things to stay close to the Spirit, then I can have faith that I will be prompted as to when I should prepare for future events. But in the mean time, it's okay to just enjoy the moment. It's okay.

"Come what may and love it"
  because
"Life is to be enjoyed... not just endured."