What do you do guaranteed?!
If you tell me what that's from, ten bonus points!..
Anyway-
The other day I went to the movies with my mother, sister, and Emma. The movie was called 'How Do You Know' (or something like that, I can't remember honestly). There is a part in the movie when the girl goes to visit a psychiatrist. She doesn't stay long; she decides it is not the kind of help she needs. On the way out she asks (this is paraphrasing),
"Have you found, through your work, a general answer or advice that can generally help anyone, through generally anything, in any general situation, in general?" (she really used that many generals)...
The guy answered,
"Yes. Figure out what you want, and figure out how to ask for it."
Genius.
That's so simple, yet so profound. I think that if I had only done that the last 22 years, I would have saved myself alot of stress. I think of it in two different ways:
1. Know what you want in terms of people. Decide what you would like, what would make you happy, what choice would benefit the most people, whatever. However you come to the decision, figure out what you want. Then, ask for it. That part is not always easy, that is what you have to figure out. I think you'll notice it becomes a lot easier after you know what you want. It is not knowing that holds you back. Not knowing what you want is what distracts you from asking for it; this, in turn, keeps you from solving things. When I am having life issues, it is because I don't know what I want. When I do know, I have something to work toward; I have a goal to achieve. The not knowing is what stresses me out, keeps me wondering, and causes problems. Just keep it simple. Figure out what you want, and figure out how to ask for it.
2. Know what you want in terms of prayer. I struggle so much in this area. I often want to just pray and have the right choice just come to me. "Tell me what you want me to do, Heavenly Father, and I'll do it." It's not so easy. We are not commanded in all things; we are expected to be anxiously engaged, and to do many things of our own free will and choice. If this is true, then I can't always ask the Lord to tell me what to do. This is where the advice comes in. If we figure out what we want (righteous desires of course :), we can then figure out how to ask for it. I think (this is gospel according to Misty) that there are different ways to ask for things. We can ask directly, through prayer. But I also think we can ask for certain things through our actions. We can ask for financial blessings through paying tithing; we can ask for spiritual blessings through keeping other commandments, etc. If we know what we want, we can figure out the best way to ask Heavenly Father for it.
I am sure there are other ways in which this advice is helpful. It is, after all, a "general answer that generally helps anyone, in any general situation, in general."
I just wanted to share.
