The Hallway of Life
If you look at it simply, life isn't really that difficult to maneuver. When one door closes you find another and open it, if it's not right you walk back out and find another door. Sometimes when you can't find a door you can climb through a window. But the basic logic is still the same, you have to open up. The problem however, isn't the doors or windows, its the hallway.
Picture this...
You're walking through this long and spacious hallway, there are millions of doors and windows on either side of you, and you are there with thousands of other people. Some of them you've met, some of them you haven't. Some of them you were once walking through a door with. Nevertheless, there are a bunch of them. If you're like me you're trying not to make eye contact with anyone, but at the same time you are watching EVERYONE. If not, its whatever, you don't have to be like me. The thing is you are walking around looking for the right "opening" and there are all these people. Maybe your parents are there and they are holding up signs with big arrows on them pointed towards a door that says "Move out" or "Get Married". Then your best friend is holding a sign out the window they are in that says, "Go to College" then another friend has one that says, "Do What You Love". There are peddlers walking around offering big promotions and fancy cars, there is even a guy there in a trench coat holding it slightly open and whisper-yelling, "Sun dial! Sun dial! Anybody want a sun dial?!" It is probably one of the craziest places you've ever been and you are most likely confused and unsure.
The point here is that there are so many options. There are so many people willing to walk with you in that hallway and show you all the doors they've been through. There are even people leaning out windows shouting at you to come in their direction. Some of them would even have you stay in that hallway forever, selling sun dials. But you, you know better. You know that you have to be decisive, make serious decisions and keep moving forward. But how on earth do you choose? What do you decide when everything you want doesn't seem to be an option. Those doors you want to go in are, invitation only, and you don't ever seem to get invited.
Here's what I say we do. We pray. By God we pray! Because there is no one better to help you make decisions than your Heavenly Father and Savior. I honestly can't begin to understand how people go through life without him. And I'm not saying that without experience. I've tried to do it before. I've tried to pick my own doors and follow the counsel of my peers and you know what happens? Sadness, depression, anxiety. Those things are already instilled in my soul as trials, but to have them become self-inflicted? That is a whole other animal.
You can't truly reach forward and open a door or a window and expect to find everything you needed on the other side, if you've only ever been looking for what you wanted. You can't expect that, that's unrealistic. I know the noisey hallway doesn't make it any easier. But you know what? Life isn't easy, it is never going to be, and if yours is, you are doing something wrong. If you are comfortable being stagnant you've been stagnant too long and it's time to keep moving. Let me set something straight here though, just because life is hard, doesn't mean it has to be sad. Hard things can be happy things too. You can be happy in growth, you can be happy in discomfort, you can be happy because of Christ.
If I understood the atonement well enough I would write about it now. But I don't. All I know is that it works. Somehow, someway, it works. His grace is sufficient, his love is enough, and his guidance is perfect. However you have to, pray. Pray in the hallway. Ask for his help. Then go towards the doors that hold his promises. Stop listening to everyone around and listen to him. Then, guess what?Everything will work out, it may not be how you imagined it, but it will work out.
Picture this...
You're walking through this long and spacious hallway, there are millions of doors and windows on either side of you, and you are there with thousands of other people. Some of them you've met, some of them you haven't. Some of them you were once walking through a door with. Nevertheless, there are a bunch of them. If you're like me you're trying not to make eye contact with anyone, but at the same time you are watching EVERYONE. If not, its whatever, you don't have to be like me. The thing is you are walking around looking for the right "opening" and there are all these people. Maybe your parents are there and they are holding up signs with big arrows on them pointed towards a door that says "Move out" or "Get Married". Then your best friend is holding a sign out the window they are in that says, "Go to College" then another friend has one that says, "Do What You Love". There are peddlers walking around offering big promotions and fancy cars, there is even a guy there in a trench coat holding it slightly open and whisper-yelling, "Sun dial! Sun dial! Anybody want a sun dial?!" It is probably one of the craziest places you've ever been and you are most likely confused and unsure.
The point here is that there are so many options. There are so many people willing to walk with you in that hallway and show you all the doors they've been through. There are even people leaning out windows shouting at you to come in their direction. Some of them would even have you stay in that hallway forever, selling sun dials. But you, you know better. You know that you have to be decisive, make serious decisions and keep moving forward. But how on earth do you choose? What do you decide when everything you want doesn't seem to be an option. Those doors you want to go in are, invitation only, and you don't ever seem to get invited.
Here's what I say we do. We pray. By God we pray! Because there is no one better to help you make decisions than your Heavenly Father and Savior. I honestly can't begin to understand how people go through life without him. And I'm not saying that without experience. I've tried to do it before. I've tried to pick my own doors and follow the counsel of my peers and you know what happens? Sadness, depression, anxiety. Those things are already instilled in my soul as trials, but to have them become self-inflicted? That is a whole other animal.
You can't truly reach forward and open a door or a window and expect to find everything you needed on the other side, if you've only ever been looking for what you wanted. You can't expect that, that's unrealistic. I know the noisey hallway doesn't make it any easier. But you know what? Life isn't easy, it is never going to be, and if yours is, you are doing something wrong. If you are comfortable being stagnant you've been stagnant too long and it's time to keep moving. Let me set something straight here though, just because life is hard, doesn't mean it has to be sad. Hard things can be happy things too. You can be happy in growth, you can be happy in discomfort, you can be happy because of Christ.
If I understood the atonement well enough I would write about it now. But I don't. All I know is that it works. Somehow, someway, it works. His grace is sufficient, his love is enough, and his guidance is perfect. However you have to, pray. Pray in the hallway. Ask for his help. Then go towards the doors that hold his promises. Stop listening to everyone around and listen to him. Then, guess what?Everything will work out, it may not be how you imagined it, but it will work out.
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