Lesson 13

This week's lesson was on gratitude. President Thomas S. Monson was a great example of having "an attitude of gratitude." President Monson stated,
"This is a wonderful time to be living here on earth. Our opportunities are limitless. While there are some things wrong in the world today, there are many things right, such as teachers who teach, ministers who minister, marriages that make it, parents who sacrifice, and friends who help.

"We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues."

I know I can definitely do better of having an attitude of gratitude! One thing I am grateful for is the opportunity to continue my education. This has been an important blessing in my life, giving me the opportunity to use my mind in different ways. 

Our case study this week as a great example of someone that took advantage of the opportunities that came to him to continually be learning. The importance of lifelong learning was my main takeaway from the reading. Lifelong learning can benefit me and my future decisions. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not in the beginning phase of starting a career. ;)  I know as I continue to learn and develop my talents and increase my knowledge in a variety of areas I will be prepared to do whatever Heavenly Father wants me to do next. Randy Haykin said that he felt he needed to stay as balanced as possible in the areas of work, family, personal life, health and spiritual life. I agree! I feel that especially as we try to stay spiritually balanced we will be guided in knowing what we need to do to stay balanced in the other areas of our lives. But I also know that working on being balanced with our family and health will greatly enhance the other areas in our lives.
Being willing to continue to learn and be taught at every stage of our lives will also benefit us in every aspect of our lives. I feel that if we rely on the spirit we will be guided, led or pushed where we need to go. Of course we need to do our part, which is where I think the desire to continue to learn plays a big part. One of the takeaways I have from general conference this weekend is the importance of learning how the Holy Ghost speaks to us and learning how we receive personal revelation. The sooner we can learn that, the sooner we will see the Lord's hand as a constant in our lives.

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