One piece at a time. . . quietly, gently, almost unnoticed

Never let the things you want make

 you forget the things you have.

Have you ever wanted to trade places with someone? Maybe you know someone whose life appears to be so happy, so free from heartache, pain, and difficulty—especially when compared to yours. Perhaps he or she has better health, a more exciting job, or more possessions or prestige. Or maybe you've wished you could live in a different age of history, when times seemed simpler and stresses seemed more manageable. 

But if you were able to spend a day in another person's life, you may discover that you didn't know the whole story or hadn't looked very deeply. Every life, in every era, is touched by some degree of trouble and tribulation, shaded by some measure of sorrow and stress. That's the nature of life. 

The truth is, you are the sum total of your accumulated years, experiences, and relationships. Your background has helped to shape you into the person you've become. You live and breathe today with all the hard-won wisdom and life lessons embedded in your soul. You wouldn't be you without all that is in your heart and head. All of this makes you uniquely qualified to conquer the challenges you now face. To quote a classic piece of homespun wisdom, "If all of our troubles were hung on a line, you'd take yours and I'd take mine."

Perhaps on a birthday we might wish we were a few years younger, and perhaps on stressful days we might wish we could live in another time. But each of us is here at this time and in this place for a purpose, and one thing that can keep us from fulfilling that purpose is wishing we were somewhere else. 

This is our time, our season. We can't really go back to another time or trade places with someone else, but we can enjoy the present and meet the future with faith. The wisdom of the Psalmist echoes through the ages: "This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" Psalm 118:24.

Lloyd D. Newell

He paid a debt He did not owe to free us from a debt we can never pay.

"Enduring to the end is a hallmark of true discipleship and is essential to eternal life. But when trials and challenges come our way, we are often told to simply 'hang in there.' ... To 'hang in there' is not a principle of the gospel. Enduring to the end means constantly coming unto Christ and being perfected in Him." 

Kevin Pearson

We almost certainly will fail—at least in the short term. But rather than be discouraged, we can be empowered because this understanding removes the pressure of being perfect right now. 

 Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"We must have the courage to be imperfect while striving for perfection." 

Patricia T. Holland

"It is not possible for you to sink lower than
the infinite light of Christ's atonement shines." 

 Jeffrey R. Holland

"Those who diligently seek to learn of Christ eventually will come to know Him and personally receive a divine portrait of the Master, although it most often comes in the form of a puzzle one piece at a time. Eventually, after enough pieces have been put together, we recognize the grand beauty of it all. Then, looking back on our experience, we see that the Savior had indeed come to be with us not all at once but quietly, gently, almost unnoticed." 

Dieter F. Uchtdorf