Yesterday a bunch of us went to Lagoon, another estro fest, and had a great time! One of the objectives of my day was to assist my friend in overcoming her fears. She's one of the "best sports" I know-always up for anything and wanting to try new and exciting things. One of my true adventure buddies, a majority of the time she possesses the world's best attitude! Our lovely Lace is horrified of heights and in passing weeks, I've remembered my own initial fear of climbing and activities of greater altitude-how I initially embraced my fear and now it is something I dabble in the excitement thereof. In my youth, I overcame it by riding the chair lifts, high school cliff jumping off the 30 and 90 footers at Cave Point into Lake Michigan, in college it's been snowboarding, bungie jumping, and parasailing. Regardless your more intense fears can be holding one back from their grandest adventures or happinesses.
In Lace's case, you resolve the concern or issue previous tho throwing her into the lions den. Her faith must be increased to the point there is no room for doubt. Or to teacher her it is her own conscious decision to entertain her fears in heights. It's not rations, it's not beneficial to her longevity and joy (well maybe in the survival of the fittest, but besides the humanistic approach)-I won't be able to take her climbing or boarding this year if she can't face her fear of heights. We worked towards this outcome yesterday and I feel as though we made some very good headway. She made a statement yesterday and I woke up this morning with gratitude and more of a recognizable reliance on some of the gifts I've been given. She said in moments right after the embrace of her fears, "You know it's the Spirit that makes you so good at helping others face their fears and getting over them!"
I concede and would want it no other way. When the Spirit is the teacher, lessons are learned and an indelible impression is made on the mind of the learner to change needed behavior or mind set on a more permanent basis. I find her statement to be of the most absolute worth-my ability and willingness to teach through the Spirit is key in this life. My love, passion, and willingness to do my best to stay worthy of His companionship set me up to use this talent in a much needed capacity. As Elder Uchtdorf pointed out in last conference, "We live well below our means." Many of us have made covenants in this life to dine at the shmorgas board of absolute delicacy and what do we do as individuals with these blessings? Indeed, we need to "get off the sidelines and practice what we preach (or know/believe)."
So the story goes...our dear Lace our first ride of the day was Blast-off and then throughout the afternoon we took the Gondola a few rides where we practiced giving in the control and safety mechanisms we mentally exert to keep us from our fears. Then the very end rides of the day were Re-entry and Blast-off! We practiced and focused on vicarious living-observing others let go of their fears, their underlying reason for doing so, and what joy can come from this journey of embracement. True doctrine was taught as we were able to talk about how much fear and joy oppose each other! Where doubt and fear are...faith and joy cannot be! They are the counterparts of each other and if we are to experience the Heaven's good for us we need to be willing to expel doubt and fear that we may obtain her costliest blessing! Fantastic job Lacey in being faithful and believing and helping me remember the dependance on the Lord for some of His blessings to me!
This also made me think of another experience when one of my best friends went up to Bear Lake for the weekend, to camp out, recreate in nature, and go boating. The only hold up is he was afraid of water...I can't remember how much time he spent in the water that weekend, but I recall a group of our friend took out Trace's boat and eventually he took up the courage to get in the water. He didn't get his feet wet, but fully immersed himself in his fears, embraced them, and was filled with joy! I can only now, in retrospect see how that day has impacted his life for good as he too has made covenants and been filled with a capacity to help others do the same! I'm so honored to have spent so many years with you and look forward to our lasting friendship-based on truth and honesty.
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