Friday, February 16, 2007

Ten Axioms to Guide Your Life

There was a good article in the February 2007 issue of Ensign magazine. It's a talk that Elder Robert D. Hales of the LDS Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave at a commencement address at Brigham Young University on August 14, 2003. During his life, he distilled the following ten axioms to guide his life:
  1. It’s not the obstacle that counts, but how you overcome it.
  2. Pursue your goals with all your heart, might, mind, and strength. You are doomed to failure if you pursue them in a vacillating manner.
  3. From a tiny spark can come a large fire.
  4. Our greatest strengths can become our greatest weaknesses.
  5. Failure is one of the greatest teachers if we have the faith to learn from it.
  6. It is not how you start the race or where you are during the race. It is how you cross the finish line that matters.
  7. “If you wish to get rich, save what you get. A fool can earn money; but it takes a wise man to save and dispose of it to his own advantage.”
  8. You cannot learn the Lord’s will without exercising your agency and becoming accountable for your decisions.
  9. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
  10. The temple of God is the greatest university.

One interesting excerpt from the conclusion of the article is:

We can share the gospel only to the extent we live it. During my life at college, in the military as an adjutant and fighter pilot, in graduate school, or in my professional career in sales and marketing, as president of a division, or as a group vice president at corporate headquarters—I was never required to compromise my values or beliefs.

Was it easy? I don’t know. I wasn’t looking for easy.

Was it hard? I wasn’t looking for hard either. That is just the way it was.

Were there men and women who challenged me on my beliefs at times? Certainly.

When I held to my beliefs, did they respect and honor the commitment I had made to live the gospel? In every instance.

If you will remember who you are and act accordingly; if you will return with honor from every calling, task, and assignment; if you will be true to the Savior’s name and worthy of His eternal blessings, you will always have the light of the Holy Ghost to be with you, to lead you, to guide you, and to buoy you up. You will never want for what to say or how to act. It will be given you.

I think it's very important to hold true to your convictions, whatever they are.

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