How?

Why?

Live for what? Wake up, work out, study, breakfast, go to work, lunch, schoolwork, go home to family (clean up messes, change diapers, ease crying, break up fighting, read books, teach kids, housework, etc), dinner, get ready for bed, go to bed. Rinse...repeat...rinse...repeat. Pretty much every single day is the same day; I go about doing the same things. Why? What's the use?

I've been thinking about that question a lot recently. I have had days where I get in the task management mode and figure if I can check off the boxes, I did my job. Those days suck. Those days are exhausting. Those days are not memorable because I don't become anything more.

Why?

Think of the life of a caterpillar. Boring, right? I'm a caterpillar a lot of the time. I eat, eat, and eat 😁 (Well, I do more than that, I promise). In other words, I do the same things every day. Did I eat today? ✔ Did I go to work? ✔ Did I do my schoolwork? ✔ You get the picture. I check off the boxes and I did my job.

The Why 

The power to live comes into my days when I discover my why and act according to that why. A caterpillar eats to not just eat -- it eats to become a butterfly! That's its why. It works on the necessary things that are going to stretch the caterpillar until it's ready to become. The end result is beautiful.

What is my why? Let me take you to a verse that has helped me to understand my why:

For after it hath filled the measure of its creation, it shall be crowned with glory, even with the presence of God the Father.  --D&C 88:19

After it hath filled the measure of its creation. What is "it" referring to? My soul -- the body and the spirit united in one. After I fill all that is necessary (eating leaves, growing, etc.) then I get to the point that I become something beautifully different (butterfly), in this case, a resurrected soul crowned with glory and the presence of God. But, it doesn't stop there. I need my family.

They Are Part of My Why 

My why is this: For after I have filled the measure of my creation, I shall be crowned with glory, even with the presence of God the Father. I can't fill the measure of my creation without my wife and children. How could heaven be heaven without my family? Could I truly become without all that I have learned and will yet learn from being a dad and a husband? In my opinion, no. I don't believe one can become like our Heavenly Dad without experiencing being a dad and husband. 

Now, I don't know how it will work out with those who haven't had a chance to be married, but I do know it will work out. There will be no shortage of blessings to those in these kinds of circumstances. Even though the "how" might not be completely defined, when the "why" is grasped, I can get there. I can get there enjoying the ride because I'm becoming. 

Live

 

So amid the rinsing and repeating and checking off boxes, I find my greatest enjoyment with my "why". Rather than my day going by slow and not enjoying it, that same day can be great as I look at it through a different lense. For example, rather than looking at another leaf as a chore and saying, "I'm so sick of these leaves!" I can say, "I need this and can't wait to become that butterfly." Rather than looking at my daughter's next poopy diaper and saying, "This is the worst one yet and I'm tired of this!" I can say, "This is helping to fill the measure of my creation!" 

I've got to live. I've got to make mistakes. I've got to keep stretching like the caterpillar in order to reach my why. What better place then to do that than with my wife and three children? There's not a better place for me.