Would You Please Shower?
Shower
I've probably gone 3-4 days without showering (maybe more). Frankly, I can't remember because that was during some of my scout camps. What's been your longest time without showering? What did you start to notice? How did you feel? What did others notice? Did you know showering is one of the most important things you can do? Showering is essential for hygiene and overall health. There are some bad consequences for not doing so:
When my wife says, "you stink" that generally means I need to shower. You can most often tell when someone is in need of a good cleaning. I like playing basketball during the week and I sweat quite a bit. I also stink after playing. I can't imagine holding off and not washing unless I wanted to be home alone for a while. My son has a strong sense of smell or lack thereof. I remember when we were on a hike with family in Montana and he thought the beautiful forest smelled rotten. "Ahh, that smell! I don't like that smell!" If a forest stinks to him, just imagine what a sweaty basketball player smells like.
There are no benefits to holding off for a long time and not taking a shower. I guess one of the benefits could be that you didn't have to put in the work to clean your body, or you are mentally tough 😏. So, why do we not clean ourselves daily?
"But... I do! I shower every day!" No, you don't. No, I don't. What do you mean? I mean that there are two types of showers. Huh? Yes, there is a physical shower and a spiritual one. Both are used for the same purpose: to clean. Like a physical shower is a key to hygiene and overall health, a spiritual shower is a key to spiritual hygiene and overall spiritual health.
Repentance
My spirit gets dirty and the longer that I allow it to sit without cleaning it, the stinkier it gets. I also impact others around me because of it. I have learned that as a dusband, when I am repentant, I am better. I believe repentance deals primarily with change -- being someone more. President Russell M. Nelson described this spiritual shower beautifully:
Perhaps it was even worse than this, but we will do ourselves a favor and not enter into that realm of imagination. How did you feel when you were done or finally clean? I felt fantastic! And because of that cleaning, my life was impacted that day. When I am changing or being cleansed, I am impacting everything and everyone. All that dirty, bad stuff goes down the drain and people get my best self.
Drain Diving
One of my struggles is going back to the past and having regrets of why I didn't do things a different way. My wife has to tell me, "It's over! The past is done, you can't change it." "But, just what if I would've done this!" "What if I would've shot the ball more?" "What if I wouldn't have committed that dumb sin?" "What if I would've opened my mouth that day?" I've learned it doesn't help me much to think like this, rather, when I think about what those experiences taught me and allow the drain to do its job then I'm better off. So often I drain dive -- I seek to go back to icky stuff in my past in hope of progression. It doesn't work that way. Drain diving impedes progression.
Progression=Joy
This includes the progression of my wife and children. I once had a friend tell me years ago that progression brings joy. If I'm not progressing as a husband and dad then how can I expect to be truly joyful?
Anyways, I've got to run. I need to shower.
I've probably gone 3-4 days without showering (maybe more). Frankly, I can't remember because that was during some of my scout camps. What's been your longest time without showering? What did you start to notice? How did you feel? What did others notice? Did you know showering is one of the most important things you can do? Showering is essential for hygiene and overall health. There are some bad consequences for not doing so:
When my wife says, "you stink" that generally means I need to shower. You can most often tell when someone is in need of a good cleaning. I like playing basketball during the week and I sweat quite a bit. I also stink after playing. I can't imagine holding off and not washing unless I wanted to be home alone for a while. My son has a strong sense of smell or lack thereof. I remember when we were on a hike with family in Montana and he thought the beautiful forest smelled rotten. "Ahh, that smell! I don't like that smell!" If a forest stinks to him, just imagine what a sweaty basketball player smells like.
There are no benefits to holding off for a long time and not taking a shower. I guess one of the benefits could be that you didn't have to put in the work to clean your body, or you are mentally tough 😏. So, why do we not clean ourselves daily?
"But... I do! I shower every day!" No, you don't. No, I don't. What do you mean? I mean that there are two types of showers. Huh? Yes, there is a physical shower and a spiritual one. Both are used for the same purpose: to clean. Like a physical shower is a key to hygiene and overall health, a spiritual shower is a key to spiritual hygiene and overall spiritual health.
Repentance
My spirit gets dirty and the longer that I allow it to sit without cleaning it, the stinkier it gets. I also impact others around me because of it. I have learned that as a dusband, when I am repentant, I am better. I believe repentance deals primarily with change -- being someone more. President Russell M. Nelson described this spiritual shower beautifully:
I agree wholeheartedly that change brings an increase in happiness. Do you remember what the water looked like coming off your body after you showered after going many days without it? Maybe something like this?The word for repentance in the Greek New Testament is metanoeo. The prefix meta- means “change.” The suffix -noeo is related to Greek words that mean “mind,” “knowledge,” “spirit,” and “breath.”Thus, when Jesus asks you and me to “repent,”He is inviting us to change our mind, our knowledge, our spirit—even the way we breathe. He is asking us to change the way we love, think, serve, spend our time, treat our wives, teach our children, and even care for our bodies.Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. It is the key to happiness and peace of mind. When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Perhaps it was even worse than this, but we will do ourselves a favor and not enter into that realm of imagination. How did you feel when you were done or finally clean? I felt fantastic! And because of that cleaning, my life was impacted that day. When I am changing or being cleansed, I am impacting everything and everyone. All that dirty, bad stuff goes down the drain and people get my best self.
Drain Diving
One of my struggles is going back to the past and having regrets of why I didn't do things a different way. My wife has to tell me, "It's over! The past is done, you can't change it." "But, just what if I would've done this!" "What if I would've shot the ball more?" "What if I wouldn't have committed that dumb sin?" "What if I would've opened my mouth that day?" I've learned it doesn't help me much to think like this, rather, when I think about what those experiences taught me and allow the drain to do its job then I'm better off. So often I drain dive -- I seek to go back to icky stuff in my past in hope of progression. It doesn't work that way. Drain diving impedes progression.
Progression=Joy
This includes the progression of my wife and children. I once had a friend tell me years ago that progression brings joy. If I'm not progressing as a husband and dad then how can I expect to be truly joyful?
I know we have all heard the above quote -- I believe it is true. I have found that the best way to have a happy wife and in turn a happy life is to work on yourself and change; shower and get rid of the dirt and filth. I have noticed the days that I haven't been engaged in helping to change myself that I have been more self-centered and prideful. When I am more self-centered and prideful then comes the danger. Just like when you stink physically, sometimes the only way to tell is by asking because you are used to your own stench. Likewise, I can ask my wife, kids, and Heavenly Father what I need to change.
The Cleanser
I'm sure when you went that long duration without showering that you lathered yourself in soap and some spots you had to scrub to get completely clean. We need soap to get completely clean... we can try using solely water, but we won't get the same result. I know that Jesus Christ is that soap. He is the Cleanser. There may be some spots that are extra dirty and will only come off with soap and a lot of effort, but they will come off. I know that Jesus Christ can cleanse us of whatever dirt we have on us and knows how to do it with a 100% guarantee if we do it His way. The Savior has helped cleanse me time and time again even of things that I didn't recognize were there and things that I knew were. He wants us clean, progressing, and joyful and He is the way for that to become a reality.
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