original post date: March 11,2017
This post is unlike my others, this is going to be a compilation of thoughts from me & my best friend and sounding board. Without her I’m not sure where I would be right now, she is the push to my posting and Christ is the drive behind my writing. I am grateful for her help, for her faith in me and for pushing me to pop bubbles and helping me to maintain my safety nets, and embracing what it means to ROLO, I hope I am as helpful to her as we progress and allow the Savior to help us become our truest selves.
“I never intended to be a writer. With each paper I wrote for school I would stress over each and every word, punctuation mark and sentence structure. It was perfection or nothing. Needless to say I often failed in my own eyes, even though I rarely received any grade other than an ‘A’. But here I am with an unexplainable need to write. And a crazy friend who seems to think all good words, especially if they relate to the gospel of Jesus Christ, should be shared.
This story as with all stories begins with change. My best friend and I were both at points in our lives where change needed to happen, whether we wanted it to or not. It started innocently enough with simple conversations about how to change for the better and grow in our respective situations. And developed into an often repeated code phrase: “Its a bubble. Pop it!”
Popping bubbles and maintaining safety nets and what it means to ROLO are all vital parts of becoming a child of God. We all have bubbles we place around us for this reason or that, we feel they protect us but I am finding that is not always the case. We also have safety nets that we feel protect us and in some cases that is very true in other ways we seem to hide behind them therefor making that particular safety net a bubble. I guess in order for this to make any sense at all I need to better explain what bubbles, safety nets (not physical nets, but spiritual safety nets) and ROLO are or mean, at least to us.
Bubbles are the things we are afraid of like being or getting hurt, rejection, not being or receiving the love we freely give to another, being embarrassed or even humiliated, etc. As we pop bubbles we may be afraid that we will fall or that we will get hurt. And in truth we might. But if we are continuously maintaining our safety net (I’ll explain safety nets next) we will not be permanently hurt by the fall. Bubbles prevent us from growing, they are a hindrance to our temporal and spiritual growth. By popping these bubbles we will be permanently changed, but permanently injured, no! Bubbles keep us from fully experiencing the love of Christ and the growth that He has planned for us in this life.
Safety nets come in many forms such as faith in our Savior Jesus Christ, attending our church meetings-all of them, reading the scriptures, praying, fasting, serving others, temple attendance, family history work, etc., but all have the same effect on us. Family and even our friends can become part of our safety nets, that is why we must choose our friends carefully for they truly help to shape the person we are becoming. We must be careful of the people who influence our lives for some people help us build our safety nets and others try to tear them down. Spend time with and seek the influence of those who build them up or help you to maintain them
ROLO…well that is almost something all on its own but has every bit as much to do with what it means to be a child of God. It stands for Reality, Only Live Optimistically! I made it up all by myself and there are days I truly need to live by it and be reminded to live in such a manner. Let’s talk about reality….on second thought it’s kind of depressing at times so let’s move on, it’s something you have to face…the important part is your attitude. Living with optimism is far better than pessimism, by far, it makes me feel better too. “I am an optimist!” President Hinckley often declared. “My plea is that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight.” I am doing my best to follow this wonderful prophets example. The ultimate source of his optimism—the source that made it a power—was his faith in God and his testimony of God’s plan for the happiness and salvation of His children.
Now, with a better understanding of bubbles, safety nets and ROLO we can move forward to better understanding what it means to become a child of God and what these three things have to do with it all. You see, long before I became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints I had a lot of bubbles, the biggest of which was formed around my faith, what very little I had and my knowledge of their being a God or the reality of Him existing. On some level I always believed that He was there, watching over me but I wasn’t really certain how to explain what I felt or why and had no idea how to defend what I believed because my understanding was so small. So, I just opted for the easy way and bubbled it, I bubbled my faith in God so tightly that at times I would outwardly say that I wasn’t sure He truly existed when speaking to non believers and privately apologize in a sense for saying it. I didn’t want God to be mad at me if He really existed but I wasn’t strong enough in my beliefs to stand up for them, no matter the cost.
Like anything, faith requires change and this change will result in growth, but it’s not always comfortable. With growth comes growing pains. Pains that we may not want to experience and try with all our might to avoid, but pains that are necessary for us to become the person that Heavenly Father needs us to be. Pains that we avoid only at the risk of ignoring and forsaking our full potential as sons and daughters of God. It took my world crashing before my eyes for me to fully open myself to the change that was about to take place as I opened my heart to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I must admit it started gradually (my receiving the gospel), without my even knowing that it was happening at first. Then when I learned the truth I had been searching for it was amazing and beautiful and all at once I felt that bubble pop! I just cried, its all I could do because I knew what I was hearing was true, it made more sense to me than anything pertaining to religion ever had before. It was almost as though so many of my questions were answered all at once.
The more I learned the more I became open to sharing this light I had discovered, regardless of how many answers I really had to give to anyone who might attack my faith. I just didn’t care about that anymore, I had what I had always been missing and it was so fulfilling. Still it took time for me to fully embrace and put into practice all the things that make Mormons true followers of Jesus Christ but it has happened as I have tended to my safety nets. It is in my safety nets that my relationship with the Savior has grown into what it is this very moment. We have to keep our safety nets in good repair by doing the things each day that help us to stay within reach of Christ. I found that I truly enjoy going to church, I actually wish it were longer and required homework, I am even up for having desks at church or going all day. I was never like this before, I actually didn’t really understand the purpose of going to church before and now, I don’t like going a week without church. It really is one of my greatest safety nets and by attending each week it is being maintained and that is necessary because life is hard and can cause wear and tear on us and our nets. There are little things I can do each day to help the maintenance process such as saying my prayers and reading scriptures, going to the temple, loving and serving others, etc. I notice a true difference in my life as I do these things. I also notice the difference when I do not do these things and I do not like that one bit.
Life isn’t always easy and bad things happen, they happen to everyone. I have lived through many bad things…notice I said I lived through them. It wasn’t always easy, there were times I was very angry and hurt and confused. I have come to realize the way those negative things effect us. If we allow them to they can cause us to become bitter and angry, resentful ad hurtful towards other. I have learned it is far easier to allow the Savior His place in my life when it comes to those things.
By giving negative experiences and fears and failures to the Savior we allow Him to remove their influence over our thoughts and feelings in the present and the future. Allowing them to be ‘swallowed up’ in Christ, our greatest safety net. As I embrace His divine assistance and aid in my life the better I feel and the more positive my outlook on life in general.
He is the reason I can ROLO! I am much like President Hinckley, I have come to realize the true source of everything in my life, especially the greatest parts, which at times have been the most heartbreaking parts. Christ, my faith in Him is my true source of power, He is the light that shines from me & through me. Without Him I was so lost, life had no purpose or joy and happiness it was fleeting. With Him my life has more meaning than I ever thought possible, I am no longer lost for He is my guide, I walk in faith trying my best to follow Him just as did Peter in Matthew 4:18-20 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. I have done my best to leave behind all the ways I lived my life before having this glorious relationship with my Savior and follow Him. I have experienced greater joy in this life in the last 4 years than I have in all my life before without Him. My happiness, my light all comes as a result of my efforts to follow him, popping all the bubbles that kept me from Him, doing all I can to maintain my safety nets and ROLO all the way! All of this has helped me to become who I truly am, a child of God!!!
