“My invitation to all of us is to evaluate our lives, repent, and keep on trying. If we don’t try, we’re just latter-day sinners; if we don’t persevere, we’re latter-day quitters; and if we don’t allow others to try, we’re just latter-day hypocrites. As we try, persevere, and help others to do the same, we are true Latter-day Saints. As we change, we will find that God indeed cares a lot more about who we are and about who we are becoming than about who we once were.”
Elder Dale G. Renlund, “Latter-day Saints Keep on Trying”, General Conference, April 2015
I’ve had my share of setbacks in my life. Those setbacks come whether I’m in the right spiritual mindset or even in my physical life. There have been times that I did not want to try again. It’s easier not to. What’s interesting is that the more I focus on the Savior, the more setbacks I get. The good news is that I’m more focused on the Savior, so those setbacks don’t get to me as much.
We are all trying. That can be hard to think of sometimes. We all, every one of us, rely on the same Atonement. But we all are trying at different levels. So we need to be patient and realize that. It’s easy to get upset or disappointed, or even angry, at others or even at ourselves. Especially if what happens affects us and our trying. Heavenly Father knows there are things out of our control and He takes that into account.
So my plan is to keep trying. As Rocky says, I will “keep moving forward”. “Life will beat you to your knees if you let it”, he continues. Life is hard. As we go through life, not blaming others for where are, but continuing to try our best, getting up and dusting ourselves off, moving forward no matter how slow, focusing on our own progress, the Lord will compensate for our short comings.