3 Thoughts

1. Finding a wife is, excuse the blatant comparison but go with me here, liking choosing stocks in the stock market. You want to diversify and not put all your eggs in one basket. You need to look past everything initially, be careful, but also not be paralyzed by analyzation or nothing will get done. If you put all your eggs into one basket, you risk losing EVERYTHING. The prophets and apostles have counseled us to date around and to meet many people, but to ultimately come to a decision.

But the biggest similarity is that you pick both for the long term. You're not investing in a quick bond you can cash in in 5 or even 10 years. Likewise, you don't get married to bail out in 5 or 10 years. When you choose stock, you're in it for the long haul, the long run, and for Mormons, eternity. So you want to choose someone that will give you a good return, a good investment worth your time. A bad investment will lead to loss.

The problem is, there are many stocks that are attractive initially. They woo you with their awesome business plans, statements, balance sheets, rate of returns, and other fancy gimmicks. They tell you about their amazing upside, how they'll make profit soon, and other amazing details. However, you have to do digging of your own. You have to look past the outside appearance of things. Remember, for stocks, the higher rate of return, the riskier the investment. They attract you to invest by giving a higher rate of return. If you only go for a girl because she's pretty on the outside, will that last over the long run? Is there more underneath? I thought about what Elder Ballard said about not worrying too much about the physical as much as the eternal worth of things.

2. I have a desire to be the best. At everything. Sometimes the motivation is not there. But I'm working on it. Its interesting that I feel that I could be a better missionary now, 18 months removed from the mission, than I was back during the mission. I think it means I'm learning and still progressing. I can see how I could have improved in all areas. Physically I feel like I'm improving also, and it will be about 5 more years before I hit prime, and about 7 years before I see decline.

3. My happiness depends on one thing. The power and reality of the Atonement. Since it happened, and it is real, nothing then can get me down since the Atonement is eternal and infinite. This means that the one thing my happiness depends on will never fail, never fade, and never falter.

happiness = depends on atonement

atonement = everlasting

happiness = everlasting.

:)