Resolutions ~ Part Two

  Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening, 

this post should take five minutes to eight minutes to read from start to finish.

This post focuses on a BYU Devotional in January 1994, and it is called "Resolutions" by President Joe J. Christensen. This post is part two, I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the 

Devotional, and I hope that you would be able to learn something new while you are reading through this

post. 

President Christensen has mentioned the following; "Physical Resolutions

Now for the second resolution. I will be resolute in preserving and strengthening my physical health. It is impressive that more than 160 years ago the Lord revealed a health code that we call the Word of Wisdom, which can make all the difference in how we feel and perform. With good health, we can be happier and more successful. Without it, we are curtailed in almost every other way. Resolve to get an adequately balanced diet.

Getting healthy nutrition is another area where it is hard to perform up to the level of our knowledge. ... Resolve to follow the do’s in the Word of Wisdom: Eat plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains. Discover that a meal does not have to feature meat every time in order to be enjoyable. In addition to improving your health, your 

budget will also be benefited. It really is a “win-win” situation.

Then, resolve to avoid completely the don’ts - tobacco, alcohol, and addictive stimulants, coffee, tea, and drugs in any form and you will be blessed in a multitude of ways. If any of these negative practices have been, or are a part of your life, right now, tonight, resolve that in your future there will be absolutely no participation in tobacco, alcohol, or illegal drugs, ever! 

... Resolve to get adequate physical exercise. Choose some sport or other vigorous physical exercise that is consistent with your situation and physical condition and be regular in pursuing it. Get the blood circulating and give your major muscles a workout. An appropriate amount of time and effort spent in exercising will help you to be more effective in all other areas of your life.

I don’t know what your choice will be. ... Of course, you need to make your own choice, but resolve to do something physical regularly. Resolve to get adequate rest. Really follow the counsel of the Lord where he said: “Cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated” (D&C 88:124).

Some of you are not getting the rest that you need. Some are habituated to going to bed late and sleeping much longer than your system really needs, thus missing out on some of the personal inspiration you could be receiving. Adequately rested, there is great value that can come to you as an early riser. ... "If you are to be successful as a General Authority, ... I will give you one piece of advice: 

Go to bed early and get up early. If you do, your body and mind will become rested and then, in the quiet of those early morning hours, you will receive more flashes of inspiration and insight than at any other time of the day." - Elder Lee. ...  You can change, even if you consider yourself a “night person.” Set the habit in twenty-one days. When it comes right down to it, it is a matter of strong resolve and “mind over mattress.”

"New Year's Resolutions"

Social Resolutions

Now to the third major resolution: I resolve to be a truer friend and to become more socially acceptable to people of high standards. Learn to be the kind of person with whom others of high standards enjoy associating. We all would like to have more friends. 

... Dale Carnegie wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People. ... You should read and reread the entire book. His suggestions are equally valuable today. Among them are: Become genuinely interested in other people. Smile. [Remember, the Lord commanded us to “be of good cheer.”] 

Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests. Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely. [Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982), p. 112] 

Occasionally, look in a full-length mirror. Certainly we should not become obsessed with how we look, but we should work to improve our physical appearance. President Kimball said: ... You might take a careful inventory of your habits, your speech, your appearance, your weight, ... and your eccentricities. ... Take each item and analyze it. What do you like in others? What personality traits please you in others? Are your dresses too short, too long, too revealing, too old fashioned? ... Do you laugh raucously? ... Are you interested only in your own interests? [TSWK, pp. 295–96]

The Lord expects us to do the best we can with what he has given us. ... After you have done what you can to improve your appearance, forget about yourself and think of others and their needs. Rather than working so hard to find Mister or Miss Right, work harder to become Mister or Miss Right and you will more likely have the social life and marriage you desire. You will have good friends, and, in the end, I hope you can be fortunate enough to marry your best friend.

... Our challenge is to resolve to love everyone in the appropriate way. You all know there are different kinds of love - the romantic, the brotherly, and the kind that enables us to love our enemies. The Savior universally commands us to love our neighbors and even our enemies. On the other hand, the expression of romantic love is anything but a universal commandment. 

The full expression of romantic, physical affection by you is designed for you and one other person only, inside the bonds of marriage. If you remember that, then you will avoid the temptation to make the romantic expressions of physical affection merely a game, and you will be sure to protect and preserve yourself from the immense problems that come from the immorality that is so prominent in today’s culture. You have heard so many times that your body is a temple and not a visitors’ center. No tours are permitted."

Stay Tuned until next time.