In Partnership with God
Guess what I found! Can't guess? It's small, round, silver, and worth about $0.10. Now I know what you may be thinking, "Oh Esther, not again with the pennies and paperclips!" But don't worry! This isn't a penny, it's a dime, and I discovered today that there is a very big difference between pennies and dimes (not $0.09, a bigger difference).
Before I get to the mathematics behind this difference, let's go back to this morning when I was reading a lovely speech given by President Henry B. Eyring, called "Covenant Women in Partnership with God." I just want to focus on the words "in partnership with God" because I don't actually remember the talk, just those words. Partnership, my friends, partnership. I like Hallmark movies and in so many of those cookie cutter (but still fantastic) movies, some main character "makes partner" at a law firm or company, which generally means increasing stress and pressure and decreasing free time or autonomy. Here you may pause and wonder how Hallmark relates to a religious talk, or even better, question how any of this has to do with the difference between a dime and a penny! Now we'll continue.
Let's go back to the words "in partnership with God." We've "made partner!" But, contrary to the consequences inherent in a Hallmark movie, when you "make partner" with God your stress and pressure inherently decrease. Autonomy remains constant in any situation, although you may feel more free and autonomous when you're not juggling extraordinary amounts of stress. How do I know that stress and pressure decrease? Just think about God, your Lord, your Father in Heaven. Think of his goal for you, his desires for your happiness, and his pleasure in your success. If He's your father and your partner you can know that He'll be working for those goals with you, He'll be blessing your life with happiness, and He'll be striving for your success. When you're a partner with God, you're not going to be fired at the first sign of trouble, and nothing you do is going to destroy the "law firm." You're both working for the same goal - success in your endeavors and joy in this life and in the one to come. And God definitely makes the best partner. Of course, you do still have to work when you're a partner. You've got to be working for your success and happiness at the same time, but it is not an all-consuming, stressful, uphill battle!
Now back (or forward? we've been going back a lot today) to the difference between pennies and dimes. I was giving yet another speech for my communications class and about an hour before my speech I started getting anxious. I wasn't afraid of messing up my words or forgetting what I was going to say, I was simply worried that I might go over my time and be docked points. And that fear started to control my thoughts. It got to a point where I was struggling to focus on my physics homework. So I took a break and looked around. And there I saw something small, round, and silver sitting underneath a table. Being an avid trinket collector, I recognized the dime immediately. That was when I realized that in all my penny collecting, I'd never actually found a dime. Up to today I've always found pennies.
As you know, pennies mean "good luck" and "I love you." But dimes. Dimes mean something more. The message in my dime was, "Remember that especially when it comes to your schooling, I am your partner and we're working on this goal together. Whatever happens in your speech today, remember that it is all working toward your success and happiness. I promise. You've worked hard; you're prepared. Hold onto this dime, go do your best, and I'll take care of your success."
I wish I could say that dimes are magical tokens and that a dime with such a message means perfection. It doesn't. Not even close. I gave my speech and didn't do as well as I'd hoped. The dime didn't take away my fears, nor did it help me speak slowly or breathe. My mind tells me I could have done better, could have spoken slower, could have controlled my fears and conquered my nerves. So what did that dime do? If it didn't change the delivery of my speech, didn't eliminate my fears, and didn't fix my flaws, what did it do?
That dime changed my outcome. I walked out of my speech holding that dime tightly in my hand and restated the words, "I promise I'll take care of your success." A "failed" speech? Really? That's how you take care of my success? But take a step back. Look at this again. Backwards as it seems, He promised. In the midst of my disappointment, frustration, self-doubt, and desire to control every outcome, I found another perspective in the face of that dime. My goal in my public speaking class is to improve my public speaking. Had I aced my speech today I know without a doubt that I would have considered that goal completed. I would have practiced and performed to perfection. But that wouldn't forward my goal to improve. To improve I need more practice, not less. To improve I need to see where I stumble. To improve I have to mess up.
$0.10 says my future is okay. $0.10 says I'm still a success even when I mess up. $0.10 reminds me that I'm working with God on the details of my life. $0.10 says I'm His partner and I've got a wealth of potential to uncover and increase with His help, His blessing, and His guidance. It's because of $0.10 that I've decided to enter a speech competition. That is the $0.10 difference.
Before I get to the mathematics behind this difference, let's go back to this morning when I was reading a lovely speech given by President Henry B. Eyring, called "Covenant Women in Partnership with God." I just want to focus on the words "in partnership with God" because I don't actually remember the talk, just those words. Partnership, my friends, partnership. I like Hallmark movies and in so many of those cookie cutter (but still fantastic) movies, some main character "makes partner" at a law firm or company, which generally means increasing stress and pressure and decreasing free time or autonomy. Here you may pause and wonder how Hallmark relates to a religious talk, or even better, question how any of this has to do with the difference between a dime and a penny! Now we'll continue.
Let's go back to the words "in partnership with God." We've "made partner!" But, contrary to the consequences inherent in a Hallmark movie, when you "make partner" with God your stress and pressure inherently decrease. Autonomy remains constant in any situation, although you may feel more free and autonomous when you're not juggling extraordinary amounts of stress. How do I know that stress and pressure decrease? Just think about God, your Lord, your Father in Heaven. Think of his goal for you, his desires for your happiness, and his pleasure in your success. If He's your father and your partner you can know that He'll be working for those goals with you, He'll be blessing your life with happiness, and He'll be striving for your success. When you're a partner with God, you're not going to be fired at the first sign of trouble, and nothing you do is going to destroy the "law firm." You're both working for the same goal - success in your endeavors and joy in this life and in the one to come. And God definitely makes the best partner. Of course, you do still have to work when you're a partner. You've got to be working for your success and happiness at the same time, but it is not an all-consuming, stressful, uphill battle!Now back (or forward? we've been going back a lot today) to the difference between pennies and dimes. I was giving yet another speech for my communications class and about an hour before my speech I started getting anxious. I wasn't afraid of messing up my words or forgetting what I was going to say, I was simply worried that I might go over my time and be docked points. And that fear started to control my thoughts. It got to a point where I was struggling to focus on my physics homework. So I took a break and looked around. And there I saw something small, round, and silver sitting underneath a table. Being an avid trinket collector, I recognized the dime immediately. That was when I realized that in all my penny collecting, I'd never actually found a dime. Up to today I've always found pennies.
As you know, pennies mean "good luck" and "I love you." But dimes. Dimes mean something more. The message in my dime was, "Remember that especially when it comes to your schooling, I am your partner and we're working on this goal together. Whatever happens in your speech today, remember that it is all working toward your success and happiness. I promise. You've worked hard; you're prepared. Hold onto this dime, go do your best, and I'll take care of your success."
I wish I could say that dimes are magical tokens and that a dime with such a message means perfection. It doesn't. Not even close. I gave my speech and didn't do as well as I'd hoped. The dime didn't take away my fears, nor did it help me speak slowly or breathe. My mind tells me I could have done better, could have spoken slower, could have controlled my fears and conquered my nerves. So what did that dime do? If it didn't change the delivery of my speech, didn't eliminate my fears, and didn't fix my flaws, what did it do?That dime changed my outcome. I walked out of my speech holding that dime tightly in my hand and restated the words, "I promise I'll take care of your success." A "failed" speech? Really? That's how you take care of my success? But take a step back. Look at this again. Backwards as it seems, He promised. In the midst of my disappointment, frustration, self-doubt, and desire to control every outcome, I found another perspective in the face of that dime. My goal in my public speaking class is to improve my public speaking. Had I aced my speech today I know without a doubt that I would have considered that goal completed. I would have practiced and performed to perfection. But that wouldn't forward my goal to improve. To improve I need more practice, not less. To improve I need to see where I stumble. To improve I have to mess up.
$0.10 says my future is okay. $0.10 says I'm still a success even when I mess up. $0.10 reminds me that I'm working with God on the details of my life. $0.10 says I'm His partner and I've got a wealth of potential to uncover and increase with His help, His blessing, and His guidance. It's because of $0.10 that I've decided to enter a speech competition. That is the $0.10 difference.
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