The Power Within

As life goes on each day, it is clear to me that there is a lot of suffering in the world. It is heartbreaking and heart-wrenching and heavy on the soul. This sounds silly that I’m mentioning youtube, but there was a YouTuber recently who lost her husband to suicide. I watched her goodbye video to him, and I cried several times. As I sat there listening to her, I felt very moved to write something about it.

Have you ever questioned who you are? Who you truly are? Why you are the way you are? Why you feel the way you do? Why you question the things you question? Why you love the things you love? It’s cheesy and it’s cliché, but there truly is only ONE of you. Out of the billions and trillions and quadrillions of people who have ever lived, are living, and have yet to live, there is only one you. You are not one in a million. You are one in infinity.

I was thinking about this the other day. I was thinking about the power we have inside of us. We have the power to change lives. We have the power to change the world. Most importantly, we have the power to save lives. If we save only one life, the outreach and effect of this can never truly be known. We don’t know how much a kind smile means to others. We don’t know how much it means to people when we open the door for them.

The power within us. The power within you. Have you ever thought that you can do things that no one else can do? You have the unique ability to help others that no one else has. You have the ability to accomplish things that others cannot.

My dad went on a mission to Brazil for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints many years ago when he was a young adult. He explained to me that some investigators (people who were learning about the church in hopes of becoming a member) take missionary lessons for years and never decide to get baptized. As years pass, different missionaries meet with them, and still they are unsure. It just takes one person for everything to change. One missionary specifically able and capable to teach the investigator in the way that they need to feel and connect. One person, (the right person) has the power to connect in a way that many others may not know how to do.

Have you thought about what this means? The experiences, the pain, the triumph, the depression, the happiness, the anxiety, the confusion, the anger, the stresses of life that pull you down…they all make you who you are. They all come together to empower you and gift you the power to help specific individuals you meet along the way. Isn’t that cool? Everything in your life that has made you who you are gives you value. Think about it: You are irreplaceable. You cannot be replaced. You, yes you silly, cannot be replaced.

Full House was my favorite thing to watch when I was 10-12ish. My mom and I made a deal one summer that I would get a complete season on DVD for a collection of times babysitting. I quickly earned all 8 seasons, and I felt so amazing each time I got one. It was so fun to watch them and know that I earned them for myself. Anyway, in season 8 towards the end, there is a 2-part episode where Michelle (the youngest, probably around 12) falls off her horse and hits her head. She loses her memory. She doesn’t know who her family is, she doesn’t know who she is, she doesn’t know what she likes, she doesn’t know what she doesn’t like, she doesn’t have any memories with any people she loves, and she feels completely lost. They go through the house and try to remind her of certain memories and things that they did together.

Uncle Jesse tries to remind her that they had a special bond and relationship, and she just can’t remember. It pains her not to know. She wants to know. Then of course because there are happy endings in these types of things, (thank goodness…I would be so sad if there weren’t) Michelle is able to remember everything.

Think about it: you are like Michelle. You have come down here to earth, and you don’t really know who you are. You, like Michelle, have figuratively hit your head on a rock and don’t remember life before the veil. As Michelle’s family goes about trying to remind her who she was and is, she starts to remember. Heavenly Father could do that too. He could tell us what our favorite color was, what we liked to eat, what we liked to do, who we liked to hangout with, what we liked to wear, what our favorite ice cream flavor was, what we want to be like when we grow up…even more than that he could tell us our deeper fears, our deepest regrets, our deepest desires and hopes for the future. He could tell us all these things because He knows us better than we know ourselves.

He. Knows. Us. Better. Than. We. Know. Ourselves.

How is this even possible? Honestly, I don’t really know. I know that we spent millennia with him before this life, and He knows who we are from the most inner parts of our souls.

I used to snort frustratingly anytime someone said, “He knows us so well. He knows us each individually by name.” I thought, oh yeah. Big deal. He knows my name. Well, a lot of people know my name. The random kid down the street knows my name. My least favorite teacher knows my name. My sister’s best friend’s uncle’s ex-wife’s dog’s lover’s owner knows my name. (Don’t get confused ahaha. I just mean random people know my name.) So what’s so special that He knows my name?

So really? What is so special???

Drum roll please….

…ba dum ba dum ba dum dun dun…

(Sorry I had way too much fun with that.)

The truth is that our names are the smallest bit of information that He knows about us. As stated earlier, He knows us so deeply that if we were lost, we would be found. If we were confused, we would be taught. If we were stuck in pain, we would be comforted. If we lost our sense of identity, He could tell us who we were and are better than we could ever do ourselves. Isn’t that crazy? So of course He knows our names…but in reality, He knows so much more.

I titled this post “The Power Within” because we each have a divine power built into our souls. We each have the capability to save and change lives. We each have the love inside us necessary to change the world. Is all of that necessary to do right now and stress about? No. We don’t need to be worrying about doing more and being more and adding this to our plate. But knowing that we have to power help others means something. It means something because you don’t know the effect you’ve already had on others. You don’t know the effect you can have on someone you meet tomorrow.

A few weeks ago, there was a women who came through the drive through. It was clear that she had been crying. I knew I had to reach out. I told her that I was sorry for whatever had happened to make her cry, and I wanted to let her know that she was awesome. We talked about how nice it is to cry and release all those pent up feelings. I told her that I hoped her night got better and that I knew the best is yet to come. She left with a small smile on her face. Do I know if that changed her life? No, definitely not. Do I know it made her smile and maybe feel a little better? For sure.

Knowing that someone cares about you, even a random stranger, means a lot. It tells them that they mean something and are needed in this world. And ladies and gentlemen, that makes all the difference.

So use your power within. Know that you are known. Know that you are loved. Know that you are needed. Know that you are irreplaceable. Know that there is only one you. Know that you are one in an infinity. Know that you can make a difference in a way no one else can. Because you my friend, have a unique, special, extravagant, wonderful, power within that can change the world and your future as you know it. Use it.

[Mic drop]