I Found This to Be Very Powerful For Me:

Coming to Ourselves: The Sacrament, the Temple, and Sacrifice in Service Posted: 22 May 2012 08:00 AM PDT "Worthiness to hold a temple recommend gives us the strength to keep our temple covenants. How do we personally gain that strength? We strive to obtain a testimony of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, the reality of the Atonement, and the truthfulness of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Restoration. We sustain our leaders, treat our families with kindness, stand as a witness of the Lord’s true Church, attend our Church meetings, honor our covenants, fulfill parental obligations, and live a virtuous life. You may say that sounds like just being a faithful Latter-day Saint! You are right. The standard for temple recommend holders is not too high for us to achieve. It is simply to faithfully live the gospel and follow the prophets." —Elder Robert D. Hales, "Coming to Ourselves: The Sacrament, the Temple, and Sacrifice in Service", General Conference, Apr. 2012 Topics: Temples, Covenants The gospel is simple enough for a small child to understand, and rich enough to stimulate the most intellectual of minds.  The love of our Lord is universal and in reality it is easy to follow.  We complicate our own lives by trying to fit into a world that can make you feel less than important, less than unique, less than special, and less than our potential.  Life is a time to learn, grow, and be tested.  It is a time for us to decide what is important, who is important, and if we are worth the effort.  What we do now, in this life, will determine the state of our eternity.   We are the author of our own life.  The next chapter will be determined by our effort, our faith, and our decisions.  It is hard to be different, but don't we appreciate those who are.  Think of your favorite celebrity, hero, idol, loved one, and decide what is it about them that makes them special.  What is it about them that makes you think that they are worthy of your attention?  Now look in the mirror and decide what it is about you that makes you special.   Our temple recommend simply asks that we live an honest, kind, fair, compassionate, loving, and faithful life.  Is that a bad thing?  Is it lonely being good?  Sometimes, but in the big picture, at the end of the day, who would you rather be? People believe that our temples are a place where secrets are kept, but that is not true.  There is a huge difference between secret and sacred.  If something is special, do you want others to belittle, exploit, or abuse that thing?  To us, the temple is more special, more sacred than any other place on earth, except for the home.  Home and the temple should be a sanctuary, a little piece of heaven on earth, our place to be safe, happy, and loved.   My question is... why do some think that it is stupid, dorky, or lame to be a good, trustworthy person?  Why is it bad to want to be an honest, law abiding, loving, and fair?  Why do some feel the need to persecute those who are doing there best, to be the best that they can be?  I just don't understand it. Life is short, and our families and friends are precious, so why would we squander our time on this glorious earth?  We have been given an opportunity to grow, laugh, love, and be worthy of blessings that we cannot even comprehend.   I want to be the best version of me that I can be.  That is a goal that will take a lifetime to accomplish, but I want to be remembered, as most of us do, and not forgotten as a faceless, invisible lost soul.    It is not easy to be good, all the time, but it is worth it.   I have suffered so much in my life, but I have not given up.  I have not given up on myself.  I am going to have hard days, and days when I question myself, and my purpose, but I do not want to miss out on the life that I might be able to have, with effort, and faith.   I struggle, but I am worth the effort.