WAH!
By
Vickey Pahnke Taylor
Dim, dumb,
or depressing aside, we have things to
do and blessings to claim! When, even
with the best of intentions, “dark clouds
of trouble hang over us and threaten our
peace to destroy”(see Hymns, # 19), how
do we make things better?
In creating
our good days, there are lessons to be
learned as we dump our misery and move
forward in as cheerful a manner as possible.
( See John 16:33, D&C 78:18, D&C
68:6, 3Ne 1:13.) Do we sometimes have
a ‘reason of the day’, or a focus on the
negative, that makes us feel sorry for
ourselves? Things like:
- “I made
a big mistake.”
- “How could
I have been so stupid?”
- “I have
repented but I don’t believe I deserve
forgiveness.”
- “Things
are not as I thought they would be.”
- “So-and-so
is better off than me.”
- “So-and-so
is so much better than me.”
- “This
is too hard.”
- “Despite
my best efforts, nothing is working
out.”
- “My expectations
are not being met.”’
- “I can’t
do this (whatever the hard thing is)
any longer.”
- “I feel
unwanted and ignored.”
When dim
moments, dumb actions, or depressing circumstances
circle around us, it may be time to internalize
Elder Marvin J. Ashton’s words: ”It is
generally good medicine to sympathize
with others, but not with yourself.”
It certainly may help us get rid of the
“wah” factor. I learned this for myself
from a beautiful mentor in my life:
My Mom was
diagnosed with cancer when I was fifteen
years of age. She underwent chemotherapy
and radiation as a 35-year-old mother
of two. She went through 26 major surgeries
over the course of the next three and
a half decades. Had people known what
she went through, how frail her body was,
and how much she dealt with, they wouldn’t
imagine she could even be up and walking
around- ever. Her body was disfigured
and she could not do most of the things
that many take for granted. She dealt
with constant pain and discomfort.
But my Mom
had a secret weapon. She refused to give
in to discouragement. She retaliated
against the “wah” factor in a simple manner
she described this way: “I will allow
myself to have a pity party from time
to time. But it will be short and no one
else is invited. At the end of an hour,
my pity party is done and I will move
on.”
She was brilliant
in her dealings with discouragement. I
am not sure how many pity parties she
threw through the years, but I can vouch
for her ongoing faith, her encouraging
attitude, and her undaunted ability to
weather the dark times.
“One of Satan’s
most powerful tools is discouragement.
(President Spencer W. Kimball.) Seems
to me that discouragement has been a bona
fide “wow” factor in aiding Lucifer’s
cause…… how often do we fall prey to the
“wah” factor because of it? Is it not
possible to go through gloomy times without
becoming gloomy ourselves?
Although
the way may be hard, we can distance
ourselves from despondency, by taking
to heart President Gordon B. Hinckley’s
wonderful words:
