Leadership for Saints: Part 60

Personal Balance: Mental and Spiritual Dimensions
by Rodger Dean Duncan and Ed J. Pinegar

The mental dimension is about exercising and challenging the mind in ways that stretch and strengthen it. Mental dullness is the sign of a person who’s in a rut. Even people who are constantly busy run the risk of becoming mentally dull unless they deliberately make time for good mental gymnastics.

The sharpest people we know are excellent readers. Their reading diets include a wide range of materials—good literature, science, biographies, history, politics, current events, as well as materials related to their occupation and Church callings. (Again, President Hinckley is a great model.)

Other ways to open and expand your mind include:

·         Keeping a journal or a daybook. Jot down random ideas that you find interesting and valuable. Don’t worry about rules or format. Just write. Leonardo di Vinci kept books of his ideas. So did Thomas Jefferson, Mahatma Gandhi and Spencer W. Kimball. Very good company.

·         Independent study, or formal classes. The world is full of information to stimulate your mind. Jesse Evans Smith, wife of Church President Joseph Fielding Smith, took classes in various subjects every year for more than half a century. It was her way of keeping mentally sharp.

·         Listening to uplifting music. Much has been said about the value of great music. Try it. It’s a great tonic.

·         Limiting your television time. Much of today’s television fare is intellectual junk food at best. Take the weekly television guide in your newspaper and use it as you would a restaurant menu. In a restaurant you wouldn’t order a table full of fattening desserts. You’d ask for a balanced diet. Do the same with your television diet. Decide in advance what you will watch, and balance your diet with fare that genuinely nourishes your mind.

·         Planning and organizing. Someone said that wars are won in the general’s tent. Your own planning and organizing—regarding your personal life as well as your leadership role – can be an excellent mind-expanding activity.

The Spiritual Dimension

Spiritual renewal is your source of meaning and purpose. Think how grateful you are for the clarity of the doctrines of the restored gospel. Consider how much hope and encouragement you derive from the promises of God. Spiritual activities uplift and inspire us. They help us discover and rediscover our mission in life. They reinforce our commitment to do better and to be better.

Our living prophets constantly urge us to pray often and to study and ponder the scriptures. They warn us to avoid places and influences that damage or contaminate our spirits. They plead with us to form daily habits that draw us closer to God and cause us to yearn for his presence.

Here are some suggestions for maintaining good spiritual health:

• Pray early and often, every day. Avoid rushing your prayers. Take time to listen to the promptings of the spirit.

• Study and ponder the scriptures early and often, every day. Avoid the mistake of thinking that a weekly dose of scriptures (studying for Sunday School, for example) is sufficient. Would you consolidate all of your food and vitamins into a single weekly meal? Of course not. Just as with physical nourishment, your spiritual nourishment needs to come in several daily doses.

• Keep a “grateful journal.” Gratitude is the foundation for a powerful life. Gratitude can change the most habitual cynic into a full-fledged optimist, a worrywart into a “one day at a time” person. Gratitude is sort of like a muscle. It is developed through exercise.  Gratitude helps us battle negativity, self-pity and other destructive feelings. Make a daily list of your blessings, especially the not-so-obvious ones. Corrie Ten Boom wrote of her experiences in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. She and her sister Betsie, along with many other women, were held captive in an awful circumstance that included a terrible infestation of fleas. Corrie and Betsie found themselves thanking God for the fleas. Only later did they realize that the fleas were what kept the guards away from the women, enabling Corrie and Betsy to study the scriptures and teach Christianity to their fellow prisoners.

• Attend the temple as often as possible. The temple is sometimes called “the Lord’s university” because it’s there—and only there—that we can learn and participate in the highest level curriculum of our religion.

• Notice the miracles. It’s been said that there are only two ways to live your life. One is to regard nothing as a miracle. The other is to regard everything as a miracle. Pause. Look around you. Be honest. Be humble. Be appreciative. 

• Study and ponder great literature. Literature is great when the author skillfully explores timeless themes like faith, charity, unconditional love, courage and integrity.

• Periodically read and ponder your patriarchal blessing. Notice how the blessing never changes, but you change and grow so you’re better able to enjoy and benefit from the blessing’s promise and perspective.

• Recognize the difference between pleasure and happiness, then pattern your life so you will seek happiness as opposed to mere pleasure.

• When adversity strikes, avoid the temptation to counsel the Lord. Pray for strength to get you through, and for wisdom to help you understand and grow. President Harold B. Lee used to say: “Never put a question mark where the Lord has put a period.”

• Create, review and refine your personal mission statement. This is your own personal constitution or declaration of interdependence with God. It should serve as a compass in keeping you constantly on course and as a gyroscope in keeping you constantly in balance. (See Chapter 3 for detailed suggestions on mission statements.) 

President David O. McKay taught that “the greatest battles of life are fought out daily in the silent chambers of the soul.” It is in that venue—in the heart and the soul—that we struggle with the choices that either burden us or bless us. Great leaders do everything possible to maintain the spiritual health that makes greatness possible.

Quotes Worth Remembering

… [people] will maintain a better mental balance if they understand the teachings of the gospel. – Harold B. Lee

To the extent that we are not willing to be led by the Lord, we will be driven by our appetites, or we will be greatly preoccupied with the lesser things of the day. —  Neal A. Maxwell

Remember the draft horse: he can’t pull when he’s kicking; he can’t kick when he’s pulling. — Wendall Ashton       

When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power. — Ezra Taft Benson

Note: The excerpts of Leadership for Saints posted on Meridian are only a fraction of the contents of this 349-page book. To learn more about this ground-breaking book and to order copies, click here.