Step by Step

Hey everybody. :)  

How are you all?  Yes, feel free to address your computer/phone screen and tell me.  I think the spirit will carry it to me for you. ;D  

GUYS....  I got something important to tell you.  But first... Shout-outs.

Rebekah, Kailey, Joy, Ashley J., STEPH, Enoch, Emma-Lee, Scott, Kailey J., Lara and the girls, Kailey R....  Guys, I love you.  Thank you, honestly.  You guys make life to good.

But now, the moment.  I'm gonna open up a bit and stuff, but mostly to thank a couple of people.  You'll understand... Just keep reading. :)

Guys, there will come times in your life, as I'm sure you all know, when you are giving all you have, and I mean literally ALL that you can possibly give, yet it doesn't seem to get you anywhere.  But, you still push forward all you can until you feel you can't give anymore.  Now...  What I want to write about, if even a little, is about this 'breaking point.'  The point at which you say 'nope, no more.  I'm out,' and what I think about this point.

My dear friends and family, this moment is the moment in which our rawest and weakest character comes out.  How many times have you been stressing over that exam, or waiting for that day, and you tell pretty much everyone 'look, I'm just not in a good mood today.  Just, give me a bit.'  We've all been there, right?  Well....  As much as we don't want to admit our weakness, this person that only comes out at the breaking point is still a part of us.  We are that person, but just when we choose to let it out.  In a way, we feel justified in letting that person out once in a while, right?  Well.... I want to look at the breaking point as a personal phenomenon, and not as a social ticket that we have 'the right' to cash in once every few weeks or months or so.  These breaking points usually go in a couple of ways.

1.  You quit.

2.  You don't.  

And... those are the only options.  You either go until you're done, even if you do so angry, or you go til you can't anymore.  Now, I'm just gonna jump to the point of why I lay these answers down so flatly.

The breaking point is the choosing point, and the choosing point is the changing point.

When we reach that point, what we choose to do influences change.  However, I want to share what I've learned from this idea the past few weeks.

As I'm sure some of you have noticed, I've had a lot more like, 'I'm a little frustrated but I'm good!' kind of emails.  My kid is the coolest, and we have a few good investigators, but still.... Honestly, today I learned that quitting isn't always what I thought. So... I now want to write a bit more on the two choices of the breaking point.

1.  You quit.  However, quitting doesn't always necessarily mean dropping it and staying in bed....  Quitting is the moment in which you lose the vision.  Quitting is the moment in which you decide to give halfhearted work.  Quitting is the moment that you start complaining and justify yourself in doing so.  Quitting is the moment in which it becomes somebody else's fault.  Quitting, essentially, is the moment in which the breaking point breaks you, and you refuse to change - even if the work itself gets done. 

My mom always used to ask me in these moments of quitting:

'Kristian, if you don't have time to do it right, when are you going to have time to do it over?'  

And although I LOATHED that statement for so long, only recently am I beginning to understand how true it is.  If we don't do something right... We have quit.  Therefore, the measure of quitting is less in the product, but in the process.  As a wise teacher once told me: 

'A grade can't measure progress, and a medal can't show accomplishment.'  

And, although I am sure there a good number of people who would contradict this statement, I can only attest to it's truth by my personal experience.  I have received good grades in classes in which I did nothing, and average grades in classes in which I gave my whole heart;  I have received many medals of participation, but few medals of true excellence.

(save a black and brown tie, which I wear around my neck with pride, you know what I'm talking about... ;D)

Thus, the first choice, OR, the alternative...

2.  You don't.  So then, if quitting is so easy to do according to my interpretation, what is really keeping going?  Well.... Being a dancer, this is what I call the step by step, or, the counterattack for the breaking point.  

You literally go step by step.  You don't accepting dragging your feet or crawling as a legitimate alternative - you wouldn't freaking take that onto the dance floor.  Every day your on stage, just with a new audience.  You go out with your A-Game, even when you don't want to give it.  You take it step by step, until you get where you need to go.  And what is the trick for this freaking impossible dance move that I say is so easy?  Well, the answer is just like what I'd tell someone struggling with 'the step by step' on the dance floor.

Don't try to learn it alone.

THAT is the trick.  Like I said, I've been struggling the past few weeks.  I get frustrated.  But then, an old dance partner will remind me why I love to dance, show me a few old steps I forgot, and next thing I know....  The step by step continues.  Obviously, sometimes we have to go out for a solo.... It's YOU out there, and YOU alone.  But you already know the steps, because someone else showed you before, and all of a sudden, it isn't so hard anymore.  You're almost excited to go out there and show what you can do.  

Now, I'm gonna flip the table a bit.  

STOP FOCUSING ON YOU.  What EVERY ONE OF YOU need to do now, is GO and REMIND someone of a step they've forgotten to get them moving again.  Stop feeling you're exempt from helping because you need the help.  Funny, how when we reteach an old step, we find ourselves doing it better ourselves.  What do I mean by teaching steps?  TELL SOMEONE YOU LOVE THEM.  Remind them why they're worth the time and what they're capable of!!!  Focus less on what you're so good at, and look at what other people do!  Give!  Love!  Serve!  Be more freaking humble!  Be more patient!  GIVE and TEACH!  And guess what?  In the process.... You progress. You accomplish.  You Change.

To finish up... Where does all this come from?  I know it's a little all over the place, but... Well... I'm aiming the majority of that at myself, thanks to an old dance partner (well, she's actually pretty young...) and a few words she shared with me, about something I once shared with her.  Girl, you made my week.  I love you dearly, and keep freaking doing the dance you do so good.  I Love You, and I cherish you as a friend and sister.  You freaking rock.  So does your whole family. Keep it up, and keep letting your testimony thrive - it did miracles for me.  And yeah,  I'm talking to you.  ;D

Love you guys.  Do the step by step, and I'm always here for you.  

Elder Kristian Huff

Song of the Week - Dedicated to my Kid: Don't Let Me Fall by B.O.B.  

Love you Elder Pootnahm  :)