Trash Day

Today is trash day. As I watched out this dark and blustery morning, I caught a small glipse of humanity. One neighbor had parked his car in front of his garbage cans. Since garbage trucks are now equipped with automatic arms and only the driver, moving the cans himself becomes impossible. The driver honked for the neighbor to come out and move the car. Then, I saw another neighbor, still recuperating from a motorcycle accident and will get a leg cast off this week, run out and move the cans for the neglectful neighbor. Then I thought, "Why didn't I think of that?"

As I stood there I reflected on the thoughts that run through our minds everyday. Perhaps I thought that the neighbor would get his justice for making the mistake of parking his car in front of the cans. Maybe I considered the consequences should play out to be a lesson learned. Perhaps I thought it was too cold to rescue the neighbor. Or maybe I thought, if I did, the neighbor wouldn't appreciate it anyway.

Of course, this is "stinkin' thinkin' and it's counterproductive. It's trash in and of itself.

When one is grieving the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job or opportunity, or a disability, the adversary will look for ways to intrude and alter or mood, often through placing negative thoughts. Soon, those negative thoughts become a habit. Then they become a normal part of life, skewing our perspective on eternal things.

I've been through my own personal junkyard these past few weeks. Crippling thoughts and scenarious frequent my consciousness. "They think you are dumb.", "What kind of mother are you?", "You have no talents." And perhaps worst of all, "It's your fault." or "They think it's your fault."

The last one, guilt, plagues the female species endlessly. Entertaining these ideas, when you know logically that it's not possible, priesthood blessings have confirmed that you should not feel guilt, and spiritual confirmations that have added a witness to revealed things, is not the plan of heaven or angels. Such guilt can cause physical pain, depression, weakness, and loss of appetite, and in some cases physical and mental illness. Each negative thought builts on itself, until eventually the mind begins to think that the scenario played out in the brain is the reality.

The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “A man is his own tormentor and his own condemner."

It's time to take out the trash!

This morning I was reading in Alma where the Anti-Nephi-Lehies buried their weapons of war. Have we buried our weapons of war against ourselves by burying our negative thoughts?

Through the power of the Atonement we can take out the trash in our minds and dwell, instead, on spiritual things. Sometimes it may be necessary to pray for strength to rid those thoughts, sometimes a priesthood blessing, perhaps to count to ten backwards to reset the brain, maybe audibly shouting to yourself to "Stop it!" Think of a positive thought ahead of time when the negative thoughts come. Counting one's blessings is more than just a song or a mantra reserved only for the congregations on Sundays. Posive thoughts can also build on themselves, until eventually the mind begins to think, and know, that the scenario played out in the brain is not only the reality, but the truth.

As Boyd K Packer has said:

"And that is my counsel to you. If you have festering sores, a grudge, some bitterness, disappointment, or jealousy, get hold of yourself. You may not be able to control things out there with others, but you can control things here, inside of you."