Tag Archive for: life

Questions of the Soul

The autumn winds of seasonal change are blowing.
Leaves are whirling and twirling, falling to the ground.
It was a chilly wet morning in Rotterdam on Wednesday.
Monic and I were already in the church, snug in a comfortable room, busy with coaching conversations.
Upon finishing one conversation, I went to find the next missionary.
And there they were.
Resting.

Chilly

The Sister Missionaries were a little tired and cold.
Huddled together, wrapped in their jackets, they were warming themselves, comforted by the toasty radiator.
All week long, like their colleagues, theyโ€™d been boldly sharing messages about the Book of Mormon, outside on street corners, busy high streets and in parks filled with fallen autumnal leaves.
Physically, their hands and feet may have been a little cold, yet spiritually, their hearts and souls were glowing, filled with a flame of fire, burning brightly, fuelled by their faith in God and their knowledge of Him.
Thawed by the radiator and warmed by our conversation, they were ready to start all over again.
Doing what, you may ask?
Providing answers.

Questions

Daily, missionaries are asked lots of questions about life โ€“ ๐’’๐’–๐’†๐’”๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’๐’” ๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’”๐’๐’–๐’.
โ€ข Is there a God? (Alma 22)
โ€ข Does God know me and care about me? (2 Nephi 26:24)
โ€ข Does God answer prayers (Enos 1)
โ€ข Why is life so hard sometimes? (1 Nephi 17:3)
โ€ข How can I find peace and joy? (Mosiah 2:41)
โ€ข What is the purpose of life? (Alma 34)
The Book of Mormon addresses all of these questions and more.
It is my witness that The Book of Mormon brings warmth and comfort in times of difficulty.
Perhaps you are whirling, twirling, tired or cold, physically or spiritually?
Are you in search of an answer?
Then speak with a missionary today and read the Book of Mormon.

Growing Older

I paused.
Watching General Conference at the weekend, I observed the effect of age on many church leaders.
Like them, we are all growing older.
Similarly, I observed our departing missionaries as they gave their final testimonies at our recent Zone Conferences.
They too have grown older.
And a little wiser as well.
But, there is also something very different.
They have overcome hundreds, if not thousands of obstacles over the last 18/24 months.
They know a lot about exercising faith in Jesus Christ, loving, and serving people, being obedient and working hard.
They have learned a lot about different cultures and languages.
They know too about the principles of a disciplined life.
They have grown not only physically, but spiritually too, through their service and study of the scriptures.
They have ๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’ˆ๐’†๐’….
Their hearts are softer, gentler, kinder, and tender.
They have grown in knowledge, confidence, and ability.
In a few daysโ€™ time, they will no longer wear a missionaryโ€™s badge, but from personal experience, I know they will always be anxious to identify themselves as one who has served the Lord as a missionary.
Shortly, they will complete the full time missionary โ€œchapterโ€ in their own book of life.
And theyโ€™ll be ready for a fresh start in their next chapter, knowing what it takes to be a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ.
To parents, family and friends, be prepared for some great inspirational stories and a powerful glow that will lift each of you to higher ground, to be better, to stand taller and to move forward with an increase in faith.
To those in Belgium and the Netherlands, if you want to speak to any of them before they go, then now is the time!
Theyโ€™re growing older, by the hour!

Noise

In the Netherlands, noise pollution is a huge challenge.
One of the main sources of environmental noise in the Netherlands is road traffic.
There are statutory limits for road traffic noise.
The government encourages โ€œquieterโ€ tyres, silent asphalt, the installation of many different kinds of sound barriers and the insulation of homes.
Why? Because in a flat land, noise can carry over a very long distance.
We live in an area, known as the โ€œRandstadโ€, and I am a witness to that noise every, single day.

Too Much Noise

Too much noise can be distracting and even overwhelming.
Yet, mild background noise can improve focus and creativity.
Many years ago, as a young salesman, I sold lots of different products, including public address systems for Premier league football stadiums.
I learned a lot about noise.

Meters

Using a ๐œ๐š๐ฅ๐ข๐›๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ sound meter, Iโ€™d often conduct surveys with a technical engineer to check on background or ambient noise levels.
A calibrated meter was an essential tool, to understand the levels of background noise.
It was calibrated regularly.
To ๐’„๐’‚๐’๐’Š๐’ƒ๐’“๐’‚๐’•๐’† something means to rectify, to correct, to change and to standardize, to adjust precisely for a particular function, and to re-measure against a standard to measure accuracy.
I especially like the definition given by the Cambridge English dictionary which is โ€œto make small changes to an instrument.โ€

Personal Calibration

In a like manner, our missionaries are asked to recalibrate or re-examine their lives as disciples of Jesus Christ, daily.
Each of them carries a small booklet entitled โ€œMissionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christโ€.
Sometimes divine adjustments can be painful, and circumstances can compel us to change.
Like the calibrated sound meter measures noise levels, often we need to re-calibrate our personal lives and
– our relationships with our spouse, children and other family members.
– our relationship with other friends and neighbours.
– our relationships with our brothers and sisters in the gospel.
Recalibration is important in every aspect of humanity, including our relationship with Jesus Christ and with others.
Most of us are aware of areas in our lives that need correction and adjustment.
What needs re-calibrating in your life?

Change Your Life

Earlier this week at FSY, I used one of my favourite icebreaker activities; โ€œA conversation with a time travellerโ€.
It goes something like thisโ€ฆ
In pairs, one participant plays someone from the early 1600โ€™s and gets into character/mindset.
The other participant selects a modern-day object/something from our day and explains it to the individual posing as someone from the 1600โ€™s.
I suggest they try and explain any of the following:
– A carry out pizza
– A Smartphone
– The Cinema
– Disneyland
– Netflix
As participants get into character, the results are always fun and insightful.
Participants switch roles and repeat.
There were lot of smiles, laughter, and bewildered faces on show.
Followed by a realisation that times, things, and people have ๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’ˆ๐’†๐’… โ€“ substantially!
There is nothing so unchanging, so inevitable as change itself.
Everything around us seems to be changing at an accelerated pace.
Most changes in the world seem beyond our control.
Yet, you can ๐œ๐ก๐š๐ง๐ ๐ž.

You can change your life…

Each of us have the power to change our lives.
โ€œEvery effort to change we makeโ€”no matter how tiny it seems to usโ€”just might make the biggest difference in our lives.โ€ โ€“ Michael A. Dunn
You can be a little better.
You can stand a little taller.
You can love a little deeper.
You can pick a different path.
You can walk a different walk.
You can find forgiveness.
And joy.
You can become your best you.
Because He gave His life, you can change yours.
I have experienced change first-hand through the actions Iโ€™ve taken.
As I have relied on Jesus Christ, He has helped bring true joy into my life.
He can and will for you too.

No Regrets

Reflecting this morning, I recalled a phrase Iโ€™ve used many times over, in coaching interviews for departing missionaries these last few weeks.
I interview them when they still have a few weeks to serve. In our time together, I share the phrase โ€œ๐’๐’ ๐’“๐’†๐’ˆ๐’“๐’†๐’•๐’”โ€ and we discuss together what it means for them.
It got me thinking more broadly about โ€œThe Top 5 Regrets of the Dyingโ€ (Bronnie Ware 2012)
As a Palliative care nurse, Bronnieโ€™s life was transformed by tending to the needs of those who were dying. In her book she writes about the most common regrets that the people she had cared for had expressed to her.

Top Regrets

Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as shared by Ware:
๐Ÿ. ๐ˆ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ˆ’๐ ๐ก๐š๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐š๐ ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐š ๐ฅ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ž ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ๐Ÿ, ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฅ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ž ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ž๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฆ๐ž.
“This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled.
๐Ÿ. ๐ˆ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ˆ ๐ก๐š๐๐ง’๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ž๐ ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ก๐š๐ซ๐.
“This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.”
๐Ÿ‘. ๐ˆ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ˆ’๐ ๐ก๐š๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐š๐ ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐ž๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ.
“Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.”
๐Ÿ’. ๐ˆ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ˆ ๐ก๐š๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ฒ๐ž๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐จ๐ฎ๐œ๐ก ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ง๐๐ฌ.
“Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years.โ€
๐Ÿ“. ๐ˆ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ˆ ๐ก๐š๐ ๐ฅ๐ž๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ๐Ÿ ๐›๐ž ๐ก๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ž๐ซ.
โ€œMany did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.”
What would your biggest ๐ซ๐ž๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ญ be if this was your last day of life?
What will you set out to change today?

He Lives!

Today is ๐‘ฌ๐’‚๐’”๐’•๐’†๐’“ ๐‘ด๐’๐’“๐’๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ.
On that first Easter Morning, the tomb was emptied and we find hope and great peace in the words of the angel “He is not here: for he is ๐’“๐’Š๐’”๐’†๐’, as he said.” (Matt. 28:6).
We commemorate the greatest of all events in the history of mankind — the breaking of the bonds of death by Him who is the eternal Son of the living God.
I cannot remember a time that I did not believe in Jesus Christ.
It seems that the reality of His life, His death, and His resurrection has always been a real part of me.
Raised in Scotland, I was brought up in a home by parents who followed Jesus Christ.
They believed in and regularly shared their testimonies of Him and strived to follow Him – always.
I have always been grateful for that.
In our Missionary Zone Conferences this week, I spoke about Jesus Christ, His Atonement and resurrection and the impact His life has for all mankind.
In the Conferences, I shared one story about my Nana.

Nana’s story

I told them about the funeral service of my Nana, who died at the age of 94, in 1998.
As a young newly called Bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it was the first funeral service that I had ever conducted.
I recall that jokingly, Nana would often say, that when the time came, she wanted me to conduct her service – and so it was.
At her funeral service, I shared a letter she sent me whilst I served as a missionary in London in 1984.
In it, Nana refers to her own belief…
“God will bless you son, for taking his word to many. I always feel so very sorry for those who do not believe, they miss so very much and in this world. He is the only one we can hold on to…. I still love my Lord and know He is always with me to bless and guide me. To me He is everything and I know He is to you also. May He bless and keep you safe till I see you again.”

The Ultimate Question

Job asked the ultimate question โ€œIf a man die, shall he live again?โ€ (Job 14:14)
Like so many others, I believe the answer to Jobโ€™s question is a resounding YES!
Some in the Christian world doubt the reality of a universal resurrection, however Latter-day Saints believe and declare that Jesus was resurrected to a tangible, glorified body of flesh and bones (see Luke 24:3 and 3 Nephi 11:1-15). And because of Him, and his victory over the grave, all mankind have the promise of our own resurrection.
Because of what happened in the tomb that first Easter morning, one day all of us will arise from our graves. The we will set aside our own burial clothes, just as Christ did and be reunited with family and friends who have already passed through the gateway we call death. It will be a happy and glorious
reunion.
I know that Jesus Christ is the living witness, that this is so and so can you too.

He is Risen

Gran to the left.
Nana to the right.
A little 2 year old me, in the middle.
I am so grateful for the many sweet memories.
Death takes loved ones from us.
It has been many years, since both have passed away.
But,… I am comforted to know, that through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, two millennia ago, resurrection is a reality for all of us.
The Apostle Paul said this to the people of Corinth…
โ€œFor I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures; and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the Twelve. After that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.โ€ 1 Corinthians 15:3-8.
Each recurring Easter is a constant reminder that reinforces this eternal truth, that He lives!
โ€œHe is not here: ๐ก๐ž ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž๐ง.โ€ See Matthew 28:6.
Because our Redeemer lives so shall we.
I know that He lives. And you can know too.
I look forward to a happy reunion, with Gran, Nana, Dad, Jack, Joyce, Ronnie, Violet and the many other beloved relatives and dear friends who have already passed through the gateway we call death.
Why is the existence of a resurrected God so important to all of mankind?

4 Ingredients for Success

As a child, I enjoyed baking scones, cakes and biscuits under the watchful eye of my mother.
It was fun, and a great way to spend Saturday afternoons together.
Licking the wooden spoon at the end of the baking was always the best part!
As I grew older, I recognised that in order to bake a delicious banana loaf, the best way to ensure great results was to follow a good recipe with exactness.
Over many years, my banana loaf has now become somewhat of a Daryl Watson classic in our family!
The result, a happy family, especially my wife, with her gluten free version – (that is a fine art in itself!)
Following a simple recipe, oftentimes leads to great success.
And so, it is in our home, family and business life.
For me, there are 4 simple ingredients to ensure happiness throughout our journey in life.
1. Do something you love – Just like baking banana loaf, I love coaching!
2. Find your purpose – Why are you here? Determine that & follow it!
3. Serve Others – That will help you find joy in your journey.
4. Act – Do not be acted upon – take ownership of your own journey.
Mix them all together and the result will be scrumptious.
Enjoy!
What is included in your simple recipe for success?

Ambition

When Joe Wilson finished college and joined his father in a small family-owned business, Mr. Wilson was overjoyed.
“It will be good to have some aggressive young management around the place,” he said.
“Your first duty as my new partner is to replace that sign out front with one of those father-and-son signs…. you know the kind.”
“Yes, I know just want we need,” Joe said.
Later he invited his father out to inspect the new sign.
Mr Wilson was speechless for a moment….then he said…
“Now that’s what I call real aggressive young management.”
The sign read: Joe C. Wilson & Father.

Self-reflection

Daily, I consciously make time for self-reflection.
It has been a life long practice.
Life is much more fruitful when I take some time to check in with myself!
Paradoxically, looking inwards, helps me to look outwards.
It brings perspective to your life.
Reflection requires courage.
As you look in the mirror of self-reflection, consider these questions:
Am I using my time wisely?
Am I living true to myself?
What surprised me today?
What am I doing about the things that matter most in my life? What do I need to change about myself?
What mistakes did I make today and what did I learn?
Have I made someone smile today?
It is so easy to get caught up in the daily vicissitudes of life.
Self-reflection is the key to help you understand what you stand for, what your values are, and in essence what matters most.
A time to consider your behaviour, your goals and whether you are on track.
The practice is all about learning, looking back on the day in order to contemplate your behaviour and its consequences.
It requires time to sit with yourself and take an honest moment to think about what emerged, what worked, what didnโ€™t, what can be done, and what canโ€™t.
Daily journaling is a great tool to enable you to capture your reflections.
I believe that the more self-reflective you are the easier it becomes to make choices in line with your values.
Self-reflection has been shown to significantly improve learning and performance.
The more aware you of your choices and their impact, then the better the decisions will be that you make now and in the future.
Take time to self-reflect – daily!