Mormon Psychologist

Would you not agree that much of what we see in people is an effort to gain some sot of power? It strikes me that ALL the efforts of mankind, no matter what the effort may be, have as their goal to obtain and/or maintain power...or control...or influence...or domination...or strength...or authority...or.......

The real issue is not whether seeking power and influence is bad, but rather, what is the intent and hoped outcome of the influence!

I attend a Spanish speaking branch of the church in my area. I have been so attending for about five years. When I first was in the branch, there were about 30 people coming regularly to Sacrament Meeting. Now there are 110 attending regularly. At one point (and perhaps it is still true) we were the highest baptizing unit in the mission. The branch president asked me why I thought we were growing so rapidly. Aside from it being the Day of the Lamanite, I told him I did not know, but I have continued to ponder the question.

Read on...

Have you ever thought about why you live the way you live? Have you ever thought about why you do what you do? I mean every day you get up, you go to work, or you go to school, or you stay home and tend kids, or whatever you do, but every day it is the same thing, mostly. Then, on Saturdays, you go out (and some of you on Sundays) and beat yourself to death "having fun." And after you have done that for thirty of forty years, how do you feel? Are you still good with yourself? Do you feel like your life is worthwhile? Life has given a lot of experiences, right? You had a lot of interesting adventures, maybe. But, what have you done in your life that was useful? Put another way: What do you want your life to be? Perhaps all you want for your life is to party on. And if that is the case, then I guess you are happy. But most of us, even the party animals, want our life to mean something. Most of us want our life to have been of some value for something. Maybe to your family, maybe to your friends, maybe to a cause, maybe to the world in general. Perhaps you have a philosophy you like to follow, or perhaps you have a religion, or perhaps you have...I do not know what you have. But I am guessing that most of you have something for which you want your life to account.

So now the rest of this is for those of you who do want your life to account for something. To you...read on.... The rest of you who do not really give a care can stop reading because this will be boring to you.....

Did you read Part I? Yesterday's post. You may want to do that so
this post makes more sense. How do you determine a purpose? How do you determine the value or worth of your life? I cannot can give you the answers, but I do have some suggestions. I believe that determining purpose and worth for one's life is heavily influenced by several things, at a minimum.

How do I know who I am? you might ask. Read on...

What is self-depreciation? The fourth definition of the word depreciation in dictionary.com is "a lowering in estimation." Self-depreciation, then, means to lower the estimation of self; or to lower the estimation of one's own worth.

Above all: See yourself correctly; accept yourself; move on with a smile on your face and a song in your heart.

Find this news item on Fox News.

Remember the Parable of the Prodigal Son as told in Luke 15:11-32. The man who had two sons, one of whom decided he wanted his inheritance, got it from his father, and left to a far country and wasted his substance with riotous living. The son then realized the error of his ways and returned home, hoping to work for his father. The father's servants had a better living situation than the son at the son's end. He returned home and the father made a feast. The son who had stayed at home was angry, but the father told him that what was lost, was found. The parable is one of several teaching that we must always seek those who have lost their way and love them.

We need to remember the faithful as well as the lost.

.....or between the temples.

The Temple/temples are pretty important concepts in the life of a Mormon.