I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers where he brings up the idea of practicing something for 10,000 hours, and now I can’t stop thinking about the possibilities of practicing something for 10,000 hours. This theory, from what I understand, suggest that if one deliberately practices something for 10,000 hours, they will reach a…
Mini Memoir: The Green Stove
I sometimes wonder where some of my memories from my early childhood came from. Is it possible for me to recall something that happened when I was nearly two years old, or do I remember it because of the photos I’ve seen and conversations I’ve heard years after the moment occurred? In the days of…
Mini Memoir: The GRE
I took the GRE yesterday. That was a unique experience. It’s been about 20 years since I was on a college campus as a student, so it felt a bit odd walking across the University of Utah’s grounds mingled among the students adorned with ear pods, searching for the testing center. Everyone talks about how…
The Greatest Quality of Leadership
Perhaps the greatest quality of leadership is the ability to see and understand differing views, perspectives, and beliefs and to see the truth and legitimacy in those differing views. Our ego blinds us to the truth. A good leader is one who has the capacity to see truth and to withstand the pressures of validation….
Promoting Justice through Injustice part II
A well known example of promoting justice through injustice is the woman who was brought before Jesus by the scribes and the Pharisees who was had committed adultery and demanded that Jesus explain what should be done. The Law of Moses commanded that such should be stoned. She had done something that was against their…
Meaningful Love
“Love one another; as I have loved you … By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:34-35 My 10-year-old daughter has been looking forward to participating in the school play for the second year in a row. Last year only those who wanted…
Promoting Justice through Injustice
One reason it takes deep courage to act with moral integrity is because you have to give up control. Acting with moral integrity, making the best decision, choosing what is just, right, and good does not guarantee that the “good guy” will win. If honor were profitable, everybody would be honorable. Thomas More My dad coached…
Inheritance
Over 35 years ago we were in the same Kindergarten class. I saw her yesterday and knew that I had met her before but I couldn’t figure out how I knew her. She put it together first. As soon as she said “I think we were in the same Kindergarten class,” the window to my…
Validation Dependency
I’m having a hard time articulating the difference between validation dependency and a virtuous desire to be in relationships with others. Validation dependency is destructive and erodes the character, but there is a difference between validation dependency and a desire to love and to be loved by others. Is it not good to desire to…
Grace or Works?
There’s this idea that we can only qualify for blessings if we work hard enough first, that righteous actions preceded blessings. “And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated (D&C 130:21).” “For we know that it is by grace that we are saved…
Anxiety or Divine Inspiration?
the 3rd revision: My daughter’s first backpacking trip was when she was four years old. She and her dad hiked in one mile. She carried a couple of stuffed animals in her backpack, while her dad carried the rest of the gear. It was love at first sight for her. Every summer since then the…
