A Whole New World

The physical is a metaphor of the spiritual.  It is a parable of spiritual truths. Seeing how our spiritual goals are like our physical goals enables us to gain the know-how to obtain them both.  It enables us to see a whole new world!  To see like this is an ability.  It is a gift (Moroni 10:7-20).  It takes time to develop.  It is the ability to compare and contrast two things.  It’s the ability to liken one thing to another (#CrossReference: 1 Nephi 19:23).  It’s the ability to learn one specific skill and then apply the core principles that were also learned to learning another skill (#CrossUtilization).  In order to be able to do this we need to look with an eye of faith.  We might be able to see some things that have already been explained to us without faith but seeing things that haven’t been explained is another matter.  Interestingly enough if we are not in the right spirit, we’re overly anxious, or we just flat out refuse to believe, we won’t be able to see (Matt 13:10-16).  There are incrementally higher levels of this skill to the point where we are able to see, know, and comprehend all things (Mosiah 8:17; Mormon 8:12; Ether 3:26; D&C 76:5-10).



Physical Needs

So let’s look at how we compare and contrast the physical with the spiritual.  The first step is to understand that our needs can be physical or spiritual.  We then define what a Physical need is.  It is temporal.  It’s some physical form of energy that our body needs to keep it healthy—Balanced.  For example, our eyes need light.  Our ears need sound.  Our nose needs scent and every cell of our body needs ATP (glucose, food and water).  When we go without one or more of these needs we experience discomfort.  If we’ve gone without it for a long period of time or we are suddenly intensely deprived of it, the discomfort turns into pain.

Physical Conflicts

The next step in seeing is to identify what a physical conflict is (the opposite of a physical need):  It is when we have two or more physical needs that oppose each other.  When we obtain one, we prevent the obtainment of the other.  An example of a physical conflict is having a stomach ulcer that requires rest from stomach acid in order to heal but at the same time having the need to eat regular meals for total body nourishment.  The stomach acid released at every meal keeps the ulcer open when we need it to close.  Going without nourishment weakens the entire body and may even slow down its ability to heal the ulcer.  Major conflict.

Physical Goals

Then we need to bring what we just learned back to the reason we needed to know all these things in the first place.  We’ve been working on our New Years Resolution—our goals so...some of the goals we set are to obtain our physical needs or prevent physical suffering—prevent the conflicts from ever beginning if at all possible.  For example, because our body functions best at certain temperatures and becomes susceptible to illness, injury, or even death at more extreme temperatures, one of our goals is to obtain shelter which assists us with thermoregulation.

Note that coming up with examples is part of the seeing skill.  We are able to use Physical examples that everyone is familiar with to describe a more abstract point that we are making.  Another example follows:

The same thing is true with the need for food and water.  Because our body functions best with consistent nourishment, we have goals to obtain that nourishment such as:

1.  Get a job—work diligently everyday for a Cause who has the commitment to support us temporally and remember to "consider the lilies of the field" to find the balance (Luke 12:27-30)
2.  Learn how to grow a garden or raise chickens
3.  Learn how to budget our finances more effectively so we can better afford food
4.  Make a weekly menu and shopping list, go to the store, prepare meals, clean the kitchen

Spiritual Needs

This next step uses the same definition we came up with for Physical Needs and changes the adjectives from Physical to Spiritual.  A spiritual need is some form of spiritual energy we need to keep our spirit healthy—emotionally stable.  It mainly has to do with our relationships with our Causes, our Children, and those who play both Cause/Child roles interchangeably with us such as our spouse, siblings, and friends.  The love that we have for one another is spiritual energy.  If our spirit's needs are not met we will experience spiritual discomfort.  When we are severely deprived of one or more of our needed relationships or go without for extended periods of time, we experience deep sorrow.

Spiritual Conflict

Similar to a physical conflict, a spiritual conflict is when we have two or more spiritual needs that oppose each other.  When we obtain one, we prevent the obtainment of the other.  Because we used a physical stomach ulcer as an example for our physical conflict, we look to see what a spiritual ulcer might be and find the following example coming into our mind:
If we have been spiritually injured (hurt) by an Imbalanced Cause, we may put up walls against all Causes.  We’re trying to protect ourselves from further injury but in doing so we prevent needed spiritual nourishment and healing.

Spiritual Goals
Some of the goals we set are to obtain our spiritual needs or prevent spiritual suffering.  The following example is likened to the physical example of temperature that we gave previously:  
Because our spirit functions best at a certain balance (moderate temperatures) between pure Justice (the heat) and pure Chaos (the cold) and becomes susceptible to mental illness, emotional injury, or even the most extreme spiritual misery or despondency at more extreme imbalances (temperatures), one of our goals is to obtain sustainable family relationships which assists us with the balance of Mercy at which we best thrive (Alma 34:32  “This life is the time for men [and women] to prepare to meet God...”).

 

Because I have studied the common spiritual themes of Justice vs. Chaos vs. Mercy (see blog post "I Love Crazy"), I am able to match them up with the physical themes of Hot vs. Cold vs. Just Right (and this is not the same as being Lukewarm Revelations 3:16).

Listen:  Disney's Frozen "Love Is An Open Door" 
(I'm still on Team Hans and think the story line in which he is the villain is stupid.)

Justice/Chaos = Mercy

Cathy from "Wuthering Heights"

As noted above, Justice is like heat.  Too much of it will burn us.  Chaos is like cold.  Too much of it will freeze us.  Mercy is like a temperate climate.  So if we live with family members who are judging us all the time, we will not be spiritually healthy.  We will be spiritually burning up.  If we live with family members who don’t include us in their lives by making and keeping commitments with us but instead leave us alone to do whatever we want, we won’t be spiritually healthy either.  We will be spiritually so cold.

“It’s me I’m Cathy, I’ve come home.  I’m so cold.  Let me in your window, Heathcliff.” ("Wuthering Heights" by Pat Benatar)

Because I know what it’s like to be so spiritually cold and have previously heard the metaphor between being physically and spiritually cold in the above song (and in the book by Emily Bronte), that came to my mind to use as an example here to explain a concept that may have otherwise been difficult to communicate.

Mercy

The last step is to shed some light on the mysteries of the spirit.  And again since I’ve studied these things independently in advance and have experienced them personally, I’m able to “match up” the meanings and expound on (#Summarization&Expansion) the nature of what is otherwise unknown (at least it was unknown to me previously or I had not seen it from this perspective before):  
Our spirits need to have relationships with other people in which we have commitments we make and keep to them and commitments they make and keep to us.  This is the Justice part of our relationship.  Without them expecting us to keep our commitments we feel useless (#I’mSoCold).  Without us expecting them to keep their commitments we feel used (#BurningUp).  But expectation on either side can turn into too much Justice if forgiveness is not employed.  Forgiveness adds a little more Chaos (#ILoveCrazy) to the relationship.  It gives it time.  It allows for mistakes.  It says, “I’m okay with you breaking your commitments to me in the past.  I understand that you were stressed out at the time with....”  Then we let it go.

Listen:  Disney's Frozen “Let It Go” by Idena Menzel

Justice then says, “Let’s try again.  Will you promise to keep your commitments to me in the future or to let me know if something comes up that’s going to prevent you from keeping them?  I’ll do the same with my commitments to you.”

Spiritual Goals

So this is where our Spiritual goals might come from.  Maybe we’re struggling with keeping our commitments to someone.  We might have a goal to develop the ability to be better at keeping them.  For example, maybe we have issues with being on time (I do).  Our goal might be to keep our commitments on time.  We most likely will need to prayerfully ponder what things we need to change about ourselves in order to change the way we keep our commitments.

In seeing, we always make sure we cover the opposites—both Northwest and Northeast as well as both sides of a relationship.  Because I know there is a balance in all things--North--and that is the key to goal achievement, I’m always on the lookout to balance both sides.  Here's the other side of the previous: 

Or maybe we’re struggling in a relationship with someone who isn’t keeping his/her commitments to us so we have a goal to develop greater patience and forgiveness while they get it right.  For example, maybe we have the strength to always be on time but the other person in our relationship is always late.  We might assist him/her with how we have acquired this strength but if they are extra touchy/porcupine-like, our goal might be to figure out what other relationships we need to spend more time developing in order to strengthen our ability to forgive (#Savior).

Questions
Is your goal physical or spiritual?
If it is physical, search for its spiritual counterpart (using faith).
If it is spiritual, search for its physical counterpart (also using faith).
Compare and contrast these two goals systematically.  
What did you learn that helps you in your Goal Achievement Journey?

Perfect

Some people fight against the idea of perfection.  Others strive to be perfect.  Some people say trying to be perfect is wrong.  Others say they are perfectionists.  Before I take a side on this issue, I first have to define what I think the word Perfect means.  I think it is the Balance.  It is:

 a/b =1

...where b is all that we know and understand and a is what we say and do and the motivation behind it (The Lord looketh on the heart...).  So if we are saying and doing according to what we know is true, we are balanced and therefore presently perfect (Alma 42:21, Moroni 8:22).  If we want to follow the following challenge:  "Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect," given to us by Jesus Christ (3 Nephi 12:48) we need to be willing to increase our knowledge to their level AND strive to live at incrementally higher levels in incrementally perfect balance.  We're all invited to come up.  No one is told to go away but we are instead instructed to strive for the balance continuously (3 Nephi 18:25).  Since the balanced life is Joy, then basically our Savior is saying that he wants us to have Sustainable Joy as He and the Father have it (Moses 1:39, 2 Nephi 2:25).  That doesn't mean we all have to come up to their level of knowledge in order to have Sustainable Joy.  Thanks to the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can choose the level at which we are satisfied (Alma 29:4, D&C 131:1).

The Perfect Goal
So we have balanced and imbalanced goals.  That is, upon incrementally achieving our specific goal, it will either add to our Sustainable Joy or detract from it.  When it adds to it, we know our goal is balanced (#Perfect).  When it detracts from it we know our goal is imbalanced (#MyPeace).  Therefore, our specific goal is judged to be balanced or imbalanced (Perfect or Imperfect) by the level of Sustainable Joy we want and need to attain. 

Demanding
The way we go about obtaining our goal can be balanced or imbalanced as well.  Demanding what we want is about force and abuse.  Sometimes that is played out not only by forcing or abusing others but also ourselves as a means to obtain our goals.  That’s imbalanced with our desire for Sustainable Joy (#Cain). 

Wishing
Wishing for what we want is about apathy and neglect of our duty and responsibilities. That is also played out in our relationships with others as well as in our relationship with our own body and spirit.  That doesn’t end in Sustainable Joy either (#KingNoah).

Grace AND Works.  It's a Balance even if He's capable of doing more than we are.

Hope & Humility
Hope is an attitude of combining our commitment to engage in a Goal Achievement Journey, focusing on the things we can do that are within our control AND asking our Cause for his commitment to help us with the things that are outside of our control (#GraceVsWorks).  The Effect of Humility is Hope (Moroni 7:43).  When we have a goal or a desire, we are acknowledging that we don’t have it all down yet.  We need to learn something more.  We need to grow.  We are still a child in this area of understanding.  When we have Hope, we strive for the balance between too much force and too much inertia.  Since this is a dynamic balance depending on our goal and those who we are working with, it takes time to develop this skill.

Dual Imbalance
Usually Demand and Wishing happen together.  When we sit around wishing for something, our needs are not met adequately so we usually are demanding they be met in some other way.  We run slower than we have strength in one area and faster than we have strength in another (Mosiah 4:27).

Judgment
We have balanced and imbalanced Causes.  This can be judged using a general scale.  So against the most perfect Cause there is—Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ—how does this specific person who I am looking to for guidance measure up? (#ByTheirFruits)  The better we know and understand who God is, the more accurate our judgment is (John 17:3).

Righteous Judgment
We’re not trying to judge our Causes for prideful or envious reasons.  We are doing it to choose who best we can rely on to assist us with our specific Goal Achievement Journey (GAJ) (John 7:24).  Since we ourselves reside somewhere between the exact balance and imbalance, we only need to determine if a Cause is balanced with our needs.  

Specifically, is this Cause able and willing to assist me with the goal I have set?  And more generally, is this Cause’s prescribed GAJ going to add to my Sustainable Joy or detract from it?  Does he prescribe a Demanding Process?  If so what does that mean I will have to neglect?  Or does he prescribe a Wishing Process?  If so, what does that mean I will have to abuse?  Finding a Cause who prescribes the most Hopeful GAJ means we won’t have to neglect or abuse, which means we will be able to endure to the end—keep going until we obtain our goal.  We can only judge a Cause from our own position of balance yet because of the General Effects we experience, that is sufficient enough to determine if he will be helpful to us or not. 

Discernment
We have balanced and imbalanced Effects.  If they are from our General Cause then they assist us to identify a balanced Specific Cause and balanced GAJ (see blog post The Tortise and the Hare and the Slug).  If the Effects are from Conflicting Causes they will just mess up our ability to know when we’re on the right track to obtaining our goal and when we’re off it (#Confusion).

Matthew 21:19

The Great Opportunity Cost
Finally, we also have balanced and imbalanced Results.  This is judged by our Specific/General goals.  It is a way to know with greater accuracy if our specific goal is indeed aligned with our general (Sustainable Joy, #Perfect).  If it is not then we will obtain imbalanced Results (#Fruitful or #Barren or #WildBitterFruit).  The specific goal actually comes in conflict with our general.  Because we are obtaining it, it is preventing us from obtaining the level of Sustainable Joy we also desire to obtain, which is quite an opportunity cost (#LoseLifeSaveLife).

Balanced Results are good habits, abilities, talents, strengths, relationships, and personal creations such as books, art, music, inventions, programs, etc. (things that live on and continue influencing others for the GOOD after we create them), and Sustainable Joy.

Imbalanced Results are bad habits, disabilities, weaknesses, black-hole relationships, personal creations such as books, art, music, inventions, programs, etc. (things that live on and continue influencing others for the BAD after we create them), and Virulent Sorrow.  Note, I'm not saying that everyone who has Imbalanced Results have them as a result of Imbalanced GAJs.  I'm saying that everyone who persists in Imbalanced GAJs will end up with Imbalanced Results (Luke 13:1-5).  Most of us have Imbalanced Results, which cannot be attributed to our own continuous past choices (#BlindManFromBirth, #TheFall) but still have Sustainable Joy (#NickVujicic). So if we're looking at our Results for purposes of judgment, the most accurate Result is Sustainable Joy and the Effects that state emanates (again #ByTheirFruits Do they taste sweet?  Or do they taste bitter? Or do they taste so bland that you are not satisfied?).

"Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."

~1 Samuel 16:7

The Tortoise and the Hare. . .and the Slug

Getting to our desired destination is important so it seems like the faster we run to get there the better.  But the issue is we burn out.  We burn out because we don’t have the capacity to continue at such a break-neck speed.  We swing to the other side of the balance and are forced to walk slower than we have strength or we're unable to continue at all.  We see this kind of story played out in the "Tortoise and the Hare."  But what we don't see played out is what happens to THE SLUG (Alma 37:41-43).  On our Goal Achievement Journey we can run faster than we have the capacity to run but we can also walk slower than we have the capacity to walk (#Slug).

Slowing things down is usually a wise thing to do.  But slowing them down too much actually causes us to forget we’re even on a journey to obtain a goal.  We lose hope.  The desired destination seems so far away.  This is when we usually begin to entertain ourselves with distractions while we’re waiting for our ship to come in.  And strangely enough that’s when we swing to the other side of the balance; if we don’t work at the level of our capacity we will eventually be forced to run faster than we have strength (Mosiah 4:27).  Eventually, every effort will feel like it's over the top.

Hypertrophy

In our goal achievement journey we’re required to make sacrifices in order to obtain what we want.  For example, if we want to increase the muscle mass in our body (#Hypertrophy), we need to actually sacrifice the energy in our body to fuel muscle movement.  

When we engage in this type of process continuously, the body adapts.  It increases the size of muscle fibers.  It also develops the capillary beds around those fibers in order to more efficiently provide nutrients for and take away waste products from those areas that are in highest need.  These adaptions increase the muscle’s capacity to lift heavy weights over time.

If we try to lift too much weight too soon, we damage muscle fibers instead of giving the body time to develop a stronger capacity.  The torn muscle fibers send us to the other side of the balance:  we won’t be able to lift much weight at all until they are repaired.  Thus we are progressing less efficiently on our journey.  We may even be forced to slow down so much during this healing process that we give up on our goals.

Atrophy

If we don’t lift enough weight or are not continuous enough with our process the body will not recognize that any reinforcement is necessary.  So we don’t achieve our goal.  But the issue with not increasing or at least maintaining strength is that life’s journey tends to become increasingly difficult over time.  If we don’t use our muscles enough they will actually atrophy—the muscle fibers decrease in size.  Thus what may have been an easy physical exertion for us when we were younger becomes way too hard for us when we get older.  And that’s when we end up tearing the muscle fibers and having to deal with forced inactivity while the body repairs with ever greater frequency.  Can you see where this is going?  More atrophy occurs during those forced periods of inactivity and then more muscle fiber tears and so on.  And how does one get out of such a black hole once it has started? (Proverbs 21:25)

Listen:  "Live Like That" by Sidewalk Prophets

Yo-Yo Goal Achievement Journeys

The same laws apply when I’m trying to obtain greater fitness through diet control.  Eating less Calories than I normally do is a sacrifice.  It means I need to eat foods higher in nutrients and lower in the substances that increase the intensity of taste (sugar, salt, refined grains, trans-fats, etc.).  If I restrain myself too much too soon my body rebels against me.  It’s used to getting all that extra easy-uptake energy and for me to suddenly take it all away causes an uprising in my metabolic cells.  They start shouting at me pretty loud because they’re not getting the glucose and ATP they have been used to getting for so long.  They can’t complete their tasks.  Neither have they had enough time to prioritize the enforced downsize so some of the systems that have a high metabolic need are as deprived as the systems with a low metabolic need.  They haven’t developed the capacity to convert adipose tissue into glucose at the rate that is now expected of them.  All this makes me feel extremely bad to the point that I don’t want to do anything, especially spend the required time to prepare healthy foods.  Usually I can deal with this kind of rebellion for a time without yielding.  I sacrifice feeling good and take the time to prepare the healthy foods anyway.  But if I go beyond my threshold to sacrifice like this (enter Holiday season), I eventually hit the wall and pendulum swing back to eating more than I was before. 

Numbing Ourselves

We all know what happens when we eat more Calories than we need.  We get fat.  But do we all know about what happens to our sense of taste when we don’t try to control what we eat?  If we get out of the habit of sacrificing within our zone, our ability to control what we eat will atrophy.  Sacrifice actually keeps our taste buds satisfied.  If we indulge them, they become numb.  We don’t feel the pleasure from eating anymore.  Thus the sacrifice of more taste than we otherwise would have needed to sacrifice is forced upon us.  Many of us recognize these warning signs and stop!  We return to sacrificing taste at a higher level within our zone.  But many of us resolve the conflict by going with the natural flow:  we eat foods increasingly higher in taste and lower in nutrients just so we can TASTE something.

The Law of Balance

These laws apply to ANY Goal Achievement Journey.  When we try to take that journey too quickly, change too much (not staying steadfast enough!), sacrifice too much, move too much weight all at once, we end up crashing, giving up, losing it before we get there.  When we take the journey too slowly, don’t take the responsibility of changing enough (staying steadfast in areas we actually need to change!), sacrifice too little, move too little weight over an extended period of time, we end up going no where, thinking nothing will ever happen, falling into despair or becoming VERY SUSCEPTIBLE to distractions.  And then we never get there.  Blah.

The key is to find the balance within our zone.  We each have a sacrifice/resting threshold that creates that zone.  This threshold allows us to change ourselves or to change something else.  It allows us to achieve what we do not presently have.  It allows us to progress.  In short, it allows us to achieve our goals.  We can push ourselves to some degree into our NW Threshold to increase our sacrifice.  When we do we can expect to experience a degree of stress and fear mixed with our energy and excitement.  We can also slow down a bit into our NE Threshold in order to heal.  When we do we can expect to experience a degree of boredom and depression mixed with our sense of peace and comfort.  The smaller the arc of our pendulum swing within our sacrifice and resting threshold the less fear and depression will be mixed with our energy and peace.  This Northern Threshold Balance is where we experience Joy in our journey.  Our motivation is continuous.  We’re excited for each new step.  We’re grateful for every mile marker we have passed.  We don’t want our journey to end.  In fact, we want to keep doing this forever.  It’s awesome!

But when we go too far to the NW, we experience too much fear.  We start looking for a way out of our Goal Achievement Journey.  We don’t want to continue.  We can’t wait until it ends.  There’s no Joy in the journey anymore.  We just want it all to be over with.  If we don’t get there soon, we will quit.

Listen:  "He Said (feat Chris August)" by Group 1 Crew

When we go too far to the NE, we experience too much depression.  We are easily satisfied with distractions.  We have very little desire to even set goals.  We can’t imagine that any goal, upon achievement, will return anything worth the effort.  We just want what’s easy to obtain right now.  We are not motivated to begin any kind of journey.  We’ll just stay right here by the side of the road eating high-taste/low-nutrient food and watching TV. 

Listen:  "Love of Another Kind" by Amy Grant

I challenge you to identify when you're passed your NW Threshold, when you're passed your NE Threshold, and when you're within your Growth Threshold on your personal Goal Achievement Journey.