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Davis Journal

By small and simple things

Nov 07, 2022 02:43PM ● By John Waterbury

In this world, if we had nothing to depend upon for our sanity other than the six o’clock news on TV, life could seem upsetting and unstable.  Fortunately, these are offset by my favorite philosopher, Dr. Seuss, who wrote: 

So be sure when you step.                                                                                               

Step with care and great tact.                                                                                       

And remember that life’s a great balancing act.                                                       

Will you succeed?  Yes you will indeed.  98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.

And how did Dr. Seuss propose that we could succeed?                                                                 

He wrote:  

Think left and think right, think low and think high. Oh the things you can think up if only you try.  

And later he taught:  

You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

There it is!  We have free agency.  We can be stronger than our symptoms.  We can choose to do this.  We can think, and we can reason, and we can move forward to receive all that Heavenly Father wants us to have.  But to accomplish that, we have to be willing to cope with our fears and uncertainties.  I know without any doubts, the Savior knows all about our fears.  In fact, He told us in Matthew 28:20 that “I am with you always.” And the Lord went on to say in Isaiah 45:2, “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight.”  And in the Doctrine & Covenants 84:88, He said, “I will go before your face.  I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you to bear you up.”   

Now, we all know that this journey will not be easy, but it will be worth it.  And it’s clear that we don’t have to be spiritual giants to cast our burdens on the Lord.  That principle is clarified in 1 Nephi 16:29: “By small means I the Lord can bring about great things.”  So what are we to do?  Very simply, we need to maintain our faith in God and know that there is a plan that will get us home.  So be strong. 

And finally, when it seems we’ve almost reached our breaking point, may we remember the thought-provoking message of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:  When life is hard, remember, we are not the first to ask, “Is there no other way?” 


John Waterbury is a retired Clinical Mental Health Counselor who has lived in Utah since 1984 when he moved to Bountiful with his wife and four children. Since then, he has written a weekly column for several years for the Davis County Clipper titled “The Dear John Letters” which was also used throughout the intermountain West focusing on addiction and mental health problems. This new column will focus on mental health and life management issues.  λ