Take a chance.

I've noticed a trend in my life. This is that many of the things that have let me grow in my life have been the result of people taking a chance on me. People have trusted me but i've also taken a terrible chance on me. They were willing to let me fail in addition to the thing I was working on. These people include everyone from my wife to my mission president to my parents. I think it takes a great deal of faith to to this. However, it has been one of the greatest sources of emotional and spiritual growth in my life.

In a way, their faith helped develop my faith. Their belief in me has helped me believe. Their trust in me has helped me trust. Their love has helped me love. It is almost as if their faith has lit the path that I was about to walk. I knew I could do what they asked because they believed that I could.

This being said, I think that faith in others, coupled with the everlasting gift of change and hope in in this life, can be a powerful force for good. Unbelief destroys any remote chance of change to happen. I remember on my mission how hard it was for a missionary who was labeled as disobedient to change.

So, my charge to myself is that no matter how bitter the world gets, no matter how jaded and passive popular opinion becomes,  I will not give up believing in people changing and becoming the best person they can.

Ramble,  ramble, ramble.