The Wheel of Life

I went to a thrift store last week.  I found The Game of Life and bought it and took it home. I loved playing it as a kid and wanted to share it with my children.  The 3 oldest have loved playing it.  Jiles, or Zoe, or somebody took the wheel upstairs, so the next time they were getting the pieces out to play, I told them that the wheel of life was upstairs. 

I laughed about how that sounded, "the wheel of life is upstairs".

Then as they played and I made dinner, I thought about it more.  

The wheel of life.  

I thought about how that wheel never stops; in the game, yes, but the real deal wheel, never.   So much  happens as the wheel keeps turning, 

and turning,

and turning.

Sometimes it feels like we have "wheels like a whirlwind (Isaiah 5:28)," like it is so busy and so much is happening at once and there is no way that we can possibly keep up.  Sometimes, or for some, it seems like the wheel is going so slowly, like during the winter, or when we are lonely and want time to hurry up.

But the wheel is constant, never slowing, never quickening; it just feels like it does one or the other at times.  But a day is still 24 hours, no matter what is happening.  Like Ezra says of school days, "Today was a TINY day!"  Meaning, the day was so short and he had very little time to play.

We're all in constant motion, cyclical motion.   That sounds like we're going in circles, and yup, it feels that way at times.  

Food needs to be prepared, eaten, cleaned up, 

(and diapers need changing) over and over.

Clothes are bought/made, worn, soiled, washed, dried, folded, put away, worn, soiled, and so on.  (My sister and I joke how the laundry is such a good friend: it is always there for you, no matter what.)

Fields are tilled, planted, the plants grow, and are reaped, again and again. 

The hay shed is filled, only to be emptied, until next year when it will be filled, and then emptied again.

Snows melt, the creek swells, it irrigates fields, (and entertains children) and then slowly dwindles to a little stream, and then it freezes, the snow melts, and swells.

And us?  Humankind?  Oh, my.  We fit right in there in the whole cycle of life:  birth, life, death, birth, life, death.  We feel like we will be here forever, and sort of like we have already been here forever.  We can't remember the beginning of our life, and certainly the end is nowhere close.  Right?  

Dieter F. Uchtdorf said in his talk (you should listen to it because it is really good) in General Conference on Sunday, 

"We are all mortal.  I hope this does not come as a surprise to any of us.  None of us will be on earth very long.  We do have a number of precious years which, in the eternal perspective, barely amount to the blink of an eye."

Watching my children grow, sheesh,  time has flown.  I already have a 4th-grader.  Yep, blink of an eye.

Something else that Dieter F. Uchtdorf said in his talk was, "Isn't it true that we often get so busy, and sad to say we often wear our busyness as a badge of honor, as though being busy, by itself, was an accomplishment or sign of a superior life.  Is it?"  

A profound statement, and, of course, the answer to that "Is it?" question is no, it isn't.

We can turn to the Savior, the most superior life ever lived (and it was a relatively short life), for example of how we should be, and what we should do in our life.  He taught, he served, he loved the little children, he went about doing His Father's work.  Jesus was "a compassionate and caring Son of God purposefully living each day.  When he interacted with those around Him, they felt important and loved.  He knew the infinite value of the people he met.  He blessed them, ministered to them, he lifted them up, healed them.  He gave them the precious gift of His time." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Our time here is short.  Our time with our children is extremely short.

In paraphrasing President Thomas S. Monson in his talk back in October of 2008 (on the day after my 30th birthday), the piles of laundry and the fingerprints on the windows will disappear all too quickly.  We need to have joy in the journey.  He quoted Shakespeare when saying, "They do not love that do not show their love." 

 "If we fail to give our best personal self and undivided time to those who are truly important to us, one day we will regret it.  Let us resolve to cherish those we love by spending meaningful time with them, doing things together, and cultivating treasured memories." - Uchtdorf

Some other things that I got from President Uchtdorf's talk that I scribbled in my notebook:

-Why do we devote so much of our time and energy to things that are so fleeting, so inconsequential, and so superficial?

-Good intentions are NOT enough.  We must DO.

-The more we devote ourselves to holiness, the less regrets we'll have.

-We do this by following the example of our Savior, by incorporating his teachings in our daily lives, by truly loving God and our fellowmen.  We certainly can not do this with a dragging our feet, staring at our watch, complaining as we go approach to discipleship.

-Someone dying said, "I wish that I would've let myself be happier."

I don't want to be one that says that.  I want my life, my wheel of life, to be like this:

Like a huge colorful ferris wheel filled with people that I love and wonderful experiences and views along the way.  The Game of Life wheel is pretty cool, too, because it is rainbow-colored, and you do get to add kids to your car along the way.

But really, I want my life to simulate the Savior's life.  He has asked us to follow Him, and that's what we need to do.  I love Him and I adore how He lived.  His way of life is the happiest way, after all.