Be a Light

So I have been thinking a little about light/darkness and how it
relates to good/evil. 

 One cool insight I had recently, all light comes from a source,
that if not replenished will eventually die out.  Whether it is a
fire, an electric light, or even the sun, it will all one day
eventually run out unless replenished.  It takes energy to make light.

On the contrary, darkness simply comes.  Where there is an absence of
light darkness is always there to fill it. Similarly, I feel like we
need to constantly strive to fill our lives with light.  And when we
have that light it takes constant effort, constant energy to keep the
lights in our life, and our testimonies, burning strong. If however we
leave space in our life darkness will find a way to creep in, for
whatever reason darkness is just always there when there is not light.
(Moroni 7) anyways, we are seeing Gods hand In the work all the time.
It's a wonderful thing to be a part of.

a letter from my amazing cousin, Kaleb, who served a mission in Japan.

Unnecessary Guilt

Here are a few definitions of guilt...

• 1. The fact of being responsible for the commission of an offense
  2. The fact of having been found to have violated a criminal law
  3. Responsibility for a mistake or error.
  4. Remorseful awareness of having done something wrong.

• 1. To make or try to make (someone) feel guilty.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     Guilt should follow if you intentionally TRY to hurt someone. Guilt should not be present when you are TRYING to help.
     
     
     So if you are a parent or anyone for that matter reaching out with the intent to help... but the child is offended.
     
     
     Talk through it in your head. Are you feeling guilt or questioning yourself just because of their reactions? Or was their a better way for you to handle it?
     
     
     Decide beforehand how you will feel whether they go with or against your advice. Then you won't have unnecessary guilt.
     
     
     
     

GUILT

"Men are that they might have JOY, not guilt trips." --Elder Nelson

striving for perfection...  
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1995/10/perfection-pending?lang=eng

Do you want...?

I had told my son our rule. You can't play with friends until your room is clean. He went to preschool and I wanted to take him to the park to play with cousins (friends).
I was talking to my sis and she said, "If your willing to miss the park, then this is the perfect opportunity for him to learn this lesson."

I said "yes, this is worth it to me!" so when he gets home I am going to say,

"If you clean your room, then we can go to the park with your cousins."

She corrected me and said, "ask that same thing to your self, the IF and THEN. Now ask yourself,

"Do you want to go to the park?"

Absolutley.

"Ok. Then what do you need to do?"

Let them try and remember the rule. And then they will feel motivated themselves. Rather than it coming across negative if you do this then...

side note-- I think the IF/THEN is a great approach. For toddlers it is really good for them to start hearing the consequences to their choices. And for even the older kids, it is good to give them a warning if you can see them about to make a bad choice.