Killer Butterflies, and the Best Day Ever.

18 Tuesday May 2021

Posted by Colby Alexander in Battle, General, Motherhood, Preparation, Sports

Every once in a while, we experience moments we will remember forever. They become etched in our minds and become a part of who we are.

Yesterday, was one of those days. Jake was playing in his end-of-season basketball tournament for his little club team. It was a long day. They played 4 games starting at 8 o’clock in the morning. The final game finished up around 3:30. If you’re 8 years old, or 42 years old, that makes for a long day. The Mountain Dew and Lunchables from Circle K can only get you so far.

We didn’t know it at the time, but the day would shape up to be one of the best we have ever had. But, you would never think it possible by the way it started.

For a little context, Jake can be a bit of a perfectionist and a huge worry wart. He has a lot of his older brother in him. He loves to win, and hates to lose. He obsesses over, stews about, analyzes and contemplates all the possible outcomes for each game. He constantly worries how he will play, who he will play, and all the “what if’s”. Many of us have likewise experienced cases of these pre-game jitters or “butterflies”. It’s normal to get that uneasy feeling in your gut before a big game, event, or concert.

Jake is a bit different. He gets a severe case of the killer butterflies that cannot be contained within the pediatric limits of his gastric capacity. Sometimes, his killer butterflies spill out and manifest as a major hurdle for him to overcome in the hours before his games. I think his butterflies are above average in size, because he cares about these games in an above average way.

Yesterday was killer butterfly day. They must have multiplied inside as the gravity of the day ahead weighed on him. It was a lot to worry about as it was, a win or go home, single elimination tournament. Luckily, Jake has one of the best known treatments for killer butterflies. A good Mom.

Moms have superpowers. Sometimes they know just how to slay the killer butterflies.

Jake may never tell you this, but what he and his mom did that morning, is what they always do when the butterflies come. They went into a quiet room and knelt down and asked for Heavenly Father’s help. They thanked him for a healthy body to be able to play, and that Jake would be able to do his best and have a good time.

Sometimes all we need is to be close to someone who really knows, and believes in the power God has to change our lives. When we are younger, we naturally depend on our parents to help us understand life and its challenges. They can also teach or show us the best, most effective way we can deal with the difficult stuff that will surely come.

Along with asking for divine help, one of the things that Catie has always taught the kids, is that if they are prepared, there is no reason to fear. This principle applies to their school work, sports, and every other fear in life. I don’t think that she is the only mother who has ever taught this principle.

Jake was prepared. He had spent hours, and hours, and hours outside on our little basketball hoop practicing. His team had spent hours and hours over the last several months practicing together, drilling, shooting, running through plays, and slowly improving, and getting better. His Mom also prepared his mind by taking him time after time after time into that quiet room to pray to slay the butterflies.

In one of our favorite stories about supermoms in the Book of Mormon, we read about the young stripling warriors who had also learned how to be brave, and fight through their killer butterfly moments. In Alma 56 we learn about a life altering choice these 2,000 rookie warriors were faced with. They had to choose whether or not to join a hopeless battle against the seasoned, mature, experienced Lamanite army. Imagine the butterflies during that somber moment when their father figure and military leader Helaman asked them, “

“Therefore what say ye, my sons, will ye go against them to battle?” -Alma 56:44

As they answered, I’m sure they thought back to many times before when they knelt with their mothers, and thanked Heavenly Father for their healthy bodies, and asked for courage, and help to tackle whichever scary butterfly inducing situation they faced that day. So, they were prepared to answer,

“Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; We do not doubt our mothers knew it.“ -Alma 56:48

I am sure that these young men were not born with the courage they displayed. They likely learned it through shared experiences. This invaluable experience gained chiefly by the help of their Mothers. It was the reason they chose to be courageous. Moms really do have superpowers. Maybe most importantly, they have the power to help shape the hearts of young men.

Yesterday all the physical and mental preparation of the last several months came together for Jake. It was needed as the killer butterflies were in full force for the big day. But, just as each time before, and with the constant help of his Mom, he was able to work through them and play and have some great games.

Jake’s team played well, and fought through each game, one by one, and won each of them leading up to the coveted championship contest.

As the game started and the battle began, all the parents were nervous and screaming and yelling. The coaches’ foreheads and neck veins were bulging as they screamed instructions. Constant noise reverberated through the gym. Our coach was fighting through his lost voice from yelling all day during the previous games. The buildup had been intense. The games were intense. The coaches were intense. The stakes were high, and even the little 8 year olds were focused, and inherently understood how big this game was for them.

As the final game’s battle went on, it was a back and forth struggle filled with bad calls, missed opportunities, and blown assignments that are commonplace to any league with little kids. However, as fate would have it, and like the movie script of the day’s destiny, it came down to the very end.

We could almost hear the soft subtle sound of the theme music from Hoosiers starting to play in the back of our minds, as we glanced up at the scoreboard every few seconds. Time started to slow down as every little moment further built the intensity of the occasion. The clock ticked down to under the final minute or so, as the other team tied the game.

After a scramble over a loose ball led to an inbound play, the drama completed its crescendo. Our team had the final opportunity to win the game with just about 7 seconds left. We had the ball out of bounds and we ran our best sideline inbound play.

The imaginary soundtrack music intensified as the clocked ticked down in each of our heads. The Killer butterflies that Jake had successfully vanquished earlier in the day came roaring back with a vengeance finding new hosts in the churning stomachs of the eager spectators.

Fingernail fragments were flying as nervous nibbles went unchecked. Fists were clenched and blood flow stopped. Jake inbounded the ball to Max as he headed towards the basket. He was met with an immediate double team spoiling any chance of a clear shot. He screeched to a halt as he faced the towering wall of opposition, and reversed course. He quickly looked around for a way out, as hope of victory started to wane.

Time ticked away, Max then noticed Jake. He had worked in behind his drive and was clear of defenders. He instinctively flipped the ball back towards him as the drama peaked. Jake caught the ball, and without hesitation, turned to the basket and let it fly.

The music in our minds climaxed intensely as the ball arced upwards, floated impossibly slow and then hung at its midpoint in the air. Time seemed to stop. Life itself on earth stood still. The stars in the firmament paused their cosmic duties for that moment to witness the outcome. As the ball then resumed its downward trajectory, every eye in the gym was fixed singularly on it. Jake’s shooting arm and hand stayed locked in follow-through position as if willing the ball to find its way through the net. The ball’s gentle backward rotation added to the beauty of the moment, as the parabolic arc finally completed its journey, and the ball lit softly within the welcoming embrace of the nylon net. It was over. We had won. We were the champions.

The deafening roar of parents, onlookers, players waiting for the use of the gym, all joined in the ecstasy of the moment drowning out the closing buzzer. People went nuts. inhibitions were thrown out. Grown men danced like fairies across the hardwood. The disbelief soon gave way to utter joy and complete bliss. The Best Day Ever. It became the moment that Jake, and all of us, will remember forever.

This day will be remembered for the loud shouts, and hollering, the hugging, and screaming, fist bumps and high fives. And it should be. But, it should also be remembered for the quiet little moments before it all began when a good mom, knelt down in a quiet room to help a young man slay the killer butterflies.

Run, and Not be Weary

24 Saturday Feb 2018

Posted by Colby Alexander in Baptism, Failure, General, Humility, Jesus Christ, Sports, Strength, Success, Trials, Weakness

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I ran my third Marathon today. I ran another one this year after a great experience a year ago at the same event. A year ago, I was as well prepared as I could have been, and even ended up finishinig with a little gas left in my tank. My legs were tired to be sure, but I had enough left to accelerate through the finish line, and finish well ahead of where I expected to be. What a difference a year makes.

This year, I was well prepared-ish. I had run plenty, but hadn’t been able to get the long training runs in like I had in past years. The longest training run that I did complete was just 14 miles. I am learning, the hard way, that this might not cut it.

As much as I omitted the longer training sessions, and hadn’t really prepared my legs for 26.2 miles, that wasnt the main problem. The biggest, most obvious, most glaring mistake I made this year was in the nutrition department. I thought I had prepared well enough. I thought I had a good plan, but I didn’t. I thought that rather than going with the tried and true plans presented by experts, experienced runners, and people who understand exercise physiology, I would go with the Colby plan instead.

My brilliant plan consisted of nutrition powder mixes that I had been using on my not so long training runs. My foolproof plan consisted of said powder mixes of which I had neglected to even read the ingredients on the label. My innovative plan was a disaster. Lets just say we could probably rename it the “original marathon nutrition plan”. It would probably be the most accurate considering that the dude that supposedly ran the original marathon died after he “finished”.

After feeling great for about 18, or 19 miles, I suddenly realized upon gazing at my internal energy gas tank, that it was completely empty. Not like almost empty, or dinging that little warning light that reminds us to refuel soon empty, but sputtering, and spattering, and metal grinding, and engine stopping empty. I was toast.

That was no bueno. I was 7 or 8 miles short of the finish line, with only a few more water stations between where I was, and the promised land. I was in trouble. I was hoping for one of those stations to have some of those sugary goo things, or chews, or pizza, or even cooked vegetables, I was that empty. But, as luck would have it, none of the next few did. It was water, gatorade, or some tasty advil.

I was in survival mode. My legs felt more like the rusty hinges on the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz than something that would carry me the next several miles. The reason? I really was out of gas. The powder mixes that were my main source of energy had exactly 0 calories each. Even though I had mixed 3 of them over the race, if you do the math, that’s 0 calories in, and about 3500 calories out during that almost 4 hour run. No wonder I felt so awesome.

With only about 2 and half miles left, I did run past some people handing out little honey sticks, that I promptly grabbed, and voraciously tried to suck out the 4 drops of honey. I think I may have aspirated some in my lungs I was in such a hurry. I also stole a piece of banana bread from one of the volunteer tables that was off limits. But, at that point, I was more like gollum devouring a raw fish after 7 days without food, than an actual runner.

Even with the honey, and the bread, my tank was beyond empty, it was on negative empty, if there is such a thing. It would take more than some honey drops and a stolen piece of bread to get me back to normal. The last 8 miles had been the definition of enduring to the end.

But, apparently, this is just the way that I learn best. The hard way. I had learned that nutrition was important, I had even worried about it, and planned it out meticulously in the past, but not today. I had taken it for granted. I had relied upon my own planning, and didn’t give enough thought or attention to it. In my prideful mind, I had thought, “Ive done this before, no big deal” even though, before, I had taken much better care in being really prepared by being well nourished.

As with all of the things I learn, there are parallels, and types, and comparisons that cover all aspects of my life. Truth is truth, and principles are principles. Being well nourished during a race is essential to helping me endure for the entire duration. This is as true for my physical body as it is for my spiritual side.

In the Book of Mormon we learn about the real race we are all running, and how we need help finishing. This real race consists of all of us winding our way back home to God. This race begins with our committment to run! That comittment to run is our baptism. What follows that committment is a life full of hills, long stretches without water, and others seemingly more expert at running than we are. But, the instructions on how to finish this more important race, are right at our fingertips….

“And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.”
-Moroni 6:4

“Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.”
-2 Nephi 31:20

No matter our race, we need nutrition and nourishment. Whether it be enduring a marathon, or in real life. In a physical race, we need food, or energy to keep us going. In our spiritual races, we need spiritual energy that comes from beign nourished by the word of God, and feasting upon them.

We can’t always wait until our tank is empty before we even start to think about refilling it. The effect of neglecting physical or spiritual nutrition is the same. We run out of gas. We simply cannot expect to finish the way we want to, in either race, unless we stop thinking that our own plan is best. We have to give up thinking that our own plan is foolproof, or that any success we have had in the past was because of our own strength. The simple truth of the matter is that we will always finish best when we rely solely on the One true Expert- the “Author and Finisher of our faith”

The Whole Need no Physician

16 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by Colby Alexander in atonement, Failure, General, Honesty, Jesus Christ, Sports, Trials, Weakness

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“…Jesus…said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick…for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” -Mathew 9:12,13

Back when I was a kid, I loved to watch baseball. I loved to watch the best players in the world throw 100 mph fastballs, or hit 100 mph fastballs, or crank out 4 home runs in one game. Every once in a while, we even got to see an all out brawl because of a well placed pitch right between the batters shoulder blades in retaliation for some perceived slight an inning or two earlier. …Ahhh, the good ‘ole days….

One of the most entertaining players to watch was a guy named Bo Jackson. Now, Bo only played a few seasons, but was one of the best athletes to ever play. He was an All-Star outfielder for the Kansas City Royals, way before the Royals were cool. Or even remotely good. He also starred as a running back for the Oakland Raiders. He bounced back and forth between professional sports like it was no big deal. He was iconic. And, maybe the best part of all, he had his own cross training shoes that, quite possibly, could be the best shoes ever created in the 90’s.

Bo was famous for his home runs….and his strikeouts. He looked a lot like Dwayne “the Roc” Johnson at the bat if you can imagine. Or like Disney’s Moana playing baseball. He was huge, ripped, shredded, swole, or buff as you might say. Even though he never lifted weights in his life.

He was a good hitter, but he did strike out more than average. He didn’t particularly like striking out, as you can imagine. It frustrated him. It tended to make him angry. We were able to deduce this fact because he would often, after striking out, break his bat over his knee, or his head, on his way back to the dugout. He had a little bit of a mean streak in him. But, his anger management issues, were fun to watch, because snapping a bat over your head, and making that piece of pine look more like a toothpick was totally awesome.

So what does Bo Jackson’s anger issues have anything to do with anything? Well, maybe nothing, but it came to mind this week as I read through a particular chapter in the Book of Mormon. Last Sunday, because of a new calling, I got to sit in a lesson in the Deacons quorum in my ward. The lesson was on the reality of all of us having real problems, and how we all have flaws, and we will make mistakes, and how we have to pick ourselves up and go to the Lord, and make ourselves better because of it. It was awesome.

The chapter that we talked about was 2 Nephi chapter 4. This is one of the best chapters ever. In this chapter, Nephi talks about how even he, Nephi got down on himself because of his sins. This is the same guy that never complained about anything, the same guy that made a homemade bow, probably out of sharp rocks, animal sinew, and leftover crow feathers while in the wilderness. Only to then have to fashion his own arrows, even when everyone else, including his prophet father, Lehi, was complaining directly to the Lord about thier sufferings. This was the same Nephi that was willing to make a boat to cross an unfamiliar ocean simply on faith. This same, seemingly flawless Nephi, admits he had struggles with temptations, and sin. He was a normal guy after all!

He explains his thoughts in verses 17-19,

“O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities….I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me. And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins…”

Don’t get me wrong, Nephi was one of the most faithful men to ever live on this earth. But it is nice to know that he, just like us, wasn’t perfect. He had struggled to overcome sin. He quickly though, reminds himself, and us by proxy, that there is no reason to dwell on the struggles. And, that remembering the greatness of God, and His ability to lift us out of sin, is our real key to happiness.

He says in verses 20 and 21…

“My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep. He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh”

He continues in verse 26…

“O then, if I have seen so great things…why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow…?”

Then, and this is the new part that stood out to me yesterday for the first time, Nephi gives us this little glimpse into one of the things he may have struggled with. He explains in verse 27…

“And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?”

and again in verse 29…

“Do not anger again because of mine enemies…”

I think we have to look at Nephi’s life as a whole, and wonder how in the world he did it. He continued to be faithful through thick and thin, trial after trial, living on the edge of life threatening situations every single day. He maintained his faithfullness even when his older brothers, Laman and Lemuel, tried at every possible moment in time, to make his life completely miserable. They beat him, tied him up several times, mocked him, complained about him, demeaned him, and ultimately tried to kill him. Multiple times. Nephi and his family and others literally had to up and get out of dodge to avoid being murdered by his own brothers. If anyone had the right or reason to be “angry” it would have been Nephi.

So, do I think Nephi had anger management issues? No, I don’t. I don’t think he went all “Bo Jackson” and broke his nice steel bow over his knee after a missed shot at a giant 8
point buck somewhere in the wilderness. It just doesn’t fit. But, I do think he was subject to being a normal human, and having normal human responses to living continuously under the threat of being killed, beaten, mocked, and ridiculed. Some people, unfortunately in this world can relate to that.

And that is the beauty of the scriptures, and of the gospel. Its a real life thing. The stories and principles that we read about in the pages of the Book of Mormon apply to us. Even if the prophets in those stories have flaws and struggle. We all have flaws, and we all struggle. Thats kind of the point. If Nephi struggled with the temptation to be angry, given his circumstances, then its also ok if I struggle sometimes with the same thing.

We all have our things that we need to overcome. Nephi, in this same amazing chapter, finishes it off with his advise on how to recover from those sins, and temptations…

He teaches us in verse 34…

“O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh”

Then finishes in verse 35..

“Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen.”

Nephi, no matter his temptations and sins, looked up to God, and trusted in him. Its as simple as that. Our struggles, our problems, are real. Its simply a part of life. And that’s ok. That is where the beauty of the gospel and the atonement of Christ takes over. Nephi showed us how he did it. He survived by handing everything over to the Lord.

We are all broken or “sick” in some way. Even those who may seem to have it all together, like Nephi. But, lucky for us, the Lord can fix anything. He can heal us no matter how sick we are. He is the great Physician. The more housecalls he makes in our behalf, the better we get to know him, love him, and really appreciate what he does to heal us. And when we allow ourselves to be healed by him, we are changed. And that is how the atonement really works. Maybe we can stop looking at our temptations and sins as weights, and see them more as oppurtunities to be healed by the Great Physician.

Graduating from the Obliviousness of the Benchwarmer

16 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by Colby Alexander in Battle, Divinity, General, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, Sports

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When I was a sophomore in high school, I was able to dress out, and sit on the end of the bench during the varsity basketball games. There were 4 or 5 of us. We loved it because we felt absolutely no pressure to win because we were just afterthoughts, or decorations really. We were basically cheerleaders in uniforms, as we were so far down the bench we could barely see the coaches at the other end.

On occasion, however, when we (the varsity team) were up big, we would get our chance to play in garbage time. We would get in and play our hearts out for our shot at getting our name in the paper by scoring a point. That was the ultimate goal, in our 15 year old minds, to become famous by getting our name in print. Of course, we also had a great time inventing the now infamous celebratory dance that we named “the chicken”. The game itself meant nothing to us really, because we weren’t seniors, and it wasn’t really even our team. We just thought about how awesome we could dance, and hoped we could get some playing time, maybe. We looked a lot like these guys..Who are hilarious by the way…

Although we had a great time, and made fools of ourselves dancing, the thing we didn’t understand really until later, was that the games actually meant something. Not that what we were doing was anything bad, but we kind of missed the opportunity to be more of a part of the real game that was going on. We were a little oblivious to the reality of what was at stake. We were a bit blinded by whatever-ness, or lack of perspective. We were content in our little party space at the end of the bench, while the real game was happening all around us.

Today, I feel, many of us are still living our lives like we are the benchwarmers. We are content in our little corners of our lives and sometimes fail to see the importance and gravity of the game that is going on all around us. We are in a game for our lives. The outcome determines our place in the eternities. And sometimes we are only concerned if we can get mentioned in the paper the next morning.

If we take a step back, and look at the test we are in we can think…who are the players? Who are we playing against? Do we even realize we are living right in the middle of the final minutes of the most important game ever?

So how does this look in real life? Over the last few months, there have been an increase in dramatic events that have changed the way many people feel about their lives. With terrorist attacks in Paris, and now in San Bernadino right here at home, it has created an increased level of anxiety and fear. People are grasping at anything, everything, and anybody who claims to offer safety and security. Safety and relative peace cannot be guaranteed, and seem unattainable even impossible. But, we need to remember… what game we are playing?

Are we playing the “whoever dies with the most stuff wins” game? Or, the “whoever gets their name in the paper the most wins” game? Or, the “whoever can dance the most awesome chicken at the end of the bench” game? If so, we will look for peace and safety in the wrong places. We will fall prey to the illusion of secular security, which is nothing more than false security.

When we look at our lives differently, the way we should see them, everything changes. We then begin to realize that the real game is between good and evil and we are here to choose for ourselves which team we want to be on, and then become key players on the team. The only way to win, and achieve true safety and real peace is to align ourselves as close as possible to the One who will ultimately win the game. He is the author of the peace we seek, the Prince of Peace.

Jesus Christ is the only way to find peace. He alone provides the real lasting safety that we all seek, because that is the whole point of this game of life we are all playing. In this game, the elusive sentiment of true happiness is only awarded when we completely and fully disregard the world’s mirage of secular security. When we stop concentrating only on how awesome our chicken dance is, and actually start playing to win.

It is then we will realize that we are involved in a game on a much larger playing field than we ever thought, and we aren’t just hoping for the few minutes of playing time awarded to the scrubs in garbage time, our minds and hearts can be more committed to the pursuit of real and lasting peace, love, security and divine safety that comes only through the Savior of the world.

Joseph Smith wrote about the way the game will end, and its perfect to read when we feel overwhelmed with all the negative or when the evil in the world seems overwhelming, and the game seems to be lost. Just remember, we choose which team we want to be on!

He wrote, “the Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done” (History of the Church, 4:540).

Real peace and safety can come to us. But, it comes when we look to Christ. He pours it upon us when we try to be like Him, and follow Him. He has invited all of us to do so, and find the peace and safety only He provides.

“I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.” (Psalms 4:8)

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10)

“Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.” (D&C 6:34)

Endure to the End!

18 Sunday Oct 2015

Posted by Colby Alexander in General, Preparation, Pride, Sports, Strength, Success, Types

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I love college football. This is my favorite time of year. Each year I have renewed hope at what possibilities lie ahead. New players emerge, older players get better, every game counts. It it exciting, thrilling, heartbreaking, and devastating all at the same time.

Sports in general can teach us so much about life, and overcoming obstacles, opposition, and adversity. It is an almost perfect type for our own lives. College football yesterday, gave us that perfect example of a principle I have been thinking about lately. Enduring to the end.

This example, is of a game between bitter rivals. It was a hard fought game between Michigan, and Michigan State. All game it had been a grudge match back and forth, neither team could move the ball very well against the other, both defenses had dominated the opposing offenses, and as time ran down to the last 10 seconds, Michigan found itself ahead by two points with the ball, and just about a minute left. They could almost just take a knee, and let time expire and win the game. Almost.

As time slowly clicked away, Michigan ran the ball to make sure the clock didn’t stop and were able to get time down to just about 10 seconds left. It was 4th down, the ball was on Michigan State’s 48 yard line, and all they had to do was punt the ball away, make one tackle, and the game would be over. They would win the heated rivalry game over their higher ranked bitter enemy. Life was good for Michigan fan. They were basking in the eminent victory. They were on cloud nine. Years of being second fiddle in the state and listening to Michigan State fans trash talk would finally end. The battle was nearly over, and they would be victorious!

Then Michigan snapped the ball. And their 10 second nightmare began.

The punter for Michigan bumbled the snap, the ball fell a few feet in front of him, and in his sudden panic, lunged forward, grabbed the ball, and made a last second heroic effort to kick the ball away. But Michigan State hit him with 3 guys just as the ball left his hand headed towards his foot.

The momentum of the hit sprayed the ball to the right, through the air, and landed perfectly into the hands of a surprised Michigan State player. Upon receiving the miraculous gift of a fumble, he took off, headed towards the end zone 45 yards away. He had a procession of blockers, and only 2 potential tacklers, time seemed to stand still and Michigan fan went from the peak of elation to the depths of despair in mere seconds. Michigan State rolled down the sideline, and lunged into the end zone with no time left to win the game.

Michigan fan could do nothing but stare in disbelief. That actually just happened. One of the most unlikely wins and final plays that could even be conceived. If any of a number of things didn’t go exactly right, or exactly wrong, the game would have ended with Michigan on top. It was unbelievable. The odds of Michigan State winning that game before the final snap were 0.2%. 2 in a thousand! Yet it happened. Michigan State never quit. Michigan State endured to the end. Michigan did not.

The punter had made a huge mistake, but, in the moment, when all the pressure was heaped on him, he actually made it worse by trying to kick the ball again. Had he just fallen on the ball, it would have been downed, and Michigan State would have had to pull off a hail mary pass to win, another unlikely chance. But, in the moment when panic set in, the situation became critical and the decision he made while in that mindset was horribly bad and exactly wrong. And it cost them the game. Had he thought out all the options should anything unplanned happen, the outcome might have been different.

All the hard work, battle, struggle, sweat, and effort for 59 minutes and 50 seconds just went up in smoke. It was kind of like performing a perfect face plant 25 yards from the finish line of a marathon, and never making it to the end. Sometimes we get SOOOOO close!

On the other hand, Michigan State never gave up. They played every last down until the whistle blew, there is ALWAYS a chance that things may bounce your way. But in order to get those bounces, we need to be in the right spot, and playing as hard as we can.

Whether its in a football game, basketball game, baseball game, tennis, running a marathon, or any other competition or challenge, the principle is the same, Never quit! Never stop fighting, clawing, pushing, crawling or clenching towards the finish. Never slow down, never let up. Ever. Our lives are a race, a race to finally get back home, to our Heavenly home, and in the process, be as close to our Savior as we can be, and as much like Him as we can be.

Its never easy, sometimes it seems like its impossible to win, that we might as well just leave, because we are getting our butts handed to us. But thats not why we are here. We are here to compete, to get better, and to endure.

To me, one of the most fascinating parts of the Book of Mormon comes in the final few years of the Nephites just before the coming of Christ to the Americas. At this time, the Nephites and righteous Lamanites actually come together in one body because the Gadianton robbers are so powerful, that they had overtaken nearly the entire country. All the people that followed the prophets gathered together to join forces and preserve their food and protect themselves from invasion. After a long siege, and with the help from God, the Nephites eventually defeated the Gadianton robbers after a massive battle, (the slaughter was the greatest since Lehi had left Jerusalem) and completely eliminated them from the country. God had helped and preserved them according to their faith and trust in Him.

This major battle happened in the 19th year after Christ was born, and lingered until sometime after the 21st year. Christ would begin his ministry halfway around the world in a mere 8 years! So, 600 plus years had passed since Lehi and Nephi left Jerusalem, with countless prophets, wars, contentions, missions, etc. And now, in the 4th quarter, the Nephites had just seemingly defeated the last enemy and could now live in peace until the Lord would visit! Right? They just had to hang on for another few years. And they would celebrate with Christ himself!

After this massive battle, this is the mindset of the Nephites:

”And they did rejoice and cry again with one voice, saying: May the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, protect this people in righteousness, so long as they shall call on the name of their God for protection.

31 And it came to pass that they did break forth, all as one, in singing, and praising their God for the great thing which he had done for them, in preserving them from falling into the hands of their enemies.

32 Yea, they did cry: Hosanna to the Most High God. And they did cry: Blessed be the name of the Lord God Almighty, the Most High God.

33 And their hearts were swollen with joy, unto the gushing out of many tears, because of the great goodness of God in delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; and they knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that they had been delivered from an everlasting destruction. (3 Nephi 4:30-33)

The very first verse in chapter 5 says, “Now behold, there was not a living soul among all the people the Nephites who did doubt in the least the words of all the holy prophets..”

A few verses later, it says,”And there had many things transpired which, in the eyes of some, would be great and marvelous; nevertheless, they cannot all be written in this book; yea, this book cannot contain even a ^ahundredth part of what was done among so many people in the space of twenty and five years;

They seem to be sitting pretty don’t they? Now its down to the final 8 years until the sign of Christ’s death and resurrection. kind of like being up by 2 points with the ball, and only 10 seconds left? All they needed to do was make a decent punt, and make one tackle, and they would be celebrating with the Savior. But, lets watch what happens in just a few very short years…

In the 26th year, they all separated again, and went back home after having lived together as one people.

In chapter 6, it sounds the warning bell, “And now there was nothing in all the land to hinder the people from prospering continually, except they should fall into transgression.” (3 Nephi 6:5)

Kind of like a scouting report that warns about the stone hands of the punter.

Fast forward 3 short years, and this is what you get, “But it came to pass in the twenty and ninth year there began to be some disputings among the people; and some were lifted up unto pride and ^aboastings because of their exceedingly great riches, yea, even unto great persecutions; (3 Nephi 6:10)

Uh, oh. The punter just bumbled the snap. Better just land on it, and take your losses, repent, and get right with the Lord.

But, just like the football game, the worst possible thing that could have happened did.

“Now the cause of this iniquity of the people was this—Satan had great power, unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world. (3 Nephi 6:15,)

Now, the opposing player is running towards the end zone, and the game is slipping away.

“And thus in the commencement of this, the thirtieth year, they were in a state of awful wickedness.” (3 Nephi 8:18)

“…and there were but few righteous men among them.” (3 Nephi 7:7)

Year 30. Christ is just beginning his mortal ministry, and will eventually come to visit the Americas in just 3 more years! Thats it! 3 years. After 600 years of preparation, they bumbled it all away at the last moment. They couldn’t quite endure till the end.

We cannot let this happen to us! We need to play every down, every play the best we can. we have to endure, and persevere through the finish line. The tricky part is that we don’t know exactly when the finish line comes, but we cant let ourselves turn into the Nephites who face planted 3 years before the finish line.

Christ was so close! All they had to do was hold on just a little bit longer, and finish strong! He is our end goal! He is why we are here. He is why we can win, and why we even have a chance at all.

Sometimes we can learn lessons from other people’s mistakes. Lets look at the punter for Michigan, and the Nephites, and learn what not to do, so that we can be better prepared to work, and fight, and endure all the way through the finish line!

He is there waiting for us, coaching us, and rooting for us to succeed. Lets all try just a little bit harder to never let up, never slow down, never give up and never lose hope for the win!

Dream Dreams

29 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by Colby Alexander in Blessings, Dreams, General, Love, Poems, Sports, Visions

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Barcelona Olympics, Charles Barkley, David Robinson, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing

In 1992 the greatest basketball team in the history of the world was assembled. It was the Barcelona Olympics, and for the first time, NBA players were allowed to represent team U.S.A. It was epic.

The team consisted of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippin, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Chris Mullin, and just to be fair to all the other countries, they included some guy from Duke named Christian Laettner.

The games weren’t even close enough to be called a joke, they were a complete slaughter. The closest game was a 32 point win over Croatia in the Gold Medal game 117-85.

It was like the Payson, Utah Jr jazz team versus the Harlem Globetrotters. It was fun to watch. They were representing the USA in the game we invented. They were rightly dubbed, the “Dream Team”.

The Dream Team was the epitome of greatness, everyone wanted to be just like them, even the teams they were playing against! They got to live out the most dominant display of basketball skill ever. They were untouchable, beyond reproach, unbeatable, you couldn’t stop them, only hope to contain them. They were a real life dream come true.

They were one kind of “Dream Team” But, we could also put together another team that could share the same name, but in a slightly different context. This other “dream team” could be comprised of all the Prophets or even regular people in scriptures who have had famous “dreams”.

Just to name a few….

Lehi, Nephi, Alma, Omer, Abimlech, Laban the Syrian, Pharaoh, Solomon, Nebuchadnezzar, Jacob, Daniel, Joseph Father of Jesus, and even Pilot’s wife.

Dreams are just one way that the Lord can use to speak to us. He has always used dreams to communicate. Sometimes its to reveal a doctrinal discourse like the Tree of Life, and sometimes its just to warn, or to encourage. And sometimes its just a fun way our brain takes away all the limitations of a mortal mind, and lets loose on the infinite potential of our imagination!

How many times have we had dreams that may be a little more than just us showing up to school in just our underwear? or having all of our teeth fall out? How many times have we been shown something, or seen something, or felt something that may be a bit more meaningful? Is it possible?

The Lord is the same today, yesterday and forever. He did it before, why not now?

In Joel 2:28 it says……

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

I have had a few times where I have had dreams that were a bit more than the ordinary kind. I have had some that were actually quite meaningful to me. Not exactly like the dreams of Lehi or Nephi, but personal ones that have made a difference in my life. I knew, for example, that my youngest son, would be a boy before we had an ultrasound. I think the Lord gives us little snippets, or hints, just to remind us that He is close, and is aware of us.

Next time we have a special dream, where we see someone who may have passed, or an event we may have been worrying about, or something especially encouraging, maybe we should write it down, and work on the assumption that maybe, just maybe, it was sent to us on purpose, and that it may be our Heavenly Father sending a little note to us, to remind us He is there, and that He is listening.

Dream Dreams

When all the noise of day is gone and silence fills our ears,
Our mortal eyes at last we close, and daylight disappears.

And as we dream the dreams that mortal consciousness abates,
Our minds become the canvas where a masterpiece awaits!

We win! We sing! We save the world, with superhuman powers!
No limits to what’s possible! These precious dreaming hours!

We soar through space with ease of thought,
Just wishing- and it’s done!
We fly! defying gravity! Never tiring as we run.

But, sometimes we can see ahead, or we can sense or feel
A moment, person, or event that is, in truth, quite real.

But, when our sleepy eyes again perceive the light of day,
And wakefulness returns, our mortal limits are replaced.

But, even then, some special dreams endure our consciousness.
For they were placed there by design, to act as messages.

Of love, or of encouragement, to comfort or to teach.
Instructions given when the mortal mind is tough to reach!

In wakeful times the constant noise brings deafness to our ears,
But, dreams can be a wink from Heav’n
Reminding us it’s near.

Loyalty

18 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by Colby Alexander in Loyalty, Sports

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When I was a lot younger, maybe about 10 years old, my Grandma and Grandpa moved to Atlanta Georgia. This marked a monumental shift in the biggest thing in my life at that point, my baseball fandom allegiance.

Up until that point, myself and Tyson, were diehard Cubs fans. We were Cubs fans for two reasons. One, my Grandma and Grandpa lived in Chicago (remember, we were kids and this totally counted as a valid reason) and two, all the games were on WGN so we could watch every one.

My favorite player was, of course, Ryne Sandberg, the best 2nd baseman of all time. Tyson’s favorite player was their right fielder, “The Hawk” Andre Dawson. The man with a rocket launcher for a right arm.

We loved the Cubs. But they were horrible. Really bad.

Around 1988, when my grandparents moved to Atlanta, the unthinkable happened. Our allegiance to the Cubs faltered, fizzled, and apostasized completely. The Cubs had been replaced.

The new beneficiary of our loyalties was the Atlanta Braves. We jumped onto the only other team that was on tv all the time, and so we could still watch every game. The Braves won 54 games that year, and lost 106. It wasn’t exactly easy to be a fan of a such a loser team, but we did it.

Our heroes changed, we now loved Dale Murphy, Ozzie Virgil, Ken Oberkfell, “the penguin” Glen Hubbard (who, when running actually did appear as if he were a penguin, or a hobbit of some sort).

But, the Braves were also horrible. They were a terrible team, but we didn’t care. We cheered for them. We lived as proud Braves fans through all the years of terribleness, until they came around. Our time invested, sweat, tears, and suffering paid off. In 1995, the Braves won the World Series largely because of our unflinching loyalty to the team. You’re welcome Bobbie Cox.

To this day, all Alexanders are still Braves fans. We again suffer as the doldrums have returned, but our loyalty has not dimmed, nor wavered. We haven’t jumped ship with the changing tides to cheer for the popular teams like the Red Sox or Yankees. That would be blasphemous.

Fandom is the perfect way to learn about loyalty. Loyalty is the extreme commitment to something or someone. It cannot be shallow or fickle. Let’s go over some definitions to further this point:

Fair weather fan = only a fan if the team one claims is performing well, if they are terrible, this person will not wear a t shirt, fly a flag, or claim any knowledge or allegiance to their supposed team. But, the minute they are doing well, they come out of the woodwork claiming years of previous allegiance.

Bandwagon fan = this person has about 17 different teams’ t shirts and hats. This person never struggles with a bad team, they just jump to any popular team at the time. This type of fan currently accounts for approximately 86% of all Seattle Seahawks fans. Don’t pretend that this isn’t true.

Die hard fan = will still cheer for their team no matter what, even if they are the worst team in the history of the world. This fan is completely and thoroughly committed.

So what does all of this have to do with anything?

It has everything to do with loyalty.

We can all find examples of loyalty throughout history, let’s look at just one very famous example. Peter.

Peter was the great Apostle, the heir apparent to be the prophet after Christ was gone. This same Peter was the only apostle to actually walk on water towards Jesus in the stormy seas. The same Peter who would draw his sword and slice off an ear of one of the soldiers who would come to arrest Jesus. Not a fair weather fan.

Sounds more like a committed, fiercely loyal, diehard fan.

However, remember this exchange between Peter and Christ on the night of Jesus’ arrest?

Mathew 26

31 ¶And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted (let’s think of converted as “committed” in this context) strengthen thy brethren.

33 And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.

34 And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

Ouch. That must have stung a bit knowing Peter.

But let’s see how this story unfolds.

We know that Peter was with Jesus as the angry crowd of soldiers and Priests came to arrest him. That moment was the end of life as the disciples knew it. There was no more safe passage on the bandwagon. Jesus held out his hand and gave his followers time and opportunity to escape, and what happened next?

Mathew 26:56 “Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.”

This is where loyalty enters in.

The team that these disciples had been cheering for wholeheartedly for the last 3 years just lost, badly. And worse, he seemed to just give up! And soon would probably not even be able to even field a team. So everyone bailed. They all ran away. Just when things got really bad, they quit.

But some, or one, stayed close enough.

Guess who?

Mathew 26:58 But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.

This is where everyone gets to read about Peter’s not so greatest moment. Where he has his trial of faith, where he suddenly has a temporary moment of fair weather fandom.

I picture Peter trying to be as inconspicuous as he can, sneaking as close to where the high priests have taken Jesus into their illegal court, I picture him not saying a word, trying to be invisible, just trying to be as close to Jesus as he can.

But, someone calls him out. 3 someone’s in fact, they saw him cheering for the Savior during the previous games and called him on the carpet.

In his haste to squash his cover being blown, he does the “natural” thing to do, he denies it. 3 times. Then the cock crows, and he snaps back into reality and it’s more than he can take.

Mathew 26:75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

Peter gets a bad rep for all of this, but let’s remember one thing. How many disciples dared sneak into Jerusalem that night to be close to their savior?

One did.

Who dared take on a whole mob of soldiers to fight for his friend?

One did.

Peter wept bitterly because he realized he had somewhat inadvertently denied knowing his Savior. To him, loyalty was paramount, and because of his weakness, he failed. And he knew it.

But after all of this, what happened to Peter? His true loyalty came through, and he then lead the church through a massive missionary effort, and continued teaching, healing, and performing much of the same miracles that the Lord himself performed. His true loyalty was with the Savior and his actions proved it.

So what can we learn from Peter?

We learn that the trial of our faith comes as we try to get closer to the Savior. Peter’s came in a very literal way. Ours may come as we try to improve our lives to become more like Christ. We will meet people who may want us to feel uncomfortable while we seek out the Savior. And they may call us out and mock us. But, we have to be loyal to Him. We cannot deny that we know Him. If we stay loyal, we take that final step in truly becoming His, and then He will bless us with added strength and power just as He did with Peter.

Loyalty is more than just words. It’s actions. We need to display our loyalties by the way we live. We need to live our lives in a way that when other people watch us, they know exactly to whom our allegiance lies. Whether it’s in our commitment to our wives or husbands, our kids, our church, or our God. Our actions must mirror our words.

Otherwise, we become fair weather fans, and nobody likes those.

I Can, I Will, I Must

04 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by Tyson Alexander in Motivation, Sports

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When I was a sophomore in high school, we were playing a basketball game at Provo High. Their teams always seemed to beat us. Call it better coaching, call it better players, call it better facilities, support, boosters, etc. Call it whatever you want, but they always beat us – always. I remember one particular game in which they were beating us just like normal and we limped into the locker room for our half-time pep talk. Our coach (Jared Nielson), bless his heart was a 18 year old recent graduate and pre-mission friend of our varsity head coach (he had finished his high school career the previous year), and was likely frustrated with us for a million different reasons. He tried to give us some strategies, some motivation, and some encouragement (and also a little tough love), but then something happened that had never happened before; the head coach came in and started yelling at us. He usually didn’t even come in the locker room, and he never came in to get after us. sophomores. Yet, on this particular day he asked/yelled a certain question for all of us to answer. He said “how many of you came into this gym today, knowing that you were going to win?” Only one hand went up in the air – just one. And it was not mine. For reference, there were 10 players on the team (plus the assistants and maybe a ball boy). The head coach couldn’t believe it (he also let us know how disappointed he was), and that was all he needed to say. Needless to say, we lost by about 320 that game but I will never forget the lesson that taught me. If I am being honest with myself, I probably thought (at that time) that our team could win, but I also knew that our team would lose.

A couple of years later, when I was a senior and was in yet another basketball game – the game was coming down to the wire. It had been close all game long, and with 7 or 8 seconds left in the game PG had scored a bucket to tie the game. Rather than call a time out our coach let us wing it and our point guard brought the ball up the court. I flanked to the left wing and yelled at him to pass the ball, because I knew 2 things without any shadow of a doubt; 1) I was going to shoot it, and 2) It was going in. He heard me scream, passed me the ball and then I shot it. It went in and we won by 3 (it was a 3 pointer). I knew I would make it. There was not an ounce of doubt in my mind.

Many years later (2007), when I was washed up, old, and carrying more adipose tissue than I care to admit it was my privilege to play in the Class D softball world championships in Detroit, Michigan. During our first game, there were some jitters, and some tightness that were uncharacteristic of our team. We were normally a very loose and very good team, and we expected to go quite far in the tournament. Imagine our surprise then, when in the last inning we were down by a run with little to no momentum going forward. The thought of losing our first game was terrifying for all – which only made the tightness worse. This is probably another symptom of nerves since there is not a bigger tournament that the world championships and unless you’re a 15 year softball tournament veteran, I imagine there are some nerves. This is to say nothing at all of the ridiculousness of a softball world championship). I was slated to be the first batter of that last inning and it was my responsibility to get on base and start a bit of a rally so that we could avoid losing. I distinctly remember thinking to myself as I walked up to the plate – I absolutely have to get on base – not that I can do it, not I will do it, but there is no alternative. I must get on base. I would rather have died than been retired in that at bat.

There must be a point to these amazing sport stories right? Yes, and not just to reflect upon my former days of semi-glory. The point is that there is a very big difference in the attitude and confidence of thought – and preparation.

When any of us are placed in a situation that is challenging, we are stepping up to the plate, or we are given the ball in the last few seconds. In essence – it’s up to us and I hope that we’ve already gone over that scenario in our minds (hopefully several times). Because if that situation is just thrown in our lap, we will likely find ourselves in the locker room at Provo High, convincing ourselves that we could have handled temptation, adversity, trials, or challenges differently, but we didn’t because of any number of factors.

If, on the other hand, we visualize ourselves rising to the occasion, coming through, being victorious, etc. well in advance of the actual event, it seems to create a confidence within us that cannot come except from planning and experience.

This is NOT to say that visualizing an event in our minds, and then actually experiencing it are the same – they are not. Imagining yourself parting the red sea is very different than actually doing it – especially when the opposing armies are hot on your heels with their angry faces.

If you don’t think that’s true for everyone, just ask anyone who looks cool and calm in the face of adversity, or who acts like they’ve been there many times before. Chances are – they have. Those who have won a championship seem to be better prepared to win another one because they know what it takes. Those with life experience, and gospel experience, and wisdom, and the spirit can provide some excellent examples of faith in action – but many things can only learned by actually experiencing them. That’s in large part why we are here on this earth. We need to actually feel the pressure of a screaming crowd, chants of “hey batter batter” or the thunder sticks while we shoot our free throws while we struggle to control our own emotional turmoil, fear of failure, hopes for success, etc. all while realizing that how we fare in that situation affects much more than just my own little universe.

How we act, how we perform, how we control ourselves in that moment defines who we are, it defines what we want, it defines what we love, and over the process of time (repeated situations) – we become who and what we are.

There were likely some that thought that they could traverse mortality with its plethora of choices and experiences and make it back to our father’s presence. No doubt there were others who knew that they would succeed. Then, there may have been others of us still, who thought as we learned, lived, loved, and started to comprehend what was at stake here in mortality that I must get back. There is no alternative. I will absolutely do whatever it takes to get back here.

Ask the savior, who no doubt visualized Himself in the garden of Gethsemane thousands (if not millions) of times prior to actually walking there that awful and most glorious night. He had known for as long as we can imagine that He was the one that we all relied on for salvation. He had known in His mind the logistics of the situation, and as Elder Maxwell termed it “the arithmetic of the atonement”. He had known in His mind all along and had prepared Himself for that moment, but when it actually came, and He began to experience it, He became “sore amazed, and very heavy”, and His soul was “exceeding sorrowful unto death” (Mark 14:33-34). This means that even though Christ had gone over the situation in his mind before, and He had prepared as well as anyone had prepared for anything ever – it still made Him “awestruck” when he actually experienced it.

Luckily for all of us, the savior not only knew that He could atone for us, but He also knew that He would atone for us. To further the point – especially when we consider his plea to the Father – he knew that he must atone for us. There was no other way. His love for us won.

The question then for each of us to answer is “How do I feel”? Do I know I can make it? Do I know I will make it? Or have I ruled out the possibility of failure and working under the thought that I must make it?

Maxing Out in the Gospel

23 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by Tyson Alexander in Opposition, Sports, Strength, Types

≈ 1 Comment

Recently, I have been reading a lot about symbolism, types, similitudes, shadows, etc. and in nearly every book related to these subjects, the author(s) cite Moses 6:63 which reads: “And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.” Once I started to look, I realized that this is totally true, and not just true, but really exciting. I have found that it is very eye opening, and surprisingly easy and incredibly fun to identify types or likenesses of the gospel, the atonement, and Jesus Christ in all things.

The best part is that all really does mean all. It doesn’t mean most, or a few, or select, it means all. It states that we can find these likenesses in spiritual things AND in temporal things (which we so often discount as just ‘things’ and give no attention to). So, if we seek to find these likenesses, we will find them. It also means that if we aren’t looking for an added measure of understanding or vision, we might only be seeing a portion (maybe even a small number) of the intended lessons, which as we are told, are in all things on the earth. That means at the grocery store, in the library, while driving, doing the dishes, gardening, or maybe even watching a movie. Also, it seems that a major purpose of these likenesses is so that we can understand a principle, or relate it in a way that is understandable to a larger number of people (to help us teach them), after all, didn’t the savior use very common things that were found in all the earth (fig trees, vineyards, feasts, birds, trails, roads, etc.) to teach the best lessons?

One likeness that I have found, that has become increasingly helpful in understanding the gospel, is a workout program called Insanity Max:30. Now, as we all know, there are several workout programs available and many of them could be viewed in this same general vein, but this particular one has a unique component (secondary component) that I feel is crucial to understand – especially in a gospel sense.

The main purpose of this workout program is to change the participant into something better, something healthier, and something stronger. But, as part of this underlying purpose, there is a secondary purpose, which is to have the participant fail all along the way – or as Shawn T puts it – max out. Each of the daily workouts have been organized and prepared to be so hard, that you can’t actually finish them without failing. This may seem like it’s defeating the purpose, but it’s not. It’s doing two things – it’s helping you track your progress (as you are encouraged to write your ‘max out’ time each workout and see how much you are improving over time), and it’s helping you to understand that failure is not only ok, but it’s inevitable, and it’s been part of the plan all along. Failure (as we’ve already noted here) is sometimes a cause for celebration. In this particular case, if you ‘max out’ during a work out, it means you gave it everything you had, until you literally could not do it any more. Once you’ve ‘maxed out’, you take a quick break, catch your breath, and jump right back in – until you max out again. This is repeated for a period of 30 minutes. It’s pretty intense. This goes on 6 days a week, with a rest day on Sunday. Every day is a grind, especially if (when) you forget the underlying purpose of the program.

As part of any workout program, there are also tips or rules to help any participant and rules about things to avoid in order to get the most out of the 60-day challenge. Some rules are to give it your best every day, to eat right, to get enough sleep, and to prepare mentally. The things to avoid (don’ts) are essentially the opposites of the tips (do’s) such as lack of sleep, eating unhealthy foods, not working hard or skipping workouts in general and if the participant either fails to do the do’s or continues to do the don’ts, it (they) may become ‘stumbling blocks’ that will cause them to become discouraged or even quit.

At the beginning of the program, or more accurately, when sitting in a comfy chair, sipping a lemonade making grand plans to do the program, it is pretty easy to envision the end results; ripped abs, killer arms, and cardio endurance for days, etc. and the participant thinks to themselves – I got this, 30 minutes is cake. I drive to work for 30 minutes every day and it is a breeze. Then, you actually put the DVD in and 2 minutes into the warm-up on day 1, you realize that your lungs are on fire, your legs are Jell-O, and you can’t even recognize the wet noodles that are hanging from your shoulders. You look at the folks on the video and they seem to be gliding along with ease, barely breaking a sweat, and you look at them and think – they must be on steroids and amped up on something crazy – because there is no way that anyone can do this. This moment – the moment when your mind starts to come up with alternatives to this torture is called the beginning of ‘the grind’.

This moment hits you in the face every single day during every single workout – no exception. Whether it’s in minute 3 or minute 23, it will come – and that’s the point. The point is to see how you will respond to ‘the grind’ when it hits. Will you grind through it? Will you max out and say, that’s just too hard, – I’m going to grab an ice cream, or will you challenge yourself to max out? And once you’ve maxed out, you have another decision to make; have I maxed out for the day, or do I catch my breath and jump back in? Or, do I mentally look for my first opportunity in minute 7 to ‘max out’ on the plyo-burpee-lunge combo and bail for the day and then convince ourselves (and maybe others) that we nailed the whole thing?

During this program, Shawn T tries to motivate his groupies by telling them to ‘dig deeper’ and ‘focus in there’ and ‘you can do it, I know you can do it’. He has even created an even crazier workout to directly address the mental grind called ‘Friday Night Fight’ referring to the fight between your mind and your body (especially during that ‘grind’ when your body is telling you that you should have maxed out 4 minutes ago) – in order to help your mind overcome your flesh – even if it’s just for 1 more minute.

If and when we push through that grind, making it just one more minute – something happens, we start to see the models on the workout video fall down, they collapse, they ‘max out’ and shake their head in disbelief and how ridiculous the workout really is, and we see Shawn T congratulate them for their efforts – and we realize – hey, these guys aren’t robots; they are actually sweating and working really hard, they are going through the exact same grind as me, and you realize, that they just might have been a little better prepared for this particular workout than me – but none of them are perfect either – because one by one – they max out. They walk over to the board and write their name alongside the point in time where they maxed out. No judgment, no ridicule, no criticism – just encouragement for making it as long as they did, and then they jump right back into it – right back into the middle of the grind.

The point that should be remembered during the grind and every time we are in the ‘Friday Night Fight’ with our minds is what the overall goal is, and what the overall goal is not. The overall goal is to change, or to become stronger. The overall goal is not to perform each and every workout with absolute perfection and never break a sweat. That’s just impossible. The overall goal is to give it everything you have, every single day, and improve. Then, at the end of the 60-day period, take satisfaction in doing your best – and then start again. This is best done at the end of the program, when you can see the end from the beginning – and see how much you’ve changed – even when you were failing all along the way. The overall goal is not to give up as soon as it gets hard, or even way too hard. The overall goal is to not forget the overall goal – and to try and remember why you started the workout program in the first place. The overall goal is to get back up when you’ve maxed out, and to start again right where you left off, and to get up tomorrow when you’ve missed a day, and to do your absolute best. The overall goal is the process of getting better, which can only happen when you meet ‘the grind’ face to face and try and beat it over and over again.

Now the question becomes, how does that have any likeness to the gospel? For convenience (and because it’s fun), I have created a table to illustrate some similarities.

Insanity Max:30	The Gospel of Jesus Christ
The overall purpose of the program is to become stronger, better, healthier.	The overall purpose of the gospel is to become something and someone stronger, better, healthier.
A secondary purpose is to ‘max out’ or to fail.	Part of the point of mortality is ‘to fall’ or to fail. This helps us rely wholly on the savior and keep us humble.
Failure to perform the workouts perfectly is inevitable.	Failure to keep the commandments perfectly is inevitable.
The workout program starts with a warm-up followed by increasingly difficult moves, combinations, and level of difficulty. A knowledge of the fundamentals is key.	In the gospel, as our understating and maturity increases, the level of responsibility or ‘load’ is increased to reflect that growth. A knowledge and testimony of the fundamentals (principles) is key.
At some point in the workout, difficulty comes. How we approach and work through that difficulty will largely determine our outcome (not to mention the mental benefits of lessons learned, helpful methods, etc.)	At some point in mortality, trials and difficult times will come. How we approach and work through that difficulty will largely determine our outcome (not to mention the intangible lessons learned and testimonies gained).
It is easy to envision the end results of completing the project prior to actually starting.	It is easy to envision the results of the gospel (living in the celestial kingdom) prior to actually starting and trying to live a celestial law.
At some point during every workout, you will hit ‘the grind’.	At some point during every day/week/month, you will hit ‘the grind’.
Rules (do’s and don’ts) are given for maximum performance.	Commandments (do’s and don’ts) are given more maximum performance.
Failure to obey the rules results in lack of progress. Those who see the rules as ‘silly’ or unnecessary may not keep them and are highly unlikely to complete the program – especially during ‘the grind’.	Failure to obey the commandments results in a lack of progress. Those who see the commandments as ‘silly’ or unnecessary are highly unlikely to complete or stick with the program – especially during ‘the grind’.
The grind, and how the participant responds to the most difficult portion of the program, is in large part the entire purpose of the program.	The grind (trials, difficulties, stress, etc.) and how the individual responds to them is in large part the principal purpose of the gospel. “And we will prove them herewith” (Abr. 3:25)
Giving your best to the program will make you tired – really tired.	Giving your best to the gospel will make you tired – really tired.
At first, it may seem if the other participant (models) are perfect, yet as the workout progresses – they fail, just as everyone else does.	It may seem that others are perfect, yet everyone has failed, everyone makes mistakes, nobody is perfect, and everyone is in need of the atonement.
Just when you think you’ve reached the point where you can’t handle any more – Shawn T asks for a little more. He asks and motivates us.	During times of struggle (the grind) or when we think we are maxed out – Christ asks for just a little bit more. His example is a perfect motivator and he helps us give just a little more.
As we near the completion of the program, we can look back and appreciate ‘the process’ of improving more than the small details and exact times of failure. We understand that while we haven’t been absolutely perfect, the direction that we are headed is more important that the specific location where we currently sit, and we feel motivation to continue and improve.	As we periodically reflect on our gospel journey, we can look and reflect and/or appreciate the tender mercies along the way, the progress we’ve made, and try not to worry about the little setbacks, or specific failures we’ve made. We can understand and see that ‘the process’ of becoming is what is important. The direction is more important than the specific location we are currently in, and we put more value in who we have become rather than what we have done. We feel motivation to continue and improve – and to do our very best.
This workout program includes coaches, communities, message boards, etc. to provide motivation, support, and experience to help users all along the way.	The gospel and the church are set up in a way to provide teachers, leaders, bishops, counselors, etc. to provide motivation, support, and valuable experience to help us all along the way. Not to mention prayer, which is a priceless tool for support.
While participating in the program, if you skip a day, or you miss a workout, you are not disqualified from further participation, nor are you forced to start over at the very beginning. You are encouraged to get back up, and pick up right where you left off the next day. The idea is to not let one missed day turn into 2 missed days, which could turn into several missed days, which could turn into quitting altogether.	In the gospel, if you skip a day (reading scriptures, prayer, etc.) you are not disqualified from further participation, nor are you forced to start over at the very beginning. You are encouraged to get back up, and pick up right where you left off the next day. The idea is to not let one missed day turn into 2 missed days, which could turn into several missed days, which could turn into quitting altogether.
In case of injury or doctor’s orders, the program may need to be suspended and or stopped until healing/preparation for re-starting the program can take place. It is also recommended that periodic evaluations take place (with physicians and or coaches) to ensure that you are physically able to continue or to discuss progress, goals, and any needed supplements and/or dietary needs.	In rare cases of severe spiritual injury (or priesthood leaders orders), certain blessings or privileges may need to be suspended until proper healing and preparation for recommencing the program can take place. It is also requisite that periodic evaluations take place (with bishops or leaders) to ensure that you are spiritually sound, measure progress and goals, report on successes/hardships, and to plan for any supplements and/or spiritual dietary needs.
While participating in the program, it is likely that you will start to see results, and it is also likely, others will see the results in you (added energy, more confidence, physical changes, happiness, etc.) and ask you to explain what you have been doing, or what changes you have made in your life to bring about this mighty change. This will provide you with an opportunity to share your feelings about the program, how it has helped you, what the program is, and some of the benefits of it.	While participating in the gospel, it is likely that you will start to see spiritual results, and it is also likely, others will see the results in you (added happiness, more confidence, countenance changes, increase of service, etc.) and ask you to explain what you have been doing, or what changes you have made in your life to bring about this mighty change. This will provide you with an opportunity to share your feelings about the gospel, how it has helped you, what the program is, and some of the benefits of it (i.e. share your testimony as a missionary).
While participating in the workout program, 14 million things will come up during the days, weeks, and months that could distract you or prevent you from working out. If you let them, these distractions will prevent you from reaching your goals, even when they seem to be legitimate distractions that need attention. Preparing a plan beforehand, and establishing a routine/schedule that is firm will assist in helping deal with these distractions. (i.e. working out early in the morning prior to the day helps complete the program before distractions can become a concern, whereas waiting to ‘fit the workout in somewhere during the day’ seems to be more difficult).	While participating in the gospel program, 14 bazillion things will come up during the days, weeks, and months that could distract you or prevent you from spiritually working out. If you let them, these distractions will prevent you from reaching your goals, even when they seem to be legitimate distractions that need attention. Preparing a plan beforehand, and establishing a routine/schedule that is firm will assist in helping deal with these distractions. (i.e. scripture study early in the morning prior to the day helps you to get your shield on before distractions can become a concern, whereas waiting to ‘fit the study in somewhere during the day’ seems to be more difficult).
Shawn T says (about the program) “if it wasn’t a challenge, everyone could do it, and it wouldn’t get you the results you want”. This means that any workout program that doesn’t cause you to come face to face with ‘the grind’ and cause you to ‘dig deeper’ won’t produce the results and the intestinal fortitude necessary to produce the body and results that you really want.	Sheri Dew says (about the gospel) “If it was easy, it wouldn’t be hard”, and Joseph Smith said (about the gospel) “a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.”
If you push through the workout program, and you complete it, you are pretty quick to admit that everything you put into it (while incredibly difficult in that moment) was worth it, and the results are actually greater than the sacrifices made.	If you continue through (and especially in) the gospel, you are quick to admit that everything that you have put into it (given to the cause of Jesus Christ), while at points may be incredibly difficult, was worth it, and the results and blessings that are obtained, are greater than anything that is given up along the way.

The idea of this post is to help us (all of us) realize that sometimes we are in the middle of ‘the grind’, and when we are in the middle of that grind, the best thing we can do is just keep going, or as other people (likenesses in all the world) have said, “just keep swimming”¹, “keep moving forward”², or “keep on keepin’ on”³. We knew in our minds that when we started this gospel program, that there would be days where our best was just making it until bedtime without a full scale explosion– and that’s okay, because we all max out – what’s important is that we get up as soon as we can, we jump right back into it, and we give everything that we have left again and again. And, it’s to help us realize that ‘the process’ of becoming like Christ requires a whole lot of ‘grinding’ just like ‘the process’ of becoming fit requires a whole lot of ‘grinding’. We just have to remember that we can’t forget about (or be angry with) ‘the process’ compared to the end result (goal of perfection), because the end result happens to be directly related to what we put into the process all along the way.

I started with a scripture, and I’ll end with a scripture – but this one is to help us understand that when we are in the grind, those moments, those days, those weeks, those months, or even those years – that’s right where we should be, and that’s right where the sweet spot is, and as hard as it is to remember, that spot (the grind) is the one spot that creates the greatest growth in each of us. Of that moment, Shawn T says (when it really starts to burn); “don’t run from the work, feel the work”. And that is the qualifier for progress. As Nephi (quoting Isaiah) reminded us in 1 Ne. 20:10 it’s from that spot where he chooses us; “For behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction”. So when we find ourselves in the furnace – and we think we are maxing out – just follow Shawn T’s advice and “give it one more minute. Dig a little deeper and focus in there, and I promise you, you will see results”.

Notes

1 Dory (Finding Nemo)

2 Cornelius, and really the entire Robinson family (Meet the Robinsons)

3 Embarrassingly enough, I just used a reference from Joe Dirt in my blog post about the gospel.

The Absolutely Critical Necessity of Basic Fundamental Core Essentials for Increased Improvement of Progression and Betterment

30 Thursday Oct 2014

Posted by Tyson Alexander in Fundamentals, Opposition, Sports

≈ Leave a comment

If the title was a bit dramatic – I apologize, but I tried to create a feeling of real dependency – one that in this case I feel cannot be overemphasized. I also apologize for having another post with reference and illustrations from sporting events – I just can’t help myself.

There are many athletes with nicknames, and some of them are awesome. Some of them are also horrible – and some of them are not even worth considering because they either aren’t nicknames (T-Rod, A-Rod, etc. are not nicknames – they are just shortened versions of their real names) or these supposed nicknames were as Jim Rome puts it ‘self glossed’ which is jungle way of saying ‘you can’t give yourself a nickname – that’s just not how it works’. Some of the great nicknames throughout history are known – and some not so much. But there is one nickname that might be the best of all – ‘The Big Fundamental’. I don’t know where or when Timothy Theodore Duncan was first called ‘the big fundamental’ but it fits and he’s seen some awesome results. He is a five-time NBA champion, two-time NBA MVP, three-time NBA Finals MVP, and was the NBA rookie of the year. He is a 14-time NBA All-Star, and the only player to be selected to both the All-NBA and the All-Defensive teams during each of his first 13 seasons – and I’m not aware of a single endorsement deal of his. Let that sink in.

Part of why I like his nickname so much is that it so complimentary. Others (especially those who have given themselves nicknames) probably think his nickname is ‘lame’ and highlights his lack of flash or show – which is precisely why it’s such a compliment – especially to him. I guarantee you he loves this nickname. He’ll probably never tell you as much or even bring it up – but he loves it. He loves it because that he knows the value of and has seen the result of hard work continually centered in the basic fundamental core essentials. He probably spends 95% of his time working on the ‘plain and simple’ things like footwork, positioning, dribbling, outlet passes, rebounding, etc. instead of the ‘strong and mighty’ things like dunking, crossovers, taunting gestures or cute hand signals to be practiced each time a relatively good play is made. In short – he paid attention to, saw the benefit of, and grew to love the ‘weak and simple things’ of the basketball world that ‘brought great things to pass’ and ‘confounded the wise’ or in Tim’s case – the other teams. They cannot figure out how and why the Spurs keep winning – despite their small market status, their lack of a flashy star, and their consistent use of ‘small and simple things’ like the old fashioned pick and roll. I realize Greg Popovich has a lot do to with this – but his nickname isn’t the big fundamental so he isn’t the focus here.

You’d think in the NBA that most people would have a pretty good handle the fundamentals by now – and most of them do okay, but Tim Duncan has mastered the basics. He doesn’t keep going ‘back to the basics’ when things get crazy or when they lose a few games – he just doesn’t stray from them. They are who he is. They are what he is. They have become his identity and his purpose and his love. So much so that they have started to exude from his person. He sweats fundamentals. He sneezes and fundamental drills come out. He cries footwork drills. He dreams about the three-man weave while mapping out his next bank shot. He loves them because he knows that they are the foundation of greater things and that nothing great can last without a solid foundation.

If we think of his nickname in a spiritual sense (likening basketball to spirituality and eternal progression in real life) – what things can we work on, and how can we think in order to become like ‘the big fundamental’? The answer is the same for all of us – it’s an unwavering allegiance to, understanding of, and consistent practice in the gospel basic fundamental core essentials. These are the core doctrines and principles that we learn when we are young but tend to overlook (or assume we know all about) when we get older. If we learned everything about basketball fundamentals while we were in Jr. Jazz – we might be in trouble. And if we are relying on our primary aged recollection of the fundamentals – we might be in trouble.

With this in mind, these fundamentals are often looked at or even referred to (by others) as ‘weak and simple things’, and nobody likes to think of him or herself as weak and simple, and certainly nobody likes to be ‘complimented’ in a way that highlights or ‘reinforces’ their weak and simple characteristics or their repeated use of and reliance upon them. But if we can get to the point where we really love the fundamentals, we can love that nickname or that ‘compliment’ as it’s applied to us. We can truly relish the basics and start to see the ‘weak things become strong’ even if our opponents and seemingly all the other players around us are focused on more advanced topics or have seemingly moved on to ‘gospel calculus’ instead of ‘gospel addition and subtraction’.

This is especially true when we realize how much work still needs to be done, how hard and long that work will be, how slowly we seem to be progressing towards the ultimate goal, how daunting our opponent is, and how quickly and repeatedly he claims his powers and ability as ‘great’. We all like to think we are ‘strong and mighty’ and I emphatically include myself in this category – since I need to remember this as evidenced by the topics I’ve chosen to write on in my last few posts (offense vs. defense, competition, power, etc.) – but the fact is that the answers (to all the questions that matter) are ‘always in the doctrines and principles of the gospel’ (See Elder Bednar’s Increase in Learning book).

Perhaps we often overlook the fundamentals and the ‘weak and simple things’ because we live in the age of instant gratification and quick results. We tend to believe in and rely on results – and when the results aren’t amazing and mammoth-sized after 16 seconds – we give up or move on to the next promise of results because we don’t think we have time to develop patience or work to help ‘weak things to become strong’ (See Ether 12:27). But it may also because we tend to believe way too much in our perception, what our mortal eyes are able to see, or what our mortal brains process based on the outward appearance of strength instead of strength ‘as it really is’ (See Jacob 4).

The point I am trying to make is that true power and true strength (real greatness) often do not come dressed up the way most people think they do. They come disguised as weakness and are further developed and solidified by the repeated performance of very simple things – or in other words, they come dressed up as basic fundamentals. This process (the repeated performance of weak and simple things, or the very nature of weak and simple things themselves) in many cases turns out to be very irritating to the wise and powerful people, groups, and organizations that claim to have all the answers. It has always been this way, and it will always be this way, because God said it more than once (in 3 different books by way of 3 different prophets). He said in Alma 37:6, “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise”. He said in 1 Cor. 1:27 “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty”, and in the D&C he has said “I call upon the weak things of the world, those who are unlearned and despised, to thresh the nations by the power of my Spirit” (D&C 35:13), and “The weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones” (D&C 1:19).

So what are the weak and simple things (fundamentals) that confound the wise? How about some things that are so weak and simple (often termed as ‘old fashioned’ or ‘out of style’ that even our primary aged kids (4 and 5 and 6 year olds) understand but the ‘wise’ (as termed by the world) in large part throw aside as unnecessary, childish, or as a certain someone termed them ‘lame’. Things like prayer being a very real communication with God and that the habit of praying regularly builds strength. Things like reading scriptures to grow in spirituality. Things like 14-year-old boys with no formal education being used to restore the greatest kingdom ever. Things like getting out of debt and staying out of debt. Things like food storage. Things like simple obedience. Things like serving other people before us. Things like going to church and worshiping on Sunday instead of seeking for entertainment. Things like home teaching. Things like genealogy. Things like temple attendance. Things like living prophets. Things like faith. Things live love. Things like self-control and discipline. Things like tithing. Things like being nice and thoughtful and patient and kind – even when nobody else seems to be. Things like assisting other people and helping them reach their goals instead of spending so much time and effort in what we ourselves want. Things like placing more value in people that in things. Weak and Simple things like that.

Before we think of this as counter-intuitive and contrary to reality (weak and simple things being true power) let’s remind ourselves that Tim Duncan and his Spurs are five-time champs AND “there are many called, but few are chosen…(they are not chosen) because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson…that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness…when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves, the Spirit of the Lord is grieved…he is left unto himself…to fight against God” (good luck in that fight)….”no power or influence can or ought to be maintained…only by [note the weak and simple things that are listed] persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile…let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men…and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly, then shall they confidence wax strong in the presence of God”. That might be the epitome of using weak and simple fundamentals to bring great and mighty things to pass.

4 brothers blog

Category Archives: Sports

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Run, and Not be Weary

The Whole Need no Physician

Graduating from the Obliviousness of the Benchwarmer

Endure to the End!

Dream Dreams

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Loyalty

I Can, I Will, I Must

Maxing Out in the Gospel

The Absolutely Critical Necessity of Basic Fundamental Core Essentials for Increased Improvement of Progression and Betterment

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