Thoughts from My Personal Journal

THOUGHT: October 2, 2019

We need to all build and store our own mental collection of knowledge and remembrances so that when we die, people will feel like a library burned to the ground.


THOUGHT: October 4, 2019

You shouldn’t live in the past. If you are always looking back, you can’t see what’s coming.


THOUGHT: October 5, 2019

Sometimes we have to do things we don’t like to do in order to be able to do the things we like to do.


THOUGHT: October 6, 2019

One bad decision leads to another bad decision; but fortunately, one good decision leads to another good decision.


THOUGHT: October 7, 2019

Boys do what they want to do. Men do what they have to do.


THOUGHT: October 8, 2019

Give a man a fish, and you will feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will spend many days just sitting in a boat drinking beer.


THOUGHT: October 11, 2019

I might be slow, but I am still lapping the people who are laying on their couches.


THOUGHT: October 20, 2019

Never forget your dreams.


THOUGHT: October 21, 2019

You cannot un-experience something that you have experienced.


THOUGHT: October 26, 2019

We should never get tired of doing the right thing.


THOUGHT: November 3, 2019

There is a right way to be happy. Any other way is not true happiness.


THOUGHT: November 7, 2019

We need to learn and experience the difference between happiness and pleasure.


THOUGHT: November 7, 2019

Health is better than wealth.


THOUGHT: November 8, 2019

I have noticed that everyone is a little weird except me. I must be the only normal person there is.


THOUGHT: November 9, 2019

Resisting temptation is the universal test for all of us.


THOUGHT: November 12, 2019

I am so very glad that on my 73rd birthday I am still physically able to do manual labor. I find great joy in it. I pray that I will be able to put in a good day of physical labor right up to the time of my death.


THOUGHT: November 13, 2019

Life is like a tennis match. The one who fails is the one who has the most unforced errors—self-inflicted mistakes.


THOUGHT: November 15, 2019

Time is such a marvelous medicine.


THOUGHT: November 18, 2019

Money is a wonderful servant but an awful master.


THOUGHT: November 22, 2019

We need to make our decisions in such a way that time is on our side.


THOUGHT: November 23, 2019

There are things that happen to us that cause us to be overcome by emotion. We need not be ashamed or embarrassed by those occasions.


THOUGHT: December 2, 2019

Hard work is much more dependable than good luck.


THOUGHT: December 3, 2019

You can’t be happy without hard work because you can’t think well of yourself as a lazy person.


THOUGHT: December 10, 2019

Our mistakes waste our precious time.


THOUGHT: December 13, 2019

An unnatural forced effect, whether political or economic or religious, cannot be sustained over the long run. Compulsion cannot stand the test of time. Free agency will stand the test of time.


THOUGHT: December 14, 2019

It is a special spiritual talent to be able to see the goodness in others.


THOUGHT: January 1, 2020

Every moment is sacred limited mortal time.


THOUGHT: January 5, 2020

I cannot think of anything more valuable than peace of mind.


THOUGHT: January 8, 2020

The harder we work for something, the greater the sense of accomplishment we have for achieving it.


THOUGHT: January 10, 2020

Dogs are better than humans because they know all the bad things about you and they never say anything negative.


THOUGHT: January 13, 2020

I have found throughout my life that physical work really helps and aids the flow of personal revelation.


THOUGHT: January 14, 2020

It seems that in order for a Waffle House waitress to be successful at generating tips, she must feel comfortable using intimate terms of endearment like sweetheart, love, baby, honey, darling, etc., plus feel comfortable placing her hand on your shoulder for a little pat. It mattereth not if your wife is seated next to you.


THOUGHT: January 17, 2020

The word prejudice comes from the root word “pre-judge.” We prejudge one another because we lack the true facts or we are holding to inaccurate “facts,” generally fed to us by others who have positions of authority (parents, religious leaders, political officials, etc.), mostly well intentioned, but blinded by their personal interests. Satan has been making great use of those mostly well-intentioned people for thousands of years, and he is an expert at it.


THOUGHT: January 20, 2020

Kindness is an absolutely essential quality to becoming a wonderful human being.


THOUGHT: January 22, 2020

A strong desire to be of service to others, timely acted upon with consistency, is a prominent characteristic of the Savior’s followers.


THOUGHT: January 25, 2020

There can sometimes be a very fine line between courage and stupidity.


THOUGHT: February 14, 2020

It seems I have a one-word motto: “Work.”


THOUGHT: February 15, 2020

Next to good health, I think my greatest temporal asset is my love for hard physical work. It is a spiritual gift from God, which may seem contradictory to some who strictly distinguish between the temporal and the spiritual.


THOUGHT: February 21, 2020

Changing our behavior for the better, a little here and a little there, will result over time in changing our very nature to where we no more have a disposition to do bad.


THOUGHT: February 24, 2020

The best version of myself is the one that is guided by the Holy Ghost.


THOUGHT: February 25, 2020

Face life with a heart full of thanksgiving.


THOUGHT: February 26, 2020

How can a man really have hope if he is not doing anything on his part to bring about the thing for which he hopes?


THOUGHT: March 8, 2020

I have an analogy to daylight savings time. I spring forward then I fall back. It’s just like my trying to get in or out of bed.


THOUGHT: March 11, 2020

Not all choices are between good and evil. In fact, most of our choices do not present such a stark contrast. We must constantly choose between good, better, and best. A peanut butter sandwich is good. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich is better. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of milk is best.


THOUGHT: March 17, 2020

Uncertainty is a major cause of fear.


THOUGHT: March 21, 2020

Knowing the right thing to do and doing the right thing are two entirely different things. But at least your chances of doing the right thing are increased by a knowledge of the right thing to do.


THOUGHT: March 22, 2020

It takes the same amount of effort to sing a wrong note as it does to sing the right note. We might as well use our efforts to sing the right notes.


THOUGHT: March 24, 2020

I tilled our deer-proof garden the other day. Now young vegetable seedlings from last year’s plowed under vegetable plants are springing up in the rich dirt. I will put the like kinds in rows. Nature is a much better farmer than I am.


THOUGHT: March 26, 2020

I like old songs and old movies. The songs have a melody with words I can understand and the movies have a plot where the good guy wins in the end. Here is my assessment of a great deal of modern pop music: It is a bombardment of disassociated noises undergirded by a dominant primitive beat.


THOUGHT: March 28, 2020

Death is a natural, unavoidable part of life. It is the doorway to the next great adventure. It is the key to the continuation of life.


THOUGHT: March 31, 2020

My sweet mama died four days ago. I found a newspaper clipping that she had kept. It said: “[D]o not attempt to instill artificial life into my body by use of a machine. *** If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you.”


THOUGHT: April 3, 2020

I don’t think I have ever known of a construction project that did not take longer than expected and cost more money than expected.


THOUGHT: April 8, 2020

My wife Robin and I are amazed at the growing size, new green vitality, and grandeur of the sugarberry/hackberry tree in our front yard that was near death when we first started our work at Pinto. We freed it from the weeds, parasitical vines, uncontrolled growth, and thick underbrush that were stealing the nutrients from its roots and choking the life out of it. That’s the way that pervasive environmental evil sucks our spiritual energy from us. We can only free ourselves by prayer, scripture study, and strict obedience to the commandments of God.


THOUGHT: April 9, 2020

I have a testimony that fasting correctly does not sap our strength. To the contrary, it adds to our strength, both physically and spiritually. That is my personal experience.


THOUGHT: April 10, 2020

You cannot question the judgment of your spouse without condemning yourself.


THOUGHT: April 14, 2020

I work, therefore I am.


THOUGHT: April 17, 2020

A Christ-like attribute is a desire not to offend anyone.


THOUGHT: April 20, 2020

Make decisions in such a way as to keep time on your side. In other words, keep the long run in mind.


THOUGHT: April 21,2020

Quality will always cut its way to the top.


THOUGHT: April 26, 2020

Hope is a fundamental virtue. Hope is a Christian virtue that is essential to the Cause of Christ. Hope can pervade every aspect of your life. When you genuinely possess hope, you will never ever, while still breathing, give up, abandon, or surrender a righteous endeavor.


THOUGHT: May 1, 2020

We are more limited by our vision than we are by our capacity. Our roadblocks are mental, not physical.


THOUGHT: May 6, 2020

I am considering filing a class action against mirrors, bathroom scales, and Father Time.


THOUGHT: May 9, 2020

There is no mortal man on earth who can tell me exactly what I need to do today. But the Holy Ghost can.


THOUGHT: May 15, 2020

I learned today in a telephone call that a friend, a young married man with small children, had unexpectedly died while exercising on a treadmill. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his “A Psalm of Life” has a line that reads in part: “Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave.”


THOUGHT: May 17, 2020

While reviewing Volume 15 of my journal this morning, I came across this entry on September 11, 1981: “I stopped by Western Auto and bought some tricycle wheels to fix Jessica’s tricycle for Jenny (her younger sister). I believe in passing things down and cannot afford to believe otherwise.”


THOUGHT: May 19, 2020

Fear and hope tend to dilute one another. When one is strengthened, the other is weakened.


THOUGHT: May 20, 2020

I do some of my best thinking while in a Jacuzzi. Too bad I don’t own one.


THOUGHT: May 23, 2020

In many instances, being totally honest and truthful results in your being falsely accused and mischaracterized as a “racist.”


THOUGHT: May 24, 2020
Planting a tree demonstrates a belief in many tomorrows.


THOUGHT: May 25, 2020

Some people will think I am not doing right by working on Memorial Day. My thought on the subject is this: The people we are remembering were not enjoying a day of leisure when they made their sacrifices for our country.


THOUGHT: May 28, 2020

A Christ-like character trait is an ability to make everyone feel valued and respected, and that ability must be founded on genuine feelings.


THOUGHT: June 3, 2020

Plants and animals are essential to our happiness.


THOUGHT: June 6, 2020

The consent of a young woman’s parents is required if she is to be given an aspirin or any other type of medicine at school. The consent of a young woman’s parents is required if she is allowed to go on a field trip. On the other hand, she can get an abortion without her parent’s consent.


THOUGHT: June 8, 2020

Just before we had our family sacrament meeting yesterday, there was discussion about all of the bad things happening in the world—riots, political unrest, wars, refugee camps, pandemics, unemployment, racism, violent demonstrations, etc. Audrey Pinkston Allen, my granddaughter, gave a short passionate speech about not dwelling on the negative. I had already had the same thoughts just before she spoke. I added my thoughts to hers:

“Keep in mind that the Lord remains in full and complete control. All of these things are happening on his timetable. We just need to stay focused on the fact that we are ultimately on the winning team. In the meantime, ‘stand fast in the liberty wherewith ye have been made free.’” We then proceeded with our sacrament meeting.


THOUGHT: June 14, 2020

It is amazing to me how all of the solid evidence in the world will not persuade a person who is illogically committed to the wrong position.


THOUGHT: June 18, 2020

I want to say this with as much kindness as I can muster. The singing of our national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner, at a public event should not be about the singer. The singer’s self-centered ego should be left at home, even if he or she is a superstar—no vocal gymnastics or physical gyrations. The event is not his or her pop concert. Please just sing the words like Frances Scott Key wrote them, straight, pure, and simple, without styling or increasing the number of syllables. The song is neither an opera, a country-fide boogie, or a Negro spiritual. It should be solely about solemnly honoring our country and those who sacrificed everything to bring it into existence.


THOUGHT: June 19, 2020

There are few character flaws that will match the seriousness of pervasive ingratitude.


THOUGHT: June 22,2020

Has the most unpardonable sin in our society become speaking the plain truth?


THOUGHT: June 29, 2020

Owning a gun does not make you a killer.


THOUGHT: June 30, 2020

As an old white man, I am part of a diminishing minority. But I don’t think that entitles me to anything. I am not a victim.


THOUGHT: July 3, 2020

Don’t listen to criticism from people you would never seek out for advice.


THOUGHT: July 18, 2020

The more people receive for which they did not work, the more ungrateful they become.


THOUGHT: July 21, 2020

There is life after death for both the dead and the living left on earth, and there is love after love.


THOUGHT: July 26, 2020

I think most perfection, if we achieve any in an area of our life, comes in incremental baby steps. That fact eventually makes persistence in and dedication to improvement a premium characteristic to possess.


THOUGHT: August 6, 2020

I am trying to help Wilbur with the electrical work on our house, but I am handicapped by my lack of knowledge. I only know two things about electricity: (1) It will kill you; and (2) if you don’t pay your electrical bill, they will cut it off.


THOUGHT: August 7, 2020

I never knew that at my advanced age I would find such enormous joy in my existence. For all practical purposes, I am pain free in every respect.


THOUGHT: August 27, 2020

Engaging in constructive physical labor gives a man a sense of self-esteem that he can acquire in no other way.


THOUGHT: September 1, 2020

The most accessible, responsive, and effective repository of help, aid, and assistance is your own pair of hands.


THOUGHT: September 3, 2020

A laborer works with his hands. A craftsman works with his hands and his head. An artist works with his hands, his head, and his heart.


THOUGHT: September 4, 2020

People do not remember deceased persons for very long. I think that is just part of God’s plan. However, a man can build some lasting physical things in his lifetime that will anonymously serve people here on earth long after he is dead. Just think of all the nice buildings you enter without knowing the people who labored to bring them into existence, whether they be the architect who designed it, the supervisors who directed the work, or the laborers who actually constructed it.


THOUGHT: September 5, 2020

For older people like me, motion is a fantastic medicine.


THOUGHT: September 8, 2020

If one removes only one very small fragment of colored glass from a beautiful stained glass mosaic, the damage to the overall community of colors far exceeds the loss of the small physical space formerly occupied by the removed fragment. The loss of one soul, whether a family member, or an academic class member, or a club member is a devastating loss, and your eyes are drawn, at least temporarily, to that one missing spot.


THOUGHT: September 13, 2020

If we will wake up early and get a head start on the day’s work, we will feel much better about ourselves and that which we are able to accomplish.


THOUGHT: September 15, 2020

I think it better to be alone and suffering from loneliness than being surrounded by bad company.


THOUGHT: September 17, 2020

The eyes of my animals speak to my soul, and I feel compelled to properly take care of their needs without any other form of convincing.


THOUGHT: September 20, 2020

I think if I ever quit setting personal goals and desiring to accomplish some important tasks, then it will be time for me to die. I am a long ways from that point at the moment.


THOUGHT: September 21, 2020

Life has sent me on a few detours that I never intended to take, but they have provided me with some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever enjoyed—and without forgetting any of the wonderful things which I viewed on the main highway of life.


THOUGHT: September 26, 2020

I can personally testify, in vivid detail if necessary, that oysters have a short shelf life.


THOUGHT: September 28, 2020

Evidently, my ability to remember the words of popular songs in the 1960’s is stronger than my ability to remember that I am traveling with suitcases. (We left some suitcases on the sidewalk next to the hotel when departing in our vehicle.)


THOUGHT: September 29, 2020

Avoid putting yourself in a position where, at a later time, you will know that you could have done better but deliberately chose not to do so.


THOUGHT: October 8, 2020

If we realize that people on the whole are generally doing the best they can under the circumstances in which they find themselves, then we will be more inclined to act compassionately toward them.


THOUGHT: October 11, 2020

One of the keys to personal happiness is to search for joy in every circumstance.


THOUGHT: October 17, 2020

If we will forget about being “successful” and simply work steadily and productively six days a week, then success will find us.


THOUGHT: October 18, 2020

We all do a lot of waiting. It is important to keep working while you are waiting.


THOUGHT: October 19, 2020

An old dog CAN learn new tricks. But he has to perform them more slowly.


THOUGHT: October 24, 2020

I am less than a month from age 74 and I am still discovering new talents that I have.


THOUGHT: October 26, 2020

If you get too wrapped up in yourself, you will turn yourself into a very small and insignificant package.


THOUGHT: October 28, 2020

If you buy something you really don’t need, you stupidly steal from yourself. You are both the perpetrator and the victim of the same crime.


THOUGHT: October 29, 2020

Next time I feel like pointing a finger, I need to choose instead to hold out my hand.


THOUGHT: November 2, 2020

One of the best things you can do for a friend is provide them with accurate information.


THOUGHT: November 3, 2020

Faults are the easiest thing in the world to find, more especially in others, and most especially in those with whom we disagree. In ourselves, faults are one of the most difficult things to overcome, and one of the most difficult faults for us to overcome is fault-finding.


THOUGHT: November 4, 2020

I want to age actively as well as gracefully.


THOUGHT: November 5, 20200)

I am certainly wrong from time to time, but I am never in doubt prior to finding out for sure that I am wrong.


THOUGHT: November 6, 2020

If I am not happy with myself, I am not going to be able to help other people feel happy.


THOUGHT: November 7, 2020

Life is like a ladder in the sense that every decision we make moves us either up the ladder or down the ladder.


THOUGHT: November 12, 2020

A good test for my character and my personality is ask myself: “Do I bring joy and happiness to those around me?”


THOUGHT: November 13, 2020

As a brother to every other human being, it is my moral duty to help each of my brothers and sisters feel important. But admittedly I find that some people are a whole lot easier to love than others.


THOUGHT: November 19, 2020

There’s been many a good tune played on an old fiddle.


THOUGHT: November 23, 2020

It seems that nothing good happens by accident.


THOUGHT: November 24, 2020

Ingratitude is the shortcut route to pride, and pride precedes the fall. I need to be grateful always and shun a forgetfulness of the heart.


THOUGHT: November 27, 2020

We are born to conscientiously prepare to honorably die.


THOUGHT: December 5, 2020

I am at the age and stage where my relatives, classmates, friends, and acquaintances are going the way of all the earth with great regularity. I learned that my friend Rev. Gerald Wood died this week. When I looked up his obituary, I saw where Jimmy Ragan, a good Catholic friend, and Vera Cobb Ward, a former client, had also died this week. I do not have the inclination to attend their viewings or funerals. My relationships with the deceased are already set, and even if I were so inclined to attend, the COVID pandemic is imposing limitations on fostering my relationship with those family members who remain. Their families are in my prayers.


THOUGHT: December 8, 2020

Joy is a righteous positive emotion that will trump all other emotions.


THOUGHT: December 12, 2020

We all have great powers within us. For instance we have the power to love, to forgive, to assist, to minister, to share, to uplift, to empathize, to encourage, to work, to build, to create, and to set an example in all of these things.


THOUGHT: December 17, 2020

Strongly supporting traditional marriage does not equate hating or not loving those who favor same-sex marriage.


THOUGHT: December 19, 2020

You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not responsibly sharing it unless your opinion is based on facts and not fiction.


THOUGHT: December 21, 2020

You can freely choose your actions, but be aware that the unavoidable consequences of your actions are already built into your choices.


THOUGHT: December 22, 2020

Being a person of integrity does not mean you are perfect, but it does mean you are authentic.


THOUGHT: December 23, 2020

Spend time designing and planning the foundation of your project. Carefully think it through based on all available information. The beginnings are crucial. Premature starts are disastrous. I quote Aristotle: “Well begun is half done.”


THOUGHT: December 24, 2020

We naturally limit our trust to those who have provided good evidence that they are trustworthy. If we want to be trusted, we must provide that evidence continually.


THOUGHT: December 29, 2020

Unless it is an emergency, never rush an important decision.


THOUGHT: January 5, 2021

I hope the last thing I say before I die is not “Oh, sh_ _!”


THOUGHT: January 7, 2021

We all want unity, and the way we all want unity is for the other side to capitulate, surrender, give up, and agree with our unmovable positions. Our personal concept of unity generally ignores compromise.


THOUGHT: January 8, 2021

Don’t ever thoughtlessly throw cold water on someone else’s dream.


THOUGHT: January 11, 2021

Complex problems can often have the simplest of solutions.


THOUGHT: January 16, 2021

If you need someone to tip toe through the tulips in ballet slippers, or walk the top of a narrow political fence line, then I am definitely not your man. I am a say “yea” or say “nay” type of man, plain and simple. There is no doubt about where I stand.


THOUGHT: January 24, 2021

Events and circumstances make a whole lot more sense if we view them with an eternal perspective.


THOUGHT: January 26, 2021

If you love someone, you sacrifice for them without being asked.


THOUGHT: February 10, 2021

No matter how carefully you nurse a grudge, it will not get better. It will only get worse.


THOUGHT: February 11, 2021

Don’t take on velocity until you have properly directed yourself.


THOUGHT: February 17, 2021

Most often, the best thing we can do to help ourselves is to go help someone else.


THOUGHT: February 19, 2021

I am so glad that the privileges and blessings of being loved, forgiven, and treated with mercy are not based on worthiness.


THOUGHT: February 20, 2021

Poverty closes a lot of doors, but most of the doors probably should be closed anyway.


THOUGHT: February 24, 2021

We will never solve a problem if we are not willing to admit that we have the problem.


THOUGHT: March 2, 2021

I much prefer to talk about the commandments that I keep.


THOUGHT: March 4, 2021

Here’s the stubborn thing about money: You only get to spend it once.


THOUGHT: March 5, 2021

Good Latter-day Saints never have to say “goodbye.”


THOUGHT: March 7, 2021

I would like to say to all of the people I have ever misjudged, misunderstood, miscalculated, and especially mistreated: Your eternal destiny is in no way dependent on my mistakes or the manner in which I have misbehaved. Please ignore me.


THOUGHT: March 8, 2021

I don’t want to be one of those persons who quits living and then dies a few years later.


THOUGHT: March 11, 2021

If you don’t own anything, then you are not worried about losing it.


THOUGHT: March 28, 2021

My daddy had lots of practical living advice for me as I was growing up, like: “When you take a bath, always wash your face before you wash your hinny.”


THOUGHT: March 31, 2021

We Americans revolted from the Mother Country when taxes were much less than they are now.


THOUGHT: April 7, 2021

There are better ways to help people than giving them money.


THOUGHT: April 8, 2021

Cute does not make up for bad.


THOUGHT: April 12, 2021

Kindness always wins.


THOUGHT: April 16, 2021

A lie can travel from one end of town to the other before the truth can get out of its pajamas.


THOUGHT: April 19, 2021

Cluttered desk—cluttered mind.


THOUGHT: April 23, 2021

Here is how I usually react to essays about how we ignore our own character flaws: “That doesn’t apply to me.”


THOUGHT: April 26, 2021

Avoid making decisions through the fogged lens of emotion, especially the emotion of anger.


THOUGHT: April 28, 2021

Your failure to adequately plan ahead does not constitute an emergency for me.


THOUGHT: May 23, 2021

As an older person, I look at time differently than I did as a younger person. I am more conscious of its limited quantity. Time is more precious. I am more inclined not to waste a single second. I concentrate more on doing the things I want to accomplish before I leave the earth.


THOUGHT: June 11, 2021

The mass media has so repeatedly exaggerated the need for using the term “breaking news” that the term has become meaningless and useless.


THOUGHT: June 13, 2021

We don’t need to assume that all of the personal offences we feel against us are the product of someone’s malice. The majority of the “personal offences” are probably the product of incompetence. That does not mean that incompetence is good or desirable, but at least it is the lesser of two bads.


THOUGHT: June 17, 2021

The requirement to forgive others does not include a requirement that you trust them, or that you associate with them, or that you give them an opportunity to hurt you again.


THOUGHT: June 18, 2021

We can say we have actually learned something when we make a positive change in our lives.


THOUGHT: June 20, 2021

We should view our weaknesses as personal development opportunities.


THOUGHT: July 3, 2021

Open mindedness, if opened too wide, becomes empty headedness.


THOUGHT: July 5, 2021

Perfection takes time. That which makes a masterpiece a genuine masterpiece requires more than pure talent. There must also be the personal investment of large quantities of laser focused time.


THOUGHT: July 7, 2021

When I treat someone else lower than myself, I do not elevate myself. I actually make myself lower than the one I mistreated.


THOUGHT: July 10, 2021

When we talk much, we learn little.


THOUGHT: July 14, 2021

Let unrejected temptation sit in your mind long enough and it will eventually overtake you.


THOUGHT: July 15, 2021

Virtue starts and finishes with our thoughts.


THOUGHT: July 18, 2021

Never underestimate the power of the weather, nor God’s power to use it. In economic endeavors, family recreation, public sports, political activism, and international war, the weather can be either your ally or your antagonist.


THOUGHT: July 19, 2021

Just because I am happy where I am, does not mean that I should be content to stay there.


THOUGHT: July 23, 2021

Agency is sacredly precious. We violate a higher principle when we use force or coercion to impose our ideologies on others, even our correct ideologies.


THOUGHT: July 25, 2021

Time is the greatest tester of whether or not a claim is true. In the meantime, justice is often delayed.


THOUGHT: August 15, 2021

The process of practicing perfection is not pain free.


THOUGHT: August 25, 2021

Perspiration brings inspiration.


THOUGHT: September 2, 2021

Blossom wherever you are planted.


THOUGHT: September 5, 2021

If you must make a comparison, do not compare your best to someone else’s worse.


THOUGHT: September 9, 2021

Satan is an expert at mischaracterizing righteous behavior as something evil. That’s what the Father of Lies can masterfully do.


THOUGHT: September 24, 2021

A higher view motivates us to take the higher road.


THOUGHT: September 25, 2021

Being rich and famous is almost the total opposite of being happy.


THOUGHT: September 30, 2021

We are surrounded by demons that outnumber us. If we could see all of the evil spirits that are around us, we would do a better job of maintaining the spirituality we need to effectively combat their bombardments of unrighteous enticements.


THOUGHT: October 2, 2021
 
Our actions do not take place in a vacuum. What we choose to do has an effect for good or bad on others.
 
 
THOUGHT: October 4, 2021
 
Hard work makes for good sleep.
 
 
THOUGHT: October 19, 2021
 
Olympic officials don’t pass out gold medals at the beginning of the races.
 
 
THOUGHT: October 20, 2021
 
When we give a talk or address a crowd, we need to sit down at a point when the listeners would still like to hear more.
 
 
THOUGHT: October 26, 2021
 
One common man or woman who follows the teachings of God is smarter than all of the worldly scientists combined. Generally speaking, when a mother reports that she carried and birthed a baby, she reports that she carried him or her for nine months, not some lesser amount of time to supposedly mark the commencement of life.
 
 
THOUGHT: November 12, 2021
 
Today I am 75 years of age. According to my best mathematical calculations, that is three-quarters of a century. I am grateful to have lived when, where, and how I did live. I am most thankful for the good health and excellent physical condition I have enjoyed throughout my life. The gratitude I feel for life itself dwells deeply within me. I cherish my freedom and my agency. I look forward to each day with excitement and anticipation. My “to do” lists remain substantial on both a short-term and long-term basis. My Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost have blessed me beyond measure and indescribably decade after decade. In appreciation, I need to do a little better job of keeping all the commandments here and there with precision and exactness. I pray for continued longevity and health. I pray that I will improve and become a better person, using Christ as my standard. There is much yet that I want to accomplish. There is a lot of living that I still want to do. I need to make loving people and showing kindness the most important thing in my life.
 
 
THOUGHT: November 16, 2021
 
One small act of kindness is worth more than all the unfulfilled contemplations of doing good that ever existed.
 
 
THOUGHT: November 23, 2021
 
There is an inseparable connection between gratitude and happiness.
 
 
THOUGHT: November 26, 2021
 
The many principles and rules for acquiring virtues and conditions of worthiness and righteousness are simply subparts of one overriding rule: Keep the commandments.
 
 
THOUGHT: December 2, 2021
 
An interstate highway is like a river. One can only cross it at certain limited locations.
 
 
THOUGHT: December 6, 2021
 
I do not like going to town and dealing with the heavy, congested traffic and the long waits at the lights. I feel like I am wasting my life away. I could never have commuted to work daily in a city like Atlanta or Birmingham. I was spoiled by the location of my house on Chapel Road from 1975 to 2009. I was less than three miles from work at 1881 Holtville Road or 499 South Main Street, and most of my lawyering work was right here in Elmore County. Groceries and consumer shopping were within three miles, and I obtained lots of food from my home garden and orchard trees. I was less than three miles from the golf course and the tennis courts. I was less than three miles from fishing or canoeing the Coosa River, not to mention fishing in the pond across from my driveway at home. I could hunt duck, quail, rabbits, dove, and deer behind my backyard. My chapel was only one mile away. I have never met anyone who had it so good. What a great blessing of convenience! Travel time has not occupied a large percentage of my life. When God predetermined the bounds of my habitation, he treated me extra special for which I am grateful.
 
 
THOUGHT: December 11, 2021
 
The better we can understand the complexities of a matter or situation, the easier it is to reduce and describe it by its simple elements.
 
 
THOUGHT: December 13, 2021
 
Guilt serves us best as a protection against repetition as opposed to a permanent punishment for a past mistake.
 
 
THOUGHT: December 15, 2021
 
We should not reject singing in the church choir just because we know we don’t have perfect pitch. For one thing, we get closer to perfection by participating. For another, there is more joy in acting than spectating. Fear and inhibition will squelch a lot of our joy if we let them.
 
 
THOUGHT: December 30, 2021
 
A good life is composed of experiencing and appreciating accumulated individual moments of joy. We experience the joys incrementally from consistent exposure to universal simple things. To what types of simple joyful experiences do I refer? Red sunsets on the horizon and orange sunrises streaking through the trees; full moons that light up cool nights and countless stars that pulsatingly twinkle on warm summer nights; gentle rains and slow falling snow; blustery winds that bend a mighty tree and gentle winds that keep twirling leaves afloat; grazing deer and sleeping dogs; orange and purple petals in a field of zinnias; a genuine compliment received and a kind thank you given; sipping hot chocolate and consuming a cold strawberry milkshake; drinking from a woodland stream and eating a wild muscadine; chewing on a freshly opened pecan and smelling a baked sweet potato pie; the feel of a new pair of soft bedroom slippers and an old pair of blue jeans; a green grassy hill and a clear blue sky; hickory burning in a fireplace and watching my favorite team win; a laborious mundane task done well and a rock wall with narrow mortar joints; a tired child sleeping and an energetic grandchild laughing; a stranger we served and a friend we assisted; a fresh brown egg and a medium rare sizzling ribeye; and a leaping dolphin and an aquarium goldfish. You get the idea. We are wise to be on the lookout for and appreciative of such countless joys that surround us.
 
 
THOUGHT: December 31, 2021
 
If we are to make consistent progress toward perfection, as commanded, then we must be constantly involved in incrementally changing ourselves for the better—a self-imposed repentance process.
 
 
THOUGHT: January 1, 2022
 
I believe that the best days of my life are still ahead of me. I refuse to be an old man that merely dreams.
 
 
THOUGHT: January 2, 2022
 
Love consists mostly of quality time dedicated to the object of our love.
 
 
THOUGHT: January 3, 2022
 
If you don’t have time to do it right, how will you find the time to do it twice?
 
 
THOUGHT: January 5, 2022
 
Meekness is not weakness.
 
 
THOUGHT: January 8, 2022
 
Our positive changes will affect for the good generations yet unborn.
 
 
THOUGHT: January 11, 2022
 
You cannot change people. You can only unconditionally love them into changing themselves.
 
 
THOUGHT: January 12, 2022
 
Two people who strongly disagree about something can still be close friends, and that applies to more than just married couples.
 
 
THOUGHT: January 14, 2022
 
The truth can be ugly, but the unflinching quest for truth is always beautiful.
 
 
THOUGHT: January 15, 2022
 
In our exhibited personal behavior, we either love others or we cry out for others to love us. Most of the time there is a complex mixture of both in us.
 
 
THOUGHT: January 16, 2022
 
I believe that keeping a journal helps to ward off old-age dementia.
 
 
THOUGHT: January 19, 2022
 
We lie because we fear the outcome that the truth dictates. But a lie cannot change the truth or the outcome. The outcome can only be delayed and made worse by the lie.
 
 
THOUGHT: January 24, 2022
 
Most of our personal progress comes in incremental spurts as we incorporate into our thinking pattern just one simple truth we have been inspired to embrace.
 
 
THOUGHT: February 5, 2022
 
Don’t keep loving who you are. Strive to be someone who is better than you presently are.
 
 
THOUGHT: February 11, 2022
 
Humility will always precede a positive change.
 
 
THOUGHT: February 13, 2022
 
Trajectory is more important than velocity. It doesn’t matter how fast we are going if we are headed in the wrong direction. Increased speed only moves us further from our intended destination.
 
 
THOUGHT: February 20, 2022
 
The difference between stubborn, which has a negative connotation, and determined, which has a positive connotation, is the nature of the cause which one is defending or promoting.
 
 
THOUGHT: February 21, 2022
 
Our succumbing to an immediate gratification usually results in the later loss of something which is disproportionately of greater worth.
 
 
THOUGHT: February 24, 2022
 
Attention to genuine repentance requires personal reevaluation at least daily if not more often.
 
 
THOUGHT: February 25, 2022
 
There is never a need for me to be anyone other than my best self. Pretending to be someone I am not, is doomed to fail.
 
 
THOUGHT: March 3, 2022
 
Fame hinders achievement.
 
 
THOUGHT: March 15, 2022
 
Sometimes our most powerful statement is our silence.
 
 
THOUGHT: March 25, 2022
 
I know nothing about that which is coming next in my life.
 
 
THOUGHT: March 26, 2022
 
With exception of the most severe storms, there is no bad weather, only bad clothing.
 
 
THOUGHT: April 1, 2022
 
Pop culture is regularly using a phrase: “Loving who you are.” We need to love who we can become much more than we love who we are.
 
 
THOUGHT: April 20, 2022
 
We need an unwavering, undying love and respect for the truth, no matter which way it cuts across political, religious, social, racial, national, or cultural lines.
 
 
THOUGHT: June 3, 2022
 
We are a lot better at remembering the fact that we are to receive a promised land of milk and honey, than we are at remembering the condition upon which we were to receive that promised land of milk and honey—keeping the commandments.

 
THOUGHT: July 5, 2022
 
We cannot change our physical characteristics through self-identification.
 
 
THOUGHT: July 15, 2022
 
The most important journey we will make in this life is our journey back to our heavenly home.
 
 
THOUGHT: July 18, 2022
 
The fact that you might dislike a doctrine or principle does not mean that the doctrine or principle is not true.
 
 
THOUGHT: August 1, 2022
 
The Lord loves and rewards our imperfect efforts to be righteous.
 
 
THOUGHT: August 2, 2022
 
My joy increases in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my rejection, of God’s will.
 
 
THOUGHT: August 7, 2022
 
Seeking after and embracing personal glory is a Satanic quest.
 
 
THOUGHT: August 8, 2022
 
You know what puppy love precedes? A dog’s life.
 
 
THOUGHT: August 13, 2022
 
We all like our comfort zones. We won’t voluntarily choose to grow spiritually on our own. We require God to make things difficult for us.
 
 
THOUGHT: August 14, 2022
 
If I have ever said the right positive, encouraging thing to some individual at the precise time he or she needed such, I know it was the Savior who inspired my words.
 
 
THOUGHT: August 24, 2022
 
A tool has no value if I cannot find it.
 
 
THOUGHT: September 2, 2022
 
If I don’t have time to do the job right, where will I find the time to do it over?
 
 
THOUGHT: September 4, 2022
 
If Satan keeps trying to remind you of your past, remind him of his future.
 
 
THOUGHT: September 9, 2022

Some people can’t even get along with themselves.


THOUGHT: September 10, 2022
 
I don’t think a good writer ever writes a story; he only rewrites the story over and over until it becomes good.
 
 
THOUGHT: September 12, 2022
 
The demand for racism by the extreme left far exceeds the existing supply.
 
 
THOUGHT: September 13, 2022
 
Pop culture’s belligerent and combative demand for my uniformity is an enemy to my moral agency.
 
 
THOUGHT: September 15, 2022
 
Race, of itself, should not be a consideration in our deliberations, judgments, and decisions. I agree with Martin Luther King—character and not color is the issue. Consequently, it is just as racist to vote for somebody because of their race as it is to vote against someone because of their race.
 
 
THOUGHT: February 4, 2023
 
Less macho, more smart.
 
 
THOUGHT: March 20, 2023
 
When I find myself thinking too long and too seriously about a subject, I employ my perfect antidote that requires no thinking at all; I turn on my favorite country music radio station.
 
 
THOUGHT: March 27, 2023
 
When a pair of light windshield wipers work together in perfect tandem, they can rock an idling two-ton vehicle.

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