On Beginning Where We Are – Sunday, January 06, 1946
It is quite characteristic of us to do much dreaming and much wishing. But often when we wish we might be something other than what we are, we don’t seem to know where to begin or how. We fix our eyes upon long-cherished goals and are inclined to assume that they may be approached only by some elusive process that lies beyond our reach. We look at the distance between where we are and where we would like to be, and become discouraged. We wish on occasion that we could annihilate time and space and effort and reality, but this we cannot do: He who wants to go somewhere, must begin where he is, simply because there isn’t anywhere else to begin.
The long look ahead may seem much too long, especially if we’re waiting for opportunity to find us in some remote place, especially if we’re patiently waiting for life to take us by the hand. But whether ours is the breathless expectancy of youth, or the cautious outlook of maturity, or the weary hope of age, for all of us the place on which our feet now stand is the starting point for everything and for everywhere—for all that is to follow.
Life moves out from here, wherever here is. And time moves with it, rapidly—so rapidly that a long look ahead soon becomes a long look back—so rapidly that the direction in which we move is exceedingly important. But the only thing that any of us can do is to begin where we are, with what we have, and move out from there to where we want to go. And even if we fall somewhere short of our dreams, there will be compensations all the way for trying—and much more satisfaction than we could ever have for not trying. Life is an eternal process; we have to keep working at it. We did not suddenly become what we now are, and there is no reason why we should one day expect to find ourselves vastly different from what we were the previous day. The record of all past years is required to explain what we now are—that, and something more that goes endlessly back beyond all past years. But everyone that got where he is had to begin where he was.
The only formula in getting there is that of finding direction, and moving in that direction, and staying with it. And even heaven will come as naturally as tomorrow morning, if we do our job here and now, mindful of the obligations of life. So, wherever you are, whoever you are, whatever you want, however great the distance between you and where you would like to be: don’t let life discourage you.
Begin where you are with what you have. No man can or ever could do more.
“The Spoken Word,” heard over Radio Station K S L and the nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System, from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Sunday, Jan. 6, 1946. Copyright 1946.
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January 06, 1946
Broadcast Number 0,855