Forget Yourself and Go to Work

I'm sure you know the source of this mantra.  It's what Gordon B. Hinckley's father wrote to him when he was discouraged on his mission. It's a great mantra for missionaries, but it applies in many other situations as well.  I think it's very applicable to women and girls.  In November, 2005 conference, then General Young Women President, Susan Tanner gave a great talk that inspired me so much . I still remember the advice given- advice she'd received from her mother.  Here are here words: 

"I remember well the insecurities I felt as a teenager with a bad case of acne. I tried to care for my skin properly. My parents helped me get medical attention. For years I even went without eating chocolate and all the greasy fast foods around which teens often socialize, but with no obvious healing consequences. It was difficult for me at that time to fully appreciate this body which was giving me so much grief. But my good mother taught me a higher law. Over and over she said to me, “You must do everything you can to make your appearance pleasing, but the minute you walk out the door, forget yourself and start concentrating on others.”There it was. She was teaching me the Christlike principle of selflessness. Charity, or the pure love of Christ, “envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own” (Moro. 7:45). When we become other-oriented, or selfless, we develop an inner beauty of spirit that glows in our outward appearance. This is how we make ourselves in the Lord’s image rather than the world’s and receive His image in our countenances."

I love that!  Make yourself look as nice as you can, but as soon as you walk out the door, forget yourself . . . and go to work.  Go to work helping others and tuning into them and their needs.  So there you have another mantra to consider:  "Forget yourself and go to work!"

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