Obvious answers

The last week has been a little rough. I’ve been cranky and tired and probably not very nice to be around. What’s going on? Why do I feel like garbage on toast? How can I break out of this slump?

We all go through this but why does this happen? Although there are several different possible reasons, on this particular occasion it was the natural result of a series of poor choices I had made over the last few days, the culmination of which is illustrated in this little story of yours truly.  The other night I had just offered a very half-hearted prayer and climbed into bed when I felt the prompting of the Holy Ghost. It went something like this:

Holy Ghost-Get up and read from the scriptures
Marcus-But I’m tired and cranky!
Holy Ghost-But you didn’t really read at all from the scriptures today
Marcus-But I’m tired and cranky!
Holy Ghost-You know what you need to do
Marcus-But I’m tired and cranky!

This went on for about a minute or so when eventually I ignored the Holy Ghost and went to sleep. Still though, my mind caught hold of a time not too long ago when I gave up sleep to read from the scriptures. On that particular occasion, even though the lack of sleep had made me tired, at least I wasn’t cranky. How could I forget this lesson so soon? Why do I make the same mistakes over and over again? Life is always better when we choose to heed the promptings of the Holy Ghost but why is that lesson always so much more difficult in practice than in theory? It seems easy to justify my actions in given a certain set of circumstances; I was tired and cranky and really just wanted to sleep.  Still though, truth is truth.  There is more to our existence than immediate comforts.  It’s an obvious choice. Following His counsel always makes me happy.