Too Much To Handle

I'd like to tell you a little story. The way I'd like to tell this is to start with the end and then go back and tell it from the beginning. Here I go.

So there I was...chasing down my planner, mormon.org cards, my water bottle, and my extra clothes. It's safe to say that I looked like a genuine goon.

Now, back to the beginning...a couple-three weeks ago my companion, Elder Landbeck, and I had just finished doing some service and we needed to get back into our missionary clothes before going out and doing some more teaching. (I have always been in a bad habit of trying to carry too many things - I HATE taking two or three trips.) I was gathering my things from the car and grabbed a little bit too much for me to handle in one trip. Uh-oh! No good! Can you guess what happened? Well, let me tell you:

1. I dropped my water bottle.
2. I bent down to pick up my water bottle and about 20 mormon.org cards spewed out of my shirt pocket.
3. I frantically tried to pick up the cards and in the process I dropped my planner.
4. I managed to pick up some of the cards but in my crazy state I dropped some clothes I was holding and then I kicked my planner further along the pavement (At this point I was still trying to hold onto all of my things).
5. I FINALLY put the stuff down that I was carrying and then chased down the things that I had dropped and then...success. Everything was picked up.

Put something down!

What can we all learn from this? (Other than the fact that I really need to stop trying to carry so many things in from the car, up and down stairs, etc.) Have you ever caught yourself being so overwhelmed that you are on the verge of a meltdown? Do you ever find that you have too much to handle? In today's society we are all encouraged (and sometimes even expected) to take part in every club, team, group, and activity that is offered as well as taking part in school, going to work, studying scriptures, being active at church, etc. After all is said and done...well that's just it. Your day is done! There is no time to relax! No good. God does not want us to over work ourselves to the point of craziness. A king in the Book of Mormon said, "And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order" (Mosiah 4:27). We need to slow down, take a breather, and do all things in wisdom and order. Why? So that we can find success in what is most important.

But that brings up another question that is extremely significant. What is most important? As I said earlier, it is very easy to get caught up in all of the clubs, teams, movies, etc. that are all around us. These things are often "good things" but we always need to prioritize our actions. We need to put what's best first. Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles gave an amazing talk about such a topic simply titled, "Good, Better, Best". In it he says:

We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives.

As we consider various choices, we should remember that it is not enough that something is good. Other choices are better, and still others are best. Even though a particular choice is more costly, its far greater value may make it the best choice of all.

Dallin H. Oaks.


I truthfully could not have said it better myself. With this mentality and attitude we can be assured that our decisions will bring us closer to Christ. In turn, we will not find ourselves aligned with the world's expectations rather than the Lord's.

If we find that we have fallen prey to over scheduling and over working we need to drop what we're doing, re-evaluate, prioritize, and then go and do what's best. If we try to do too much then we will slip up, make more mistakes, and find ourselves in a hole that is very difficult to get out of. If I had put down some of the things that I was trying to carry from the car instead of trying to do everything at once then I probably wouldn't have ended up looking like such a goon! One thing that I can promise you is that if I had only taken what I could handle from the beginning then I NEVER would have had to scramble for my things and I definitely would not have looked like such a goon.

So, we need to ask ourselves if what we are about to do qualifies as good, better, or best. Never settle for less than the best. You will find yourself with too much to handle. And you'll look like a goon (and no one wants that).