Balance

It's definitely time for a new post! And I've been thinking about a lot of things lately that I need to get down in writing. Ever since I finished the first draft of Walls, I've been putting writing aside, and I miss it...so this will be a good warm-up.

I've been talking to a friend of mine who was wondering how to balance school and social life. His life is so blocked out with work and study that he doesn't have time to devote to meaningful relationships, and he wanted advice. I wouldn't say that having a social life comes completely naturally to me, but having friends and building relationships is just an important part of my life that I can't block out. If you're always scheduling everything (and I should know, because I'm a planner), you don't leave any time to help people in need or create quality relationships with other people.

In institute the other day the teacher mentioned something I've heard before, that there are only two things you can take with you to the next life: knowledge and relationships. The statement had never quite struck me in the way it did then. My friend was focusing on one aspect (knowledge), but life is all about learning to balance both. We need to be building both our knowledge AND our relationships if these are the most important things to gain in this life. It's important to understand how much other people matter and how we should work to build our relationships with others so we can influence each other's lives. I hope that I can learn to love the people I serve on my mission and that I can meet people whom I can influence... and vis versa. And I hope to better balance these two important aspects of my life: increasing my knowledge AND building relationships.