Faking It

I am a swimmer, I love being in the water, I love swimming as fast as I can and then also see how I can pase myself swimming long distance. But as a swimmer, like all sports, you have to practice, you have to push yourself to do better then you could before. I was a Arlington StingRay and their were different levels that depending upon the skill of the swimmer so you would swim your same skill level to push your self.... Shocker right?  But anyway I remember each time that I achieved a new "level" in practice my coach would give us a set to do and I would think to myself  Eeekk that is hard and I don't know if I can make it!!!  But I was no quitter, I gave it all I got and I always came up short of my goal. 

 I would think... This is hard  I  am not good enough and I can't make that time and everyone is better than me. It is not very much fun when everyone is faster than you are, it is no fun being last and having everyone lap you. But I always pretended that I could do, I always pretended that I could make the time and that I was a good swimmer. I always strive for that goal and I did not give up, I faked it. I pressed forward and kept my eyes on the prize. After time I improved. I got faster, better, my muscles got stronger. Then I could make to the goal, at first I was out of breath but then after a few times I could make it without a sweat. I could make it!

This has always been a good example for me in life, for there are many many things that I am not good at (ok like everything) but where there is a will there is a way.

 This is the same principle with Faith. Sometimes we feel like we have no faith. Sometimes we feel we do not actually know if there is a God. Or sometimes we do not believe in a specific commandment from God. These are important things to know in our lives because they can potentially change the way we live our lives. We have to fake it until we make it. You heed to pretend that you have the faith that you wish you had and then after a while you will realize that you have come a long way and you have faith you are happier then you thought that you could have been. You have to pretend that you love your neighbor as you love your self and you give it all that you have and then you find yourself loving them  more then you love your self. You have to truly fake it, give everything, if I had not given everything I would not have improved as much and as fast as I did. If you want to have complete trust in your Savior then just pretend and want it with your whole heart and have your actions show your desire.

27But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

28Now, we will compare the word( the word of God or a specific doctrine) unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.  -Alma 32

"For every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness." So a good seed will bring good fruit, good results and good outcomes and after we have experimented on this word, this piece of doctrine, we will see that it is good and that it is right. We will find that we faked it until we made it and we can see that all of our effort were well worth it for we now have a better understanding of who we are and who God is and what we can do to become truly happy.