Post Lesson 5 Work

I started out by posting responses on the discussion board.

1: While I think that it is important to have priorities in life, one also needs to remember to keep all of those priorities in balance so that a priority doesn't become a dependency. If one does something too excessively whether it be a behavior or some sort of activity, it can develop into an addiction, otherwise being a set way of doing things. When someone becomes addicted to a specific behavior or activity, they will find it increasingly difficult to stop until they no longer are able to stop. Setting priorities is a good thing, but you have to remember to make time for flexibility with those priorities because as time goes on and life changes, priorities change and if one isn't open to being flexible, relationships can and will suffer and opportunities will be lost because eventually, nobody will want to be around someone who has let their priorities turn into dependencies and has a 'my way or the highway' attitude.

2: Prayer is the way man and God communicate and it is through prayer that we can truly unleash how we are feeling and doing without having to worry about retaliation; it is the way through which God gives man personal revelation; and it is a way by which man knows that no matter how bad their circumstances are, there is someone that they can talk to who will listen and love them just for trying their best.

Even if we are afraid to talk to each other or our mortal families for whatever reason, we don't need to be afraid to talk to our Heavenly Father, as He does not judge nor does he condemn; He listens quietly and responds the same way and is always very careful to let us know that we are loved unconditionally. Through communication with our fellow man, judgment is often passed and misunderstandings can occur that may harm relationships. When it comes to communication with our Heavenly Father, however, there is no judgment to be had nor is there miscommunication unless we think that God is going to be mad at us for our shortcomings.

God becomes sorrowful about wickedness, not about shortcomings of those who are trying. As long as we are trying, God will help us because through our efforts, we are asking for His help to make something of ourselves and through the Atonement, the desire to make something of ourselves can and is a wonderful reality.

3:  We have the right to make choices that seem comfortable to us based on the knowledge that we have and through applying knowledge to agency, we have experiences. We do not, however, have the right to choose the consequences of any choice that we make nor is it possible to escape having to deal with any sort of consequences. Every choice has a consequence and when we make a decision, there may be easy opportunity to repent after we endure consequence, but that may not always be the case depending on the choice that we make.

It is fortunate for us sinners that we have the Atonement to help us repent if we want to utilize it, but it is not always easy for us to admit our wrongdoings and humbly come to the Savior for help nor may it always be an easy fix when you've sinned and want to repent. Choices we make affect others, as do consequences, and not everyone has an easy time of being forgiving when the choices of another affect them even though we have been commanded to be forgiving. When we are wronged, however, the best thing we can do for ourselves and our personal ability to utilize the Atonement to heal our hurt is to forgive and absolve ourselves of that responsibility.

Once we forgive offenses and offenders, that burden of hurt no longer has to be with us and we can find strength and courage to keep going through the Atonement. When we do wrong, we expect forgiveness that may not always be easy for others to give, so why not give it freely and let go of our pain when others wrong us? Offenders have to deal with what they have done on their own terms, but we don't have to be prisoners of our own hate. If we allow ourselves to hate and withhold forgiveness, we are succumbing to the poison of hate that will eventually destroy us.

Along with the right of choice, we also have the right to forgive and the right choose to move away from any pain that was caused to us. Through the Atonement, we can find the courage to forgive and to move on, as even the Savior forgave his tormentors because of their ignorant actions. If Christ can forgive the people who tortured and eventually killed Him, why can we not forgive those who commit much lesser offenses towards us?

The application activity then asked me to set an overall goal that I would like to achieve and I put the following down as my goal:
I would like to finish Pathways and then pursue either a certificate or degree in either an Administrative Assistant program or in a Marriage and Family Studies program. Pathways doesn't end until July, so I have some time to research the careers and also look at my personal circumstances to see what option would be best for me to pursue.

Specify:

To reach the goal of being able to even begin getting a certificate or degree, I would need to successfully complete the Pathway program and there are two and a half semesters left, so I just need to monitor my grades and make sure I am in a position academically to pursue more education when the program is over. Once it is determined that I will pass the Pathway program and be in a position to pursue further education, I will sit down and talk with some sort of career advisor or family members about what career would be best for me with the disability I have and where I will have the opportunity to work/live when Pathways is over.

The reason I am choosing to pursue further education after Pathways is completed is because that there is no guarantee that marriage and family are right around the corner and I need to be able to support myself should those opportunities not happen for a long time. If marriage and family were to happen sooner than later, that would be wonderful, but I have to prepare for the chance that it may not and instead of pining away over the lack of those opportunities, I want to pursue ways to better myself. One very important way that I can better myself, which has been supported by prophets, is to further my education and develop it into a sustainable career.

 Pros and Cons

Pros of continuing my education after Pathways is done is being able to learn and develop skills that will help me to not only get into a sustainable career, but continuing my education will also allow me to engage in fulfilling things with my life should a family of creation not be part of the Lord's will for me any time soon. Cons of continuing my education would be the cost, unless I were to get assistance, and also that it might be difficult to continue my education depending where and what the Lord have me do in my life once Pathways is over and done.

I confess that I cannot really think of any pros to not continuing my education, as my journalism skills will eventually become obsolete with the evolution of technology and the way the news is brought to the world, as my skills do not include broadcast or radio journalism even though I would to learn more about it. Even if I cannot remain in the field of journalism for whatever reason, I would love to pursue further education that would allow me to gain new skills and develop the ones that I already have so they can be utilized in the ever changing workforce.

Cons of not continuing my education, on the other hand, are becoming obsolete and unneeded in the workforce because my skills are slowly becoming obsolete with the evolution of technology and if I am obsolete because my skills are not up to date, how am I going to be able to sustain myself long-term? I may or may not have my disability check forever, but even with receiving disability, I want to be able to work if I can manage to get and keep a job, as there is no greater feeling than to know that you earned something and weren't just handed it. I have never been handed anything without doing volunteer work or making some other contribution to show my appreciation.

Choose a goal:

My short-term goal is to achieve a passing grade by completing all parts of the weekly lessons by doing all of the assignments and making the most of the opportunity to learn by attending the Pathway gatherings on a weekly basis.  My long-term goal is to pursue a certificate or degree in either an administrative assistant program or in Marriage or Family Studies after completing Pathways. There is no guarantee that marriage and family are right around the corner and I need to be able to support myself should those opportunities not happen for a long time.

If marriage and family were to happen sooner than later, that would be wonderful, but I have to prepare for the chance that it may not and instead of pining away over the lack of those opportunities, I want to pursue ways to better myself. Even if marriage and family do happen for me sooner than later, having credential/skills from further education would help me to be prepared to help support a family financially should anything happen that would make it necessary for me to work outside of the home. Working in a career setting outside of the home following marriage and children isn't something I necessarily want to do, as I want to be a parent very badly, but in today's world and with the possibility of anything unexpected happening, I know it may become necessary.

Specify the goal into something simpler:

I don't think that wanting to pursue a degree after Pathways is a specific enough goal, as Pathway is only still in the first semester and there are more challenging academic subjects ahead in the other two semesters. I am good with English, but not so good with Math and I am maybe even a little afraid that Math may be my downfall, but I plan to work very hard and commit lots of time and effort to the other subjects so that I can pass everything.

I think a more realistic and specific goal is wanting to achieve a passing grade by completing all parts of the weekly lessons by doing all of the assignments and making the most of the opportunity to learn by attending the Pathway gatherings on a weekly basis.

Is it Measurable?
I can measure my progress in the Pathway program through the grades and comments that are posted to every assignment each week. The comments attached to each grade help me to understand how I am doing, what message I am sending with each assignment, and what I need to improve upon in order to do better in the next lesson. I can also measure my progress through how I understand the lesson material both on the I-Learn site and during the gatherings, as the gatherings provide the opportunity to ask questions about things that might not be understood clearly.

Is it Attainable?
I think aspiring to achieve a passing grade by completing all parts of the weekly lessons by doing all of the assignments and making the most of the opportunity to learn by attending the Pathway gatherings on a weekly basis. As long as I make the commitment to work hard both inside and outside of the classroom, I see no reason why I cannot make good grades on each of the lessons and also make the most of the gatherings, as I made the commitment to work hard and make this program one of the higher priorities in my life back when I considered taking the program, as I knew such a promising opportunity could not be taken lightly. So far, I have not taken this opportunity lightly and clear evidence of my hard work can be seen in my good grades.

The Spirit's influence

I must confess that prayer and the influence of the Holy Ghost made me feel nervous, but comfortable about coming into the Pathway program, but I have not yet learned why I am supposed to be taking this program at this point in my life. All I have been told through the Spirit that there are things I am meant to learn and that I will benefit from taking this course and taking the time to do well in it.

As far as goals go, I often set goals in my mind and don't write them down because then I spend all my time obsessing over the goals and neglecting other things in my life, much to the irritation of others. The SMART goal setting process has helped me be able to think about my goals and about whether or not they are actually realistic for the point in my life in which I want to pursue them and while I might be in a position to at least prepare to accommodate some goals, I can't necessary accommodate all of my goals at this point in my life, so I set them aside for the time being.

When it comes to the Pathway program, I only know that it is truly right for me to be taking this program at this point in my life because things fell into place so that I would have the opportunity to take the program and do well at it. Although I would like to pursue further education after Pathway is over, I will continue to seek divine guidance and pursue more education if the Lord allows things to fall into place for me to be able to do that. For now, I will just move forward with great faith.