Northern Stars

      When I was kid, I remember watching Tony Hawk land the 900 on TV. It was by far, the most amazing thing I had ever seen. It was unthinkable that someone on  a skateboard could launch off the side of a half pipe, spin two-and-a-half revolutions, and then come down and land back on the board. In 1999 he was the first ever to land this trick in competition at the X Games, and it was a big deal for action sports. People said that the ground shook that day. It made a huge impact because it took his sport to the next level.
      Ironically that same year, Travis Pastrana, who is also an action sports legend, praised skateboarding and Tony for moving action sports forward as it did. Something he said his sport (freestyle motocross) could not do. In 2006 he landed the first double back flip on a dirt bike in X Games history. It was about the same feeling and just as magnificent as when Tony hawk Landed the 900! And this time, the ground really did shake!

     The accomplishments that these two men made were legendary. But they didn't happen overnight, and they weren't one-shot deals either. It took Tony Hawk eleven tries to land the 900 in competition before he finally landed it. And for Pastrana, he had landed double back flips riding a motorcycle on his ramps at home, into a foam pit, or on dirt. But never of the height, or the setting in competition where it counted. Falling short performing that feat at the X Games meant serious injury or death. Either one of them could have quit, or given up, let someone else do it, or walk away. But they didn't, and that's what made them great.
     Were faced with choices like this each and every day. Life has a tendency to suck (for lack of better words). One day were bulletproof, and then the next were broken. We find ourselves down for the count, but we have all have the choice to get back up. . if we want too. We can choose to get back up, and we can choose to keep trying when it seems like everything is pinned against us. It's never a matter of what we can and can't do, it's a matter of what we want to accomplish and if were going to do what it takes to get there.
      Before we came to this earth, we knew we would pass through the veil and forget everything up to that point. We knew we chose God's plan and that meant coming to get a body, and be subject to not only joy and happiness but also the pains and trials that came with it. We knew this life wouldn't be easy, but we knew it would be worth it. There are things we have to go through, that just don't make sense. . We fall short, we miss chances, we make mistakes, and we screw up. . several times even! Thats just how life goes sometimes. But with the help of God and our Savior Jesus Christ we can turn those mistakes, and shortcomings all into lessons. There wouldn't be any point to life life we couldn't!
      We learn and progress by making mistakes and learning lessons. When Thomas Edison was asked if he felt like a failure after falling short over nine thousand times when inventing the light bulb, he replied: "I now know definitively over 9,000 ways that an electric light bulb will not work. Success is almost in my grasp." After the ten thousandth attempt, Edison accomplished his goal. He never let failure hinder his dreams, he only used it to push himself further.
     If we trust in our Savior, who went below the imaginable to give us this priceless gift, we can move past anything that tries to hold us back. That "when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down. . " (Helaman 5: 12) It's all about building our foundation on the rock of our Savior Jesus Christ, so that we can turn our shortcomings and mistakes into northern stars that lead us in the right direction.