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"I recently read a study of 275 college men and women. It revealed that over 90 percent suffered from gnawing, frustrated feelings of deficiency. They gave all sorts of reasons: physical incompetence, unpleasant appearance, lack of social charm, failure in love, low intellectual ability. To me a form of compensation is almost always possible. The homely young woman may develop the more wit and charm because she is homely. The shy youth with a temperament of a recluse may find a useful niche in scientific research.
No well-integrated life is possible without self-acceptance. If you are shy, accept it. If you have no musical ability, accept it, as though to say: "I, John Smith, hereby accept myself with my inherited endowments and the elements in my environment that I cannot control, and I will now see what I can do with this John Smith." "
Marjorie makes you feel like the world is your oyster. When I was a new college student I felt like the world was at my fingertips. I had all the potential and possibilities in the world. After I got married and had my second baby I began to feel defeated...like this was no longer true. I was being pulled in too many directions and I was still trying to gracefully handle it all. I wanted so much to be the perfect wife, the perfect friend, and the perfect mother. I was treading water. But I have gained strength in my knowledge that while being perfect would be awesome it is not obtainable. And my feelings of inadequacy are still there, but they have diminished greatly. Sister Hinckley, as we call her in my church, says "the rewards of intellectual curiosity are many. The world will always be your pumpkin, full of magic, full of wonder. You will be interesting to your friends, to your husband, and a joy to your children. You will have perpetual youth." The world is still at my fingertips. I can still learn many things every day. Marge did not have a formal college education because during that time of her life it was the great depression so instead she worked, but one of her many great traits was her thirst for knowledge and everyone that knows her acknowledges her love of books and studying.
I will end this with a story that Marjorie Hinckley told:
Some years ago I had a friend who decided at the age of fifty that she was going to learn to play the piano. She courageously started with Thompson's Book I. Each morning she went to the church at seven o'clock, where she would practice on the piano and the organ. After about a year they asked her to play a special musical number for the Relief Society (our church's women's organization) lessons. She said she didn't feel ready, and to give her another three months. The three months passed, and she consented to play a special number that she had memorized. This was her first public appearance on the piano. She started out beautifully. It went well for about three measures, then she lost it. Everything went blank. Her music teacher, who was present, said "Don't be ruffled Merle. Just start over." She started over and made it all the way through without a single mistake.
We have never loved Merle like we loved her that morning. Perhaps it was because she faltered a little in the beginning and we were all pulling for her, saying to ourselves, "Come on, Merle, you can do it." If her performance had been flawless from the start, we might all have been defensive and said, "Oh well, Merle can learn to play the piano because her husband is the kind who will get his own breakfast while she practices and her children don't make demands on her" and so on and so on and so on. As it was, she faltered a little, and we loved her the more. That experience has given me great comfort. I figure that if I fall a little short of what is expected of me, perhaps my sisters in the gospel (and hopefully those others not of our faith) will be compassionate and love me for trying.
It was Lucy Mack Smith who said, "Let us all help one another, that we may sit down together in heaven."
And that, my friends, is how Marjorie Pay Hinckley lived her life. She was always looking to love, to help, and to care. She was genuine in her interactions with everyone she met. When she asked "how are you?" she really wanted to know. She gave sincere compliments and gave thanks for those given to her. I want my children to grow up thinking of this woman's example of how to live life in optimism, faith, and humor.
Know that you are worth it. You are awesome. Accept it. Believe it. And do good with it.
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| Her husband loeved her so much. https://usercontent1.hubstatic.com/3785908_f260.jpg |
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| She is so cute and small. I believe Under 5 feet. http://img.deseretnews.com/images/article/contentimage/590055211/590055211.jpg |
I found all of my information from a book entitled Glimpses into the Life and Heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley edited by Virginia Pearce (one of her daughters). Marjorie's quotes are in green.
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