Mind Games in the Lava Tubes

I had never been spelunking before. I half expected it to be like the movie batman; waterfalls, bats, swinging around on cables, you know what I'm talking about. But it was much different; we started out walking through very round caves exploring holes and looking at the hard magma that solidified as it dripped down. We were climbing through lava tubes, actual hardened lava from volcanoes in the past that created miles of mazes that wrapped in and out underground.

It was fun to walk through them, but then the path started getting a little tight. At times we had to crawl through tubes to get to the next opening. I was grateful for the knee pads and a helmet that protected me from being scalped and puncturing holes. About a half hour into it, we came to a section that required us to crawl. About ten feet further it was so tight we were unable to crawl, but had to worm our way, inching our bodies forward. The space was so tight, I couldn't look up without hitting my helmet on the roof. Just then my thoughts were, "Wow, I am in a very tight area. . . Under MILES of dirt. . . If I were to have a panic attack, no one could get to me and I wouldn't be able to get myself out. . . " I started panicking as my thoughts suggested. INSTANTLY I changed my thoughts to distract myself, and I was fine the rest of the day. 

I did a lot of contemplating on the drive home about my experience and I came to the realization of the power of thoughts. EVERYTHING is preceded by thoughts: who we are, what we do, who we become, and where we go. 

President David O. McKay said, "We sow our thoughts, and we reap our actions; we sow our actions, and we reap our habits; we sow our habits, and we reap our characters; we sow our characters, and we reap our destiny.”

It all starts with thoughts. We are not born into this world with solid habits or with grounded character. Instead, Heavenly father has given us the freedom and agency to choose for ourselves who we want to be.

When I studied body language before my mission, I learned that we process on average 550 words a minute in our minds, but we express only about 150 of them. So what happens with the other 300? They are expressed through our body language. What we think is always shown through the way we move. Our thoughts become our actions before we are able to realize it! 

Elder Delbert L. Stapley said, "We need to ask ourselves, 'Are my usual thoughts and present actions worthy of eternal life? Am I setting my sights on eternal goals and working to obtain them?' Anything short of our best isn’t good enough, especially in the service of the Lord."

Our personal goal in life should always be to develop Christ-like character, and this comes as we control our thoughts. ALWAYS keep your thoughts optimistic, you become what you think about the most. 

"Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not!"