You Go Where You Look

You go where you look. As simple as this statement is, it is deeply profound. It has certainly provoked my thoughts in ways I never could have imagined when those words first crossed my path.

Initially I heard it used in the context of surfing. If one doesn't look to the beach when popping up on a surfboard, then crashing and burning immediately commences.

Then you look where you go was applied to being an author and keeping your eye single to the completion and submission of a manuscript and the active and aggressive marketing of that same manuscript.

However, yesterday I was driving to Salt Lake City for a meeting, glanced down to grab something on the passenger seat and swerved a little. I distinctly remember wondering why that always happens although I always have the intention to maintain my course when those words hit me again: You go where you look. I quickly corrected and decided that if I couldn't reach what I wanted by touch then it would have to wait until I arrived at my destination.

We, as children of God, are on a course to immortality and the possibility of eternal life. Yes, every single human being who has ever lived on the earth, is living on the earth or will living on the earth will be resurrected. But if a brief glance down can alter my course on the road, how far off course can we get when we don't keep our eyes single to Jesus Christ. One beer, one cigarette, one hit and your whole life changes.

Today I posted a book review on J. Adams' The Journey. The main character, Ciran, partakes of a drink she has been warned against. One drink and a small scaly patch appears on her skin and she suddenly is as everyone else in The World With No Name. Ciran is the daughter of a noble king and the target of the king's oldest enemy. One drink and she was branded.

Consider how one beer, one cigarette, one hit of meth or cocaine will mark your body and spirit. Consider how your will is weakened just a little because you partook. With one beer, one cigarette, one hit of meth or cocaine, it becomes that much easier to take the second, and the third until you've lost sight of where you're headed and all you can see is the bottom of the next empty bottle, or the next draw on that cancer inducing cigarette or brutal addiction to drugs which destroy you completely, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

You go where you look. It's a great lesson learned from championship surfer, Michael Willis.

If you look to bars and nightclubs for companionship you will be startled to find that when the time comes that you wish to marry and have a family, you will know of no one who doesn't spend their nights in bars and nightclubs.

If you look to promiscuity to silence that craving for acceptance and love, when the day comes that you wish to marry and have a family, you will know of no one suitable to be a spouse to you and a parent to your children. You will only find those you have associated with, bed hoppers with the inability to commit to anyone, let alone you.

These are rather extreme examples, but they bring the point home, rather brutally. Just as on the road, a quick course correction is all that is required to keep you from crashing and burning. Have respect for your spirit and body by recognizing your divine heritage as a child of God. Lean not unto thine own understanding of the world, but turn to the scriptures, both ancient and modern, to find that peace which has been so elusive. Turn to living prophets and apostles for guidance in an ever changing world.

Dress accordingly as a child of God. Speak accordingly as a child of God. Behave accordingly as a child of God. Seek after that which is virtuous, lovely and of good report and in doing these things, you will, without question, be living up to your divine heritage and making the most of mortality.

Life is rich, abundant and exciting. What Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have offered you is joy beyond compare. You can walk out of your home and look up at the majestic Wastach mountain range carved against a brilliant summer sky and recognize the hand of God. You will admire a sea of flowers, as far as the eye can see, and recognize the hand of God. You see that perfect wave, picture that perfect ride and see the hand of God. You look to children laughing and playing and you recognize the hand of God. You look into the eyes of your husband or wife and recognize untold possibilities. You cradle your new baby in your arms and recognize the hand of God. Joy awaits you . . . but are you looking for it in the right places? Remember, you look where you go.


Join the Neighborhood Newsletter . . . Subscriptions are free and joining is easy. Just by signing up and maintaining your subscription to receive the yourLDSneighborhood.com newsletter, you become eligible for our "Thank You" prizes. Our dozens of giveaways range from a trip for two to China, to iPods® (each with a $50 gift certificate for LDS music), cruises, and more.

Learn about our amazing monthly, quarterly, and annual giveaways by clicking here.

Return to the Neighborhood.