When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel-you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave. I suppose I am not allowed to go into an investigation of anything that is not contained in the Bible. If I do, I think there are so many over-wise men here, that they would cry "treason" and put me to death. So I will go to the old Bible and turn commentator today.

• Focus on running. This is kind of counterintuitive, and it doesn't work for everyone, and quite honestly it doesn't always work for me. But when I really started running longer distances I found that my best runs occurred when I concentrated on what I was doing. "What do you think about while you run?" someone asked me last summer, and when I thought about it I realized that I actually didn't think about much of anything except running. What does go through my mind is how I'm feeling and how I want to be feeling ("Run strong!"), how beautiful the sunrise is (or the clouds or the mountains or the view), how I'm breathing (whether I'm breathing in a 2-3 pattern or pushing myself to the point that I need to switch to a 1-2 pattern), where I'm going to turn when I get to the next cross-street, etc. It's surprising how well that can occupy me on most days, so maybe you can try just focusing on your run sometime. I used to run because I liked how I felt when it was over; now I run because I like running itself.
  
  
• Don't run on a track or treadmill if you can avoid it - go outside because it's much more fun. Even in the winter it's never as cold as it looks - you just have to get yourself out the door. But if you are going to run on the track or treadmill, mix it up a bit. Put together a speed work out - run three regular paced lap, one fast lap, and one slow lap and then repeat. Or something like that. I can't stand to run on the track unless I have some way to make one lap different from the other.
  
  
• Don't run in the same place every single time. I probably have about five different running routes around here, and on each of these routes I have several options that allow me to lengthen, shorten, or just change the route if I feel like it. I also like to explore when I run - I know the neighborhoods north, south, east and west or Provo better than anyone I know because I have spent so much time in them on foot. Occasionally I will set out on one of my standard routes and take a turn that I have never taken before, just out of curiosity. Running is great fun when you use it as time to explore, and exploring is one of the best things you can do on a day when you're dragging a little.
  
  
• Run with a partner. I prefer to run alone because I can set my own pace and distance, but every once in awhile it's nice to go on a run with my brother while I'm at home, or my friend/former roommate while her husband is at his early morning ROTC class, or even my sister (who is not a runner, but someday I will convert her!). Having someone to talk to, or just to be with, makes the time go by much more quickly. There are lots of runners out there - you can probably find someone you know who would be happy to head out the door with you for a few miles.
  
  
• Push yourself just past your comfort zone. I made an amazing discovery a couple years ago. There was a time when I couldn't fathom ever running more than about four, four-and-a-half miles. I just got to a certain point where I got bored, or just got tired of running. Then one day when I had a lot of pent-up energy I drove up to Provo Canyon to run on the Provo River Trail up by Bridal Veil Falls. I ran to the point when I didn't want to continue running, but it was such a nice day that I pushed myself to go just a little longer, and suddenly I passed the wall and running wasn't hard anymore. The second wind is real, but you don't discover it until you push yourself farther than you really want to.
  
  
• Train for something or set some sort of goal. That gives you a reason to run and keeps your mind off the pain of it :). It's easier for me to motivate myself to run, and to actually enjoy the run when I get out there on the road, if I know that I'm doing it for a purpose, whether it be a marathon or a faster mile.

Some people divert their best efforts from constructive accomplishment by investing them in mental anguish and continual worry. The Lord has taught me a great lesson about worry that I now share with you. After completing meaningful full-time missions, my lovely Jeanene and I were sealed in the temple. We began life together with every expectation of happiness. I was blessed through the kindness of the Lord to obtain a job in a new, highly developmental pioneer effort to place a nuclear power plant in a submarine. The work was fascinating, challenging, and absorbing. When combined with the natural growth experiences that come with the formation of a new family and Church assignments, I found each day filled to overflowing.

Within eight months I was being examined by a doctor to determine if I had ulcers. For weeks I returned home from work each night with a severe headache, and only after long, quiet periods of isolation could I calm my nerves sufficiently to sleep briefly and return to work the next day. I began to prayerfully consider my plight. All I wanted to do was to be a worthy husband and father and honorably carry out my Church and professional assignments. Yet my best efforts produced frustration, worry, and illness. In time the Lord led me to a solution. I was prompted to divide mentally--and physically, where possible--all of the challenges, tasks, and assignments given to me into two categories. All of the things for which I felt responsibility but for which I could do nothing to resolve I put in a basket called "worry." Then all of those things for which I had some ability to control or resolve I put into a basket called "concern." I realized I could not resolve those things in the worry basket, so I tried hard to forget them. Later in the process I learned that putting them into the worry basket didn't mean they wouldn't be taken care of. They were resolved by those who could best handle them--and most often that was the Lord Himself. The items in the concern basket were ordered in priority. I conscientiously tried to resolve them to the best of my ability. Although I could not always fulfill all of them on schedule or to the degree of competence I desired, I did my conscientious best.

As I was learning to control worry, occasionally I would feel my stomach muscles tighten and tension overcome me. I would cease whatever I was doing and, with earnest prayer for support, concentrate on relaxing and overcoming the barrier that worry produced in my life. I would mentally say, "I am not going to do another thing until I begin to control my emotions." Over a period of time those efforts were blessed by the Lord. I came to understand how He is willing to fortify, guide, and direct every phase of life. The symptoms of illness passed, and I learned how to face tasks under pressure.