When I was a child, I was enthralled by the cartoon Tooter Turtle. Tooter was a simple-minded turtle who constantly desired a different identity and exciting new life. His friend, Mr. Wizard (a diminutive but magical lizard), would reluctantly accommodate Tooter with time-traveling misadventures. At the peak of trouble, Tooter would cry out, “Help me, Mr. Wizard!”–followed by the inevitable rescue. Mr. Wizard would then counsel Tooter with a thick Austrian accent: “Be just vhat you is and not vhat you is not. Folks vhats do ziz are ze happiest lot.” (From King Leonardo and His Short Subjects program, circa 1960-61.)
At first blush, the advice to be content with who we are seems contrary to things like self-improvement, goal setting, raising the bar, and never settling for second best. However, it is only by identifying our true self that we self-improve. By finding and obeying God, we find ourselves. This journey of self-discovery is the beginning of faith in God as we learn “a correct idea of his character, perfections and attributes” (in Joseph Smith comp, Lectures On Faith, 1985, p.38). Ironically, the most effective way to understand our own nature is to learn more about the nature of our Creator. When we obey God we access the privilege of self-discovery as we recognize our role as His precious children.
Joy In The Journey Of Identity
We can’t be who we are without knowing who we are (and why we are here). We are to have joy in this journey of identity. Father Lehi counseled his sons: “Adam fell that men may be; and men are that they might have joy” (2 Ne. 2:25). Not only are we to be content with who we really are, but joyful with that knowledge. So many of God’s children search in vain for their true identity, only to find at journey’s end idols whose worship neither returns true joy nor satisfies the soul’s hunger for kinship with deity.
Who Are We?
Christ said that in Him all mankind shall have life, “even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters” (Ether 3:14). Discovering our true identity is spiritually liberating. What the world calls “lack of self-esteem” is really a lack of connecting our true nature with God’s. Counseling the young women, Elder Holland reminded them: “You are literally a spirit daughter of heavenly parents with a divine nature and an eternal destiny…There could never be a greater authentication of your dignity, your worth, your privileges, and your promise” (Jeffrey R. Holland, “To Young Women,” Ensign, Nov. 2005).
Once we understand the essential doctrine of our divine nature, self-esteem flows naturally by drawing unto to God as our heavenly parent and Jesus as our elder brother. “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you…” (D&C 88:63).
Being Content With Our True Identity Brings Joy
As a young boy, my playmates and I leapt from the trees with bed sheets collaring our necks. We quickly discovered that we couldn’t fly like Superman, no matter how much we clamored for super powers. My broken wrist is a testament to the dangers of trying to be somebody I’m not. Yet, for all my misguided attempts to become somebody else, I am learning that transformation to the real hero within is our true super power. By partnering with God we can realize our potential for greatness as His children. Said Paul, “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ…” (Rom. 8:17).
Being Content With Our Present Circumstance Requires Gratitude
Like joy in our true identity, we can also find happiness in the here and now, despite present circumstance. Being content with our present circumstance is not necessarily a white flag of surrender in the battle for better days ahead. One might argue that those infected with the grass-is-greener syndrome will never be content with who they are or where they are–especially present circumstance. Such self-inflicted discontent is the classic souring of the journey at the expense of the elusive destination.
Happiness stems from a grateful heart, not from granting the heart’s every desire. I witnessed a striking example of this with an amputee who ran the corner newsstand at Colorado and Lake in my hometown of Pasadena, California. Scooter fashioned a homemade skateboard so that he could maneuver on the stumps of his legs. Despite the hardship and occasional ridicule of being three-feet tall and in the public eye, Scooter found joy in serving others with a warm smile and tremendous gratitude for each day of life–for who he was and where he fit in God’s plan.
We must do “all things with prayer and thanksgiving…” (D&C 46:7). When we are grateful, faith grows and obedience becomes joyful. Gratitude, faith, obedience and charity are all strong cords in the rescuing net of happiness. In the midst of a dispensation of wars, contentions and shaky periods of peace, there “never was a happier time among the people of the Nephi…than in the days of Moroni…” (Alma 50:23). Happiness truly is a state of mind and heart. In fact, to the extent we desire and practice the happiness God intended for us, we will find what we seek, even in the resurrection: “The one raised to happiness, according to his desires of happiness…” (Alma 41: 5). The promise that “he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious” (D&C 78:19) is not limited to when our ship comes in. We are to give thanks in all things–including present trials.
Our Potential
As a cartoon character, Tooter Turtle never learned to be content with his identity and present circumstance. Fortunately, we are not so limited. Inherent in our divine nature is the potential for growth, both eternally and in the here and now. This is why comparing ourselves to others is so fruitless. In the temporal sense there will always be somebody who is bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, luckier and wealthier than us. It is good to have heroes, but when the wandering eye of comparison scans our neighbors, we inevitably become disappointed with ourselves and our circumstance. Such is the nature of envy.
The only comparison to be cherished is the one which compares our current selves to our potential selves. Said Elder Maxwell, “Comparing what we are with what we have the power to become should give us great spiritual hope” (Neal A. Maxwell, “Becoming A Disciple,” Ensign, June, 1996). This is Christ’s incomparable legacy to everyone who comes unto Him. Be happy in the here and now. Be content–be thrilled–with who you really are. To quote Mr. Wizard one last time, “Folks vhats do ziz, are ze happiest lot.”
