The "Cycle" of Life

I was taking a Cycling class at the YMCA the other day and an analogy about life struck me. If any of you have ever taken Cycling before, you will know that these classes can be very intense! I was thinking the whole time through the workout, "Oh my gosh this is so hard." But yet I loved it! (That's a whole other analogy though) :) Anyway, throughout the course of the class, the instructor has you do various patterns of pedaling: sprinting, coasting, going 80% of your max pace, uphill climbs, etc., all with varying degrees of resistance. For sprinting, obviously you need to have less resistance so you can go really far really fast. For uphill climbs, the resistance increases because you need something to push against as you ascend otherwise your legs will burn out too quickly. And for coasting or going a certain percentage of your maximum pace, resistance will vary based on how hard you want to work. So okay, there are just analogies all over the place with this, but the one that came to my mind was: COMPARISON. As I was going along through the workout, I started looking at the people around me and the speed at which they were pedaling during the various intervals. I started to compare myself to them, thinking "Why are they pedaling faster then me? I'm barely making it and I'm an aerobics instructor!" or "Hey I'm going faster than that person over there, I'm doing awesome!" But as I thought about it, it seemed really silly for me to even be thinking these things because, I realized, there is something you cannot tell from looking at everyone around you: what the person's level of resistance is! So here it comes... ;) We cannot tell sometimes (or most of the time) what a person may be going through just by looking. Sometimes it seems like OUR problems are so huge and our faults so insurmountable because just by "looking" at someone else they might "seem" a lot better than us in a particular area (or a lot of areas). Or we may be going through a particularly "uphill-free" stage of life and revel in our coasting and level 5 resistance, instead of seeing how we can help someone who is maybe at a 9 or 10. It isn't fair to judge EITHER WAY (being the one who has the seemingly "greater" trials or the one who achieves greatness and looks down upon those who are "behind". Who is really behind? Heavenly Father does not care how we are doing in reference to everyone else. He loves us as we are, and loves us enough to help us change into the kind of person He knows we can be, without measuring our problems or successes against others. This is an amazing gift and we only diminish the Atonement of Christ by comparing ourselves with others--we are all in need of His grace. I love this scripture:

"For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have....?" Mosiah 4:19

Sarah Needs Your Help! Meet Sarah--isn't she beautiful? And from this picture, you probably cannot tell that Sarah is fighting a battle with cancer. Her sweet and strong spirit doesn't ever let on that she has this disease! She is a fighter and has made it through some tough obstacles already! They have a long way to go however and are in need of some help. Sarah's family is in our ward here in Naperville, and as her church family, we are trying to get them the help they need to continue Sarah's care for her cancer!
Sarah was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma when she was 8 months old. At first, her prognosis was good, but the course her cancer took proved out the area of expertise of Children's Memorial here in Chicago. Her family has fought an exhaustive fight to get her the best care possible at a wonderful hospital in New York City. As they are in Chicago, they are traveling to NY numerous times and are in need of help with these traveling expenses. The family's income is small and Sarah desperately needs to keep going to New York to secure her chances of beating this cancer. We are looking for help for Sarah and her family in the form of small monetary donations. If you can help, anything will be truly appreciated!! Even $1 or $2 will make a difference you guys! I know we can help them and that this will truly bless their lives during this difficult time. Please click the link below to donate anything you can! Thanks so much everyone!!! And please pass the word on!