Our Experience on Earth

When we came to earth, we were given a BODY.  We were already a SPIRIT.  

 

Now is the time to have our SPIRIT learn to tame our BODY.  It has been compared to bridling a horse, driving a car, using a cell phone or computer, or many other things.  

 

Our SPIRIT is the rider, driver, or one in control.  Our BODY is POWERFUL.  The SPIRIT needs time to learn to use this magnificent BODY.  It is extremely difficult to control.  But in learning to control it, WE CAN EXPERIENCE JOY!!

 

So, our SPIRIT is working to master our body.  To simplify this, I think there are two more factors that our BODY has working with it.  One is our MIND, our thinking abilities, rational, reasoning, knowledge based things.  That is still our body, and we need to master that part, too.  

 

The other factor is our EMOTIONS.  There are so many EMOTIONS that we need to learn to identify and tame.  The first two commandments involve the emotion of LOVE and how to direct or tame it.  Love the Lord first and our fellowman and self second.  Then there are emotions related to desires—thrills of life.  Fun, lust, food, excitement, power, pride, and many more.  Those positive emotions can be very motivating.  There are also other powerful emotions:  Fear, anger, guilt, rebellion, doubt, and more.  All of us have felt all of them.  We all have tendencies to certain feelings being stronger in each of us.  This is due to our BODY.  Our genes, experiences, and feeding of emotions throughout our lives creates our EMOTIONAL tendencies.  

 

This knowledge has helped me recently to see how to handle situations that I find in my life.  When I feel out of balance, I can break down what my MIND and EMOTIONS are telling me, and what my SPIRIT needs to do to tame those to do the best things for my whole SOUL (the combination of all of them!).  For example, if I am at a party and I see a wonderful dessert offered to me, how do I react.  My MIND says, “That dessert looks wonderful tasting, yet I know it has things in it that I don’t need right now.”  My EMOTIONS say, “But you have had a hard day and you deserve it, it will taste so good and make you feel better.”  Knowing that my SPIRIT is in charge, and not just one of the others, I can CHOOSE whether to eat the whole thing, just a taste, or pass all together on it.  And then the CONSEQUENCE, which must happen, will happen.  I have done all three of those results and I can tell you the first one is easiest, makes you feel good for a short time.  The second one makes me feel like I straddled the decision, and sometimes it is a victory, sometimes it just opens the door to other bad decisions.  ALWAYS, I have the true good long lasting happy feeling when I make the decision to eat something healthier for my body.  An interesting thing about our bodies is that bad decisions of what to eat, sleep, exercise, drugs, sexual desires not only affects our FEELINGS, but our MINDS, and our ability to have our SPIRIT be strong.  And once our SPIRIT loses control, our MINDS and FEELINGS take charge without WHO WE REALLY ARE in charge.