I have received some emails today inquiring after my reference yesterday to the phrase, “don’t look ahead to the pain.” The original quote comes from a book called Lone Survivor , which I have not read, but have heard great reviews from people I know who have read it.
My association with the phrase comes from a speech given a year ago by D. Todd Christofferson which influenced me deeply when I first heard it. I listened to it again and again, then printed it and read it several times. I have learned a lot about receiving my daily bread from the Lord, a lesson begun by this message.
For your convenience, I share the passage I was referring to below. If you want to read the entire speech, which I highly recommend, you can find it here .
Elder Christofferson’s words:
“Asking God for our daily bread, rather than our weekly, monthly, or yearly bread, is also a way to focus us on the smaller, more manageable bits of a problem. To deal with something very big, we may need to work at it in small, daily bites. Sometimes all we can handle is one day (or even just part of one day) at a time. Let me give you a nonscriptural example.
“A book I read recently, titled Lone Survivor, recounts the tragic story of a four-man team of U.S. Navy SEALs on a covert mission in a remote sector of Afghanistan five and one-half years ago. When they were inadvertently discovered by shepherds—two men and a boy—these specially trained Navy servicemen had a choice either to kill the two or let them go, knowing that if they let them live they would disclose the team’s location and they would be attacked immediately by al Qaeda and Taliban forces. Nevertheless, they let the innocent shepherds go, and in the firefight that followed, only the author, Marcus Luttrell, survived against well over 100 attackers.
“In his book, Luttrell recounts the extreme training and endurance required for one to qualify as a SEAL in the U.S. Navy. In Luttrell’s training group, for example, of the 164 men who began, only 32 managed to complete the course. They endured weeks of near-constant physical exertion, in and out of cold ocean water, swimming, paddling and carrying inflatable boats, running in sand, doing hundreds of push-ups a day, carrying logs through obstacle courses, and so forth. They were in a near-perpetual state of exhaustion.
“I was impressed by something a senior officer said to the group as they began the final and most demanding phase of their training.
“First of all,” he said, “I do not want you to give in to the pressure of the moment. Whenever you’re hurting bad, just hang in there. Finish the day. Then, if you’re still feeling bad, think about it long and hard before you decide to quit. Second, take it one day at a time. One [phase] at a time.
“Don’t let your thoughts run away with you, don’t start planning to bail out because you’re worried about the future and how much you can take. Don’t look ahead to the pain. Just get through the day, and there’s a wonderful career ahead of you.”
1 “Generally it is good to try to anticipate what is coming and prepare to deal with it. At times, however, this captain’s counsel is wise: “Take it one day at a time. … Don’t look ahead to the pain. Just get through the day.” To worry about what is or may be coming can be debilitating. It can paralyze us and make us quit.
“In the 1950s my mother survived radical cancer surgery, but difficult as that was, the surgery was followed with dozens of painful radiation treatments in what would now be considered rather primitive medical conditions. She recalls that her mother taught her something during that time that has helped her ever since: “I was so sick and weak, and I said to her one day, ‘Oh, Mother, I can’t stand having 16 more of those treatments.’ She said, ‘Can you go today?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Well, honey, that’s all you have to do today.’ It has helped me many times when I remember to take one day or one thing at a time.”
“The Spirit can guide us when to look ahead and when we should just deal with this one day, with this one moment. If we ask, the Lord will let us know through the Holy Ghost when it may be appropriate for us to apply in our lives the commandment He gave His ancient Apostles: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof” ( 3 Nephi 13:34 ; see also Matthew 6:34 ).”
Close quote.
Aren’t those wonderful words? While I know my daily experience is nothing like that of a Navy Seal, I can’t help but think that the words of the officer apply so aptly to motherhood, to daily life. So to all of us who are tired or worried or frustrated, let’s finish the day. Let’s take it one day at a time when we need to. Don’t look ahead to the pain, and there’s a wonderful life ahead of all of us.
How can you not have a great day after considering that?
Jennifer
I feel like I’ve been studying a lot of big things lately, big things that leave me exhausted and trembling. It’s time to take a step back and study some little things.
