Yesterday I was sitting in the waiting room at the temple. I was there for awhile. I found myself twiddling my ring. I thought of all the bands I have gone through and how by far this has been my favorite. Why? Because all the others have been scarred or scratched or they were too big or too small or too fat or too skinny. But this one is different. It looks as good as the day I bought it. It is the perfect thickness for me, perfect width, perfect. It hasn't been marred by the grueling tasks I perform or the thousands of times I have slammed it into things. It is still beautiful. How does it do that? The first word that popped into my head was "hard". It is hard. I didn't like that word much though. Next I thought firm, strong, resolute. Now I was getting somewhere because at the same time all of this was playing out in my mind a back story started to develop. Am I like this ring? Or am I like all the rings I have had before? I have been like many of the rings from my past. Easily scratched (offended), too big (ego), too small (low self-esteem), soft (falling to peer pressure), marred (unwilling to forgive). The older I become the more I see the changes in metal I have made in my own life, just like these rings. I have been through silver, and titanium, and gold, and finally tungsten. This beautiful metal. The kind that can take a beating, can have life thrown at it, can withstand quite a lot, yet remain just as beautiful and just as shiny, and just as polished. I want to be like this ring. Strong, able to withstand the temptations that beset me, take life's challenges and not become scratched up or offended at what the world tells me I should or shouldn't be offended at, forgiving so nicks and scratches don't even get past the surface, resolute in my faith so that whatever obstacles I face I am still strengthened. I know I have great things in store for my future, it kind of scares me a bit, who am I to be great? But whose are we, not to be? God want us to be strong, firm, resolute and on His side. He is mighty and strong and sweet and merciful and forgiving and I hope someday to be like Him. So when I see Him again, He will see me as a beautifully polished woman, who hasn't let life bring her down or marred her in any way, only perfected and strengthened through the tests of time. For now I will be patient with myself because I am not quite Tungsten yet, but hopefully someday I will be.