Remember the Men

Last month I posted about the lesson I gave in Relief Society called Like a Broken Vessel. That Sunday lesson was one of my favorites. I was amazed at the comments the women offered and the Spirit in the room was unmistakable. In the end I think we all left feeling more united as women and with a vow in our hearts to not judge one another.

Tonight, however, I think I might have missed a vital part. We talked at length that Sunday about not judging each other, about serving our fellow sisters and showing love and compassion towards them, but we didn't talk about the brethren. My mind was opened tonight as I listened to President Uchtdorf's talk, You Can Do It Now!  In his talk at the Priesthood session of General Conference, he says, "We may think that women are more likely than men to have feelings of inadequacy and disappointment—that these feelings affect them more than us. I’m not sure that this is true. Men experience feelings of guilt, depression, and failure. We might pretend these feelings don’t bother us, but they do. We can feel so burdened by our failures and shortcomings that we begin to think we will never be able to succeed."

As he said this, I realized I need to remember that although I struggle at times with my emotions, the men around me, including my husband, may struggle with some of the same things. I'm so blessed to have a husband who loves and uplifts me, one who helps me in times of "inadequacies" or "depression". What do I do for him? I know I should do the same. Yet, I think frequently we as women forget that the men in our lives need the same support they give us.

So, once again I plan on improving who I am and in this case how I treat my husband. I know I am not perfect, and although the road to perfection is long, the journey is often half the fun. After all, we may not be perfect and we may fall at times, but as President Uchtdorf said, "our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble, but by the number of times we rise up, dust ourselves off, and move forward."

May we stay focused, strive for perfection, rise up when we fall, and may we remember the men in our lives, for we need eachother on this wonderful journey!