Is the grass really greener?

My question to you today, is the grass really greener on the other side of the fence? How many times in our lives do we think that to ourselves and really wish it was true, but when we get there we realized that it wasn't as green as we thought. I definitely have thought that many different times in my life.  One very good example which I'm sure a lot of people can relate to is growing up.  When I was fifteen you couldn't wait to be sixteen so that I could drive and date and have a job. Then I couldn't wait to be eighteen, I often thought how happy I'll be when I reach those ages.  I'll be all grown up and life will be better.  Then when it happened I realized that being grown up isn't all its cracked up to be.  I have to pay for more things and be responsible for more things.  I can't just clean my room in the morning and have the rest of the day off.  I actually have to work and earn money to pay for all those cool things, like a car or a phone. And now that I'm older I think 'oh if I were a kid again...'  But am I really seizing the day.  I have learned to enjoy every minute of my life.  To have dreams and aspirations for the future but to live in the now.  Enjoy lives trials and joys, lives upsets and triumphs.  There was a talk give in the October 2010  General Conference about this same thing. Mervyn G. Arnold of the Seventy gave a talk called 'What Have You Done with My Name' and in this talk he relates a story from his wives childhood about cows grazing in a field "

“When I was 15 years old, I often felt that there were too many rules and commandments. I wasn’t sure that a normal, fun-loving teenager could enjoy life with so many restrictions. Furthermore, the many hours spent working on my father’s ranch were seriously dipping into my time with my friends.

“This particular summer, one of my jobs was to ensure that the cows grazing on the mountain pasture did not break through the fence and get into the wheat field. A cow grazing on the growing wheat can bloat, causing suffocation and death. One cow in particular was always trying to stick her head through the fence. One morning, as I was riding my horse along the fence line checking on the cattle, I found that the cow had broken through the fence and gotten into the wheat field. To my dismay, I realized that she had been eating wheat for quite some time because she was already bloated and looked much like a balloon. I thought, ‘You stupid cow! That fence was there to protect you, yet you broke through it and you have eaten so much wheat that your life is in danger.’

“I raced back to the farmhouse to get my dad. However, when we returned, I found her lying dead on the ground. I was saddened by the loss of that cow. We had provided her with a beautiful mountain pasture to graze in and a fence to keep her away from the dangerous wheat, yet she foolishly broke through the fence and caused her own death.

“As I thought about the role of the fence, I realized that it was a protection, just as the commandments and my parents’ rules were a protection. The commandments and rules were for my own good. I realized that obedience to the commandments could save me from physical and spiritual death. That enlightenment was a pivotal point in my life.” 

I love this story and how a real thing it is to not cross the boundaries the Lord has set.  To enjoy the righteous lives we have and enjoy where we are at not where we wish we could be.  I know with all my heart that the Lord has put us where we need to be at the time we need to be.  So I encourage all of you to look around and find out why you are where you are!