Managing Competing Priorities: Garna Mejia

I think for me if I were to say, “What’s the one thing that has helped me get through a tough time or manage what seemed to be really competing priorities?” It’s this concept of “remember, remember.” Why does Heavenly Father say that to us so much? Is it because maybe we have a tendency of forgetting? Is it because you might experience this beautiful miracle and then, you know, you’re off to continue down your life path, and then there’s another challenge, and it’s really hard to trust that it’ll be okay, that somehow it’s all going to work itself out? I think Heavenly Father is asking us to remember because He’s hoping that we will learn to trust Him. If we can trust Him, then whatever comes our way, we’ll be able to get through it—and we’ll be able to get through it with joy, with resilience. You know, He didn’t put us on the earth to be miserable, you know. Even if miserable things happened to us, that’s not who we are.

When I think of priorities, I think really in terms of the process of creation. You know, determining how you want to use your time, what you want to invest your time in, is really deciding what you want to create. What kind of life do you want to create for yourself? I have found that when I make God my priority and trust that He will help me create a beautiful life, then the rest can fall into place. Because I know that all of those things follow my desire to serve God and to love Him and to show Him that I love Him.

When I think about how I live my life, I don’t think about what I am as a profession. I try to think of who I need to become, and that is what becomes my North Star. That’s what guides my use of time and priorities is that love for Christ, that love for our Heavenly Father. And I think that there’s an important part, too. If we’re close to the Spirit, He will guide us on our life’s journey. He will help you pivot at the right time. He’ll help you make decisions that have eternal consequences—like marriage, family, supporting those you love, serving those you love—so that the focus doesn’t always have to be you or what you’re doing but who you’re becoming.