A "Diddy" of a Quote.

I never thought the day would come that I'd be grateful to P. Diddy for anything more than providing my exercise routine with a little bit of background music (clean versions of course). But, despite my doubt, that day came last week on Dec. 21, 2011. Surely by now rumors of his tweet have reached even the most remote corners of the LDS world. And, thanks to the power of Twitter and Facebook, perhaps Mr. Sean John Combs, also known as Diddy, P.Diddy, and Puff Daddy, has inadvertently introduced the pop world to a man by the name of L.Tom Perry.  For this deed alone Diddy deserves a vote of gratitude, as Elder L. Tom Perry is a remarkable man whose teachings are worthy of note and whose example would be great to embody. However, it is to the discovery of the context of this simple quote for which I am grateful:

"One of the greatest weaknesses in most of us is our lack of faith in ourselves." 
– L. Tom Perry


Without Mr. Combs, I likely would have never stumbled upon one of the most life changing talks that Elder Perry has perhaps ever given. "Be the Best of Whatever You Are" was presented at BYU in March of 1974. Not only was I not there in that original congregation to hear his presumably prolific delivery, I was yet to even be born, yet the words of his text hit home as if they were written for me. Today. At the wrap up of 2011! 

"One of our common failings is to depreciate our tremendous worth," Elder Perry spoke.

Hello? Can someone please repeat that? ... Which one of us has ever depreciated our worth? Or, better yet, which one of us has never depreciated our worth? 


May I be so bold as to imply that we've all fallen into that trap at one time or another? May I further suggest that perhaps that self-depreciation can be directly associated with failed decisions or misguided choices that we make?


On a personal level, I can think of a few choices (more-so concessions, really) that I made because I didn't understand my great worth. I could tell you of rough paths that I've traveled that could've been avoided had I truly understood who I was in the eyes of my Heavenly Father.  Satan seems determined to undermine our self worth. If he can implant even the littlest drop of self-doubt, we open a door through which we can inevitably bring our own progress to a stop. Laziness, disappointment, discouragement, or ultimately a loss of hope could soon follow.  


So, how do we keep our head high? How do we stay true to the divine potential within each of us? Perhaps Elder Perry summed it up best with:  

"As a child of God, be the best of whatever you are."

It doesn't matter if you're a master pianist, a doctor, a mother, or even a pop singer. What matters is that you give a hundred percent in everything that you are and everything that you do. You may never be famous in the eyes of the world, but you'll always be known and important to Him that created you.