Karen Papin: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Divine Worth Podcast, where we are letting go of our self-doubt, anxiety, fear, limiting beliefs, so that we can step into the divine roles that God has for us. I am your host life coach, Karen Papin, and together we are embracing our divine worth and potential.
Welcome to the Divine Worth Podcast. Today we have a special guest. Her name is Priscilla Davis. She became a convert to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at age 14, and received a journalism degree from BYU. She married her high school sweetheart and together they have three children. She enjoys time with her family photography and sharing good list online with her social media account.
She shares goodness. She talks about eternal truths and shares the good news of Christ As a certified brain health and certified family life coach, Priscilla also shares how to be emotionally resilient in these latter [00:01:00] days and how to deal with life’s challenges while being centered in Christ. Her focus is on helping moms and their youth become.
Righteously resilient, which is such a good topic and so needed. Today we are discussing about something that is really helpful, I believe in raising those spiritually resilient kids. And that is the topic of being still so Priscilla, why do you feel that being still is so important in today’s world?
Priscilla Davis: I feel like there are so many distractions in our world these days. I think back to, let’s say like my teen experience there was, I think I, I had a cell phone probably halfway through, but you had to pay, like per call, pay per text, and I didn’t have internet on my phone. Until, I think I made senior year, but it was also, you probably had to pay for it so [00:02:00] slow.
I just had to like get on a browser one time. And it was like, I was like, whoa, I have something in my hands because I had to memorize a poem real quick, but, and I just think. If I would’ve had the distractions that I have today, not just with like the internet and social media, but you have like, we’re just busy, right?
As adults you have jobs, you have your normal household to-dos. If you are a mother, you just. You have a lot pulling at you like your attention. Now we have like endless tv, right? Because, you don’t even have to wait for, a commercial. So I think everything is just go, go, go.
And trying to listen to the spirit. I think we definitely need to slow down and have that stillness and quiet. I think of our savior when he had to sometimes walk away from the crowd, even from his, disciples just be like, I’ll be right back. I need a moment to [00:03:00] myself to find that stillness.
Karen Papin: So how do you feel about not being still and getting caught up in all the distractions and the busyness? How does that like, keep us from being spiritually resilient?
Priscilla Davis: Well, I think there’s like the temptation to be so productive. So it feels good to be go, go, go check stuff off of your list, but then you have to think yourself.
Is that actually bringing me closer to Christ? Am I building a relationship? Because you could even make spiritual habits a checklist mentality. I love how in general conference there was one talk by a general authority, 70, I believe. Don’t remember his name, but what he said was powerfully spoken, that we do these actions and these habits, but.
Are we actually building a relationship? And so that, that practice of stillness, I think our father in heaven is [00:04:00] trying to say like, whoa, slow down. Not only should you make the time to talk to me, I’m trying to talk to you. And that’s why President Nelson saying like, hear him, and stillness is a big part of that.
Karen Papin: That is such a good point, and so often we can just be like, okay, I check the box off, I read my scriptures, check it off. I’m, I prayed. Okay. Time to move on. And we don’t really take that time to just pause and ponder and listen to, yeah. This is a two-way communication here. So heaven, my father wants to speak to us.
Okay. So why do you feel that being still might relate to like our divine worth? Why is that? Why would that be important?
Priscilla Davis: I think it helps us remember the word. Remember I’ve been thinking a lot about in these last couple of years, we want to like remember him and I think about the sacrament prayers.
We want to remember our [00:05:00] covenants. With your question, we want to remember that we are literal children of God and if we’re not still, we can forget our divine worth. If we’re busy with all that we have to do. I think sometimes we feel pressure and that’s where we like start to panic a little bit.
Like, oh my goodness, like I’m not getting all my stuff done. I’m awful. I like, I’m not perfect. I’m such a like worthless human being because I’m not being productive. But when we can be still slow down, take a breather and then you can remember like, oh, I am of divine worth. I am supposed to be imperfect.
I’m supposed to progress, but like my worth is not tied to my [00:06:00] productivity. It’s tied to just the fact that I’m a literal, you know, son or daughter of God and that stillness, again, it helps us to remember.
Karen Papin: I I love that answer. It just that. Right there. That stillness helps us to remember who we are.
And so thank you so much for pointing that out. And one, one scripture that I really like in, in relation to stillness is, when Christ calms the storm, and sometimes I feel like that our lives feel like the storm, the chaos of the storm, and yet Christ is who. Calms it, and so if we keep our focus on Christ, we can find that peace and that stillness.
Have you ever experienced a moment where you felt like Christ coming in and calming that storm for you?
Priscilla Davis: Yes. I feel [00:07:00] like a lot of my personal struggles are not. Public, like I don’t have cancer. One of my kids isn’t in a wheelchair and a lot of my struggles are really private. Even with being online and having like this big public presence, some of my most painful moments are.
Are so private because like, they’re like not mine to share. You know? And I remember one night just on my knees, because sometimes you feel alone when you can’t share these private moments out of respect for others. Right? And, but you still feel the l the loneliness and the heaviness of carrying something alone.
And I remember one night I was literally on my knees when when you just feel so low that you almost like crash to the ground. And my kids were asleep. I think my husband was working, so I was all alone [00:08:00] in complete silence in my house, but I was just like, bawling. This is like where you’re not just saying like a formal pretty prayer.
You are pleading to help me, father, like please rescue me. You know from that storm that you mentioned, and I just remember like crying so hard and feeling this heaviness, you feel like you can’t really catch your breath because this is like one of those moments where like I surrender. Like I don’t know what else to do except to try to talk to you and.
I mean, normally it doesn’t happen like this and it’s not like a common thing that all of us experience the spirit like so strongly. But in the middle of my storm and praying in that moment, it switched from like me, like crying so hard and like you can hear it like I was loud [00:09:00] to then it was like how my father was saying.
Peace be still. And then it just like it stopped, my heart rate dropped. I could catch my breath again. And it’s not like it was fixed. It’s not like my prayers were like miraculously answered with like what I wanted, but that peace be still and just heaven. My father kinda like just giving me a hug, be like, it’s gonna be okay.
I got you. You’re not alone, and I’m with you.
Karen Papin: That’s such a beautiful experience. I love that. You talked about how it was something that was not seen by others. It was a very personal thing that you were going through and not one that you would share with other people necessarily, and yet the Lord was still there for you and he calmed you and he helped you through that. How did that affect your sense of divine [00:10:00] worth?
Priscilla Davis: I think those types of moments when you can feel that like heavenly hug, that gives me divine worth. Because then I remember, like he does know me, like he knows me by name. That’s where the atonement comes in and he. Like Christ died not only for my sins and my imperfections, but also for like my pain, for my struggles, for my trials.
And that’s something that as a little kid I didn’t know. I grew up Catholic and I loved having this foundation of Christ is your savior. Christ died for you. So I always knew my Bible scripture stories, right? Christ died for you. He redeemed you from your sins so you can live with him again.
But I always thought the atonement was for sin and mistakes. And once I discovered [00:11:00] the church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, and especially like as a teenager, you’re like, well, you’re having so many like hard times and you wanna ask him and father like, wait. Does the atonement cover like my pain?
Like I’m trying to be good, but does the atonement also like do anything for like your pain and once I learned that he can also like lift your burdens from your trials, then you are like, wow, that’s like the ultimate like knowledge of your divine worth. Because he loves us. We are so loved that.
heavenly father wants to take away pain and it’s never this like punishment, like when we do make a mistake, but it’s that call of repentance is is another call for like your divine worth also. So no matter like why we’re struggling [00:12:00] either are like innocent. Trials or our own mistakes, our divine worth is just tied to the fact that we are infinitely loved.
Karen Papin: Love that, it’s so much peace that comes from just knowing that we are loved and it’s like, yes, we might go and make mistakes, but we are still loved even then, and we can overcome them through that atonement. And thank you for bringing in how he also, how that. Atonement also encompasses all of the pain that we’re going through too.
It’s like Christ is the master healer, turn to him because he can heal you.
What are some of the things just in your own life and in, as you’ve coached others that you’ve seen that really keeps people from recognizing and understanding that they’re loved and that they are of worth?
Priscilla Davis: [00:13:00] That, that’s a hard one. Because I feel people that I’ve communicated with and coached and just friendships in my life, like people are going through really really hard things and most people ask themself why?
So sometimes you’re like. Why heaven, my father, like, why do I have to go through this hard? Like why do I have to go through like the peace pain of my life? And one thing that I’ve coached others on and coached myself on is that afflictions are for our good. I learned this lesson in very hard ways and.
It’s honestly like awful to go through. Like, I’m not gonna lie about it because it, it feels awful. And I remember probably even like a decade ago in, in the middle of me learning these lessons, I am a very like, emotional person, so [00:14:00] I. Cry easily. I would like just feel that pain. And I just remember thinking, I don’t want to feel this.
Like, it doesn’t feel good. Like there’s that heaviness in your chest. Some people feel sick in their stomachs. Like our pains are, if people have depression, anxiety, like you feel it in your body, but. Once I finally like accepted mortality , you know that phrase of mortality works and afflictions are for our good and everything will be used for our purpose.
Then I heard president ironing, I think he had a talk somewhere from like a BYU Idaho devotional where he said that like, if we’re. On the right path. It is always a pill. And that was part of his stories where he even acknowledged that like, [00:15:00] trials are for good. So he said, give me mountains to climb.
And I just remember reading that. I’m like, but why? I was like, oh. Why would you want that? But again, these lessons of like when you finally learn that our afflictions are for good, I actually got to that mindset. I’m like, okay, heaven, father, like bring it on. Just that resilience of being because like resilience, I love that word so much because when you fall, resilience means not only getting back up.
But becoming stronger after the fact, and so you’re being strengthened every time that you fall. So I started seeing like failures, and I’m trying to coach others that like, well, when bad things happen to you, don’t think, well, why? Why doesn’t God love me? Why is God punishing me? Why is this so unfair?
[00:16:00] Flip that around and think, wow, look at this opportunity. For me to become more like my savior. And I’m pretty sure there’s like a scripture or a quote out there that says like, how else do we think Heavenly Father became who he was without going through these things? And if we, you know, know that primary song, like I’m trying to be like, Jesus, what did Jesus go through?
He went through like the darkest of dark in Gethsemane and dying on the cross. So we have to bear up our cross too and carry it and probably suffer through it. But, that’s. Why I’m like, I’m learning about like the atonement. It’s like all these steps. It’s not just the suffering, but then that glorious resurrection that we are gonna have too.
And so all that very long to say is that our afflictions will be for our good. [00:17:00]
Karen Papin: That’s so great. And that is when we can really embrace that. It’s amazing. How much that actually lifts our burdens. Like it’s not that it takes it away, but that, oh, this is something I can bear. Oh, this is something I can do.
Oh, I am capable. Oh, heavenly father is helping me through this and so I love that you pointed out that afflictions are for a good and for those who are. At that place where it’s like, no, I don’t wanna climb more mountains. Like, I don’t wanna do that. What are like some small steps that they can take to kind of start to move, to shift that perspective?
Priscilla Davis: I think it goes back to how we started of maybe taking time to be still and like being resilient doesn’t mean that you can’t feel your emotions. [00:18:00] So acknowledge and sit in your sad. In your anger, take it to him, your father and share it with him. Like, yes, God, I’m sad, I’m angry and confused.
Being resilient and acknowledging that all this pain is far good. It doesn’t mean that we push it away, but it does mean that we accept it, we sit with it, but then instead of being stuck in this. Endless like torment loop. Eventually we like, that’s why we place it on the Lord. You feel it, you place it and you give it to the Lord.
And that’s like when you ask, like I, I’ve thought this about like my prayers recently. ’cause sometimes if we keep praying like, please tell me, father, take this away. Take this away. Sometimes all heavenly father is trying to ask. Of, of us is, he’s like I’m not gonna take it away right [00:19:00] now, but what I am asking you is come to me, give it to me, and I will give you strength and capacity.
So yeah, if there’s one thing I can encourage others is feel it, give it to the Lord, and we can absolutely request and seek and expect those miracles. Of like strength and capacity to just keep going.
Karen Papin: Great. I, okay. I love how you said that just now. It’s like we can, expect and receive those miracles of strength and capacity.
Like sometimes the miracle is not that the trial is taken away. It’s that we have become stronger and we have the capability to, to move through whatever it is we’re facing.
Thank you.
So I feel like, as moms and as women in the church, we do have [00:20:00] this tendency to. Get caught up in everything that’s going on in our lives and not taking that time to be still not taking that time to feel, as you were saying, in, in some ways, that’s our excuse, right? It’s, oh, I’ve got too much, I can’t stop, I can’t stop to feel what’s actually going on.
How can we make time to just be still.
Priscilla Davis: I’ve talked to a lot of people about finding the best time and place for them to make time for themselves and the Lord to have this like moment of connection and relationship building and. Like, I’m biased ’cause I’m a early bird, but whether it’s waking up early or turning off the TV before bed and having like quiet time, like for you having those, I.
Like very [00:21:00] intentional and dedicated, even like scheduled moments of saying like, okay, this is my time to connect with Heavenly Father, not as a checklist, but to build a relationship. Whether that’s waking up early before everyone else in the house in the morning, or taking some time away from like the bedtime chaos and instead of like.
Lounging with TV or doom scrolling. That’s where we’re like, okay, what do I need right now? Do I need to learn something from the scriptures? Do I need to get outta my head and journal all my thoughts down? Do I just need to sit in my car in silent prayer? Just kinda ponder it out. Anything that are.
Like, I guess stillness habits I think is one of the best things that we can do, in the middle of everything. And, [00:22:00] I’ve talked to a lot of women also. They’re like, oh, but I can never find this quiet alone time. And that’s actually like another opportunity of. Like looking to the examples of the scriptures where like women are always like doing something, grabbing water from the, well, they are busy cooking dinner and Mary seats, sits at the sea’s feet.
You know, just , I think of the story of like walking through the crowds and the chaos and just reaching for his hem. You know, it’s just like, just find a teeny. Tiny moment. Even like with your kids around. ’cause that’s a wonderful example too. You know, bring in the scriptures to the chaos and your children can see that you’re pulling up your scriptures.
It doesn’t mean that you’re gonna wind up studying for 30 minutes, but if you can find like that one verse or like, Ugh, I needed that today, then that’s like, just like another drop in your [00:23:00] bucket that’s. You know, some more oil in your lamp, right? So that you can build that relationship.
Karen Papin: I remember listening to a podcast one time, and I believe it was with President Emily, bill Freeman, and she was talking about how she.
Would like carry her scriptures around with her, like whatever she was doing throughout the day. And then it’s like, oh, the water’s boiling. Oh, I can read my scriptures. And just like little things like that. And that’s how, that’s one of the ways that she became such a great scriptor. . I don’t remember what podcast that was, that I heard that.
But, that was something that always kind of stood out to me, and as you were talking, reminded me of that because it is like you can bring it into your chaos. , You can bring the spirit in and, so I love that suggestion, those suggestions that you were bringing in just now.
Why [00:24:00] do you think we sometimes struggle to accept the peace that Christ offers us?
Priscilla Davis: I’ve been thinking a lot about the word humility. Opposition to pride. And, we never wanna think this about ourselves. And of course we never wanna judge others that they’re being prideful. But I think sometimes our own, like natural man, natural woman do get in the way of Heavenly Father’s peace, because we are imperfect beings.
Even for me sometimes I think, why am I not feeling peace? Like, why am I so caught up in a bad mood right now? And I notice that about myself sometimes, like by the way that I’m treating my children or maybe by like some thoughts that I’m just having about like my relationships with people and.[00:25:00]
That’s when I have to think of like, okay, how can I let go of like whatever type of pride I’m having, and bring in a piece of humility because I. Because that’s why we have daily repentance, right? Like we are supposed to be progressing. And I love how, like speaking of Emily Bell Freeman, she says not being perfect, but every day a little bit better.
And it’s that 1% change that like one degree thinking of like, oh, maybe I shouldn’t have spoken like that to my child. Maybe I shouldn’t have been nagging my husband. Maybe I shouldn’t have spent so much time on Instagram. Right. So, I think part of pride and humility is acknowledging that like.
We don’t have to beat ourself up for our imperfections, but it’s also okay [00:26:00] to notice them and be like, oh, what can I learn from this? And once we have that piece of humility, that piece of repentance, then we are in a better place to feel the peace.
Karen Papin: Mm-hmm. Reminds just this past conference, I think it was was it Sister Ronia that was talking about shame?
Yeah. And how it like, causes us to hide and really what humility is it is actually facing, oh, I did do something wrong. But not with that shame. It’s with the hope that the savior brings.
Priscilla Davis: I I love having this conversation about like shame and guilt, because I feel like sometimes the loud world is even trying to get rid of guilt along with the shame and is trying to make it like the same, like, oh, we shouldn’t feel guilty if we’re [00:27:00] doing X, Y, z.
We shouldn’t feel guilty for, you know, breaking these commandments and covenants and. It’s like that confusion of like, well, shame is so bad, let’s throw everything out the window. So we never even have to feel guilt. But that’s why I love that Sister Brunia brought shame up in conference and I think shame and guilt, like they’re similar but.
Actually on like total opposite sides of life because like she said, like shame is from Satan and wants you to hide and says like you are a bad person and like you are not loved by our father in heaven. But I actually think of guilt as a gift from. Heavenly Father, it’s connected to the Holy Ghost and guilt says, oh, maybe I should [00:28:00] turn back to God.
’cause that’s where repentance is. So we can use that godly guilt to think of like, wait, I shouldn’t have offended my neighbor. Right? And. We just don’t wanna take it to the big extreme of turning that guilt into shame, but guilt can be for our good when it’s this godly sorrow versus this
devilish shame. Yeah. Yeah.
Karen Papin: I like to mention , or point out Satan’s counterfeits and that’s what shame is. It’s the counterfeit of this godly sorrow that we experience and this really, okay, so this plays out in this conversation a couple ways. In 1, 1, 1 way is that we. Actually embrace those distractions, and the busyness of life to keep us from having to.
Experience [00:29:00] that, that guilt sometimes, like sometimes we turn to that and so we don’t take that time to be still. But when we do take that time to be still and we allow ourselves to feel, as you were saying earlier, and then turn it over to the Lord, it’s this beautiful refining process that happens and we can’t do that if we’re not taking that time to be still.
Mm-hmm. So the other thing that really plays into this is the idea of perfection. Because perfectionism is kind of that, oh, I, I, it’s so rooted in shame, like it’s so rooted in shame. And yet, as I’ve studied. The whole idea of becoming perfect. Like we’ve gotta remember that that is, we are trying to become like heavenly father and Jesus Christ who are perfect.
And I find it really interesting in Matthew chapter five, how it’s this discourse on love. [00:30:00] And like, love your enemies. Do good to those who abuse you and Despitefully use you. And then he goes, be there for perfect and then if you read the footnote, it’s actually about being whole and complete.
Well, when we are embraced in that love of our Heavenly Father, we feel whole. We feel complete. And so it’s like perfectionism is. That idea that we have to do everything right, like be flawless, that’s Satan’s view. But over here we have the spiritual view of perfectionism or not perfectionism of perfection is love.
And when we are allowing ourselves to feel that godly sorrow and be humble and accept, oh wow, I did make a mistake. Then it’s like, wow, I can turn this over to the Lord. And it goes back to that feeling process that you were explain talking about where Yes, feel it, turn it over to the Lord, allow his love in and [00:31:00] it’s beautiful refining process.
Priscilla Davis: Yeah, that, toxic perfectionism that you talked about, that was something that I really struggled with in high school. That’s how I wound up going to LDS Family Services for therapy. There was some teen depression there, probably some anxiety. And it’s awful because like those expectations never came from my parents or from my church leaders.
But honestly they came from myself and like my natural woman and the temptations of Satan to twist that thought of, oh, well I wanna be like my savior and my heavenly father, but Satan, that’s what Satan is, like that counterfeit. And I was like, oh, well then that means you have to do so much to be so like worldly.
Perfect. But I think it was. [00:32:00] Only when we can accept like Christ’s atonement, can we realize like what you mentioned, that you know, be therefore perfect. Not only is that eventually, but it’s also be whole and you can’t be made whole unless you accept Christ as your savior. ’cause like that’s one thing also that I’ve been studying out, just kinda like in the world of learning to be resilient of.
I If you Google like classes on happiness, courses on happiness, like Harvard, Stanford, these experts, there are, people are flooding these like Harvard classes on happiness. And people are trying to like just. Everyone wants to be happy, right? They wanna feel that like joy, they wanna feel whole. It is actually really what’s happening because people are [00:33:00] chasing, quote unquote happiness, thinking I’ll be happy if I make more money.
I’ll be happy. If I have this like giant mansion, I’ll be happy. If I have the perfect body, I’ll be happy if I get the perfect job, if I don’t know, tap into like drugs and alcohol because they make you happy. Right? And the people are always left yearning for something more ’cause they’re chasing the happy.
And that’s why, I dunno, capitalizing on happiness is such a big thing that I noticed that I’m just like floored by it. I’m like, whoa. But. What’s really interesting and like I like chuckle at the like, irony is that a ton of these happiness experts, wonderful people that are so smart with their PhDs and teaching, the ones that like get it, they actually turn out to be like people of faith and they say like spirituality [00:34:00] and religion.
Has to be a part of the equation for happiness and therefore wholeness. Like if you’ve heard of what’s it called? Like, the Huberman Lab podcast. He’s this neuroscientist from Stanford, and then you have like Arthur Brooks from Harvard. There are these people that are like trying to help people with their health and their happiness.
All of them are acknowledging that you need a spirituality piece to feel that happiness and be made full. So I always just like, I love to look at kind of like what’s happening in like the secular world and everyone is saying like, we’re, we’re missing something to this happiness piece. And it’s spirituality, it’s religion, and you’re like.
It’s Christ that it makes you whole and find this happiness and joy. So I’m like, oh, just keep it coming. All this like research and science. [00:35:00] It’s basically saying we need Christ to ultimately be whole.
Karen Papin: That’s so great. I love, I love how you pointed that out and also just like that you have a focus on, on I guess I’m turning it a little bit, going off a little bit on a tangent about this idea of being resilient because as you were talking, what came to my mind was happily resilient. Resilient. ’cause that’s another thing, like we need Christ to become whole and he helps us through our struggles and our trials, but we also need those trials, which is something that we talked about earlier in, in the podcast.
So I am, I’m curious how. You became focused on helping people to be more emotionally resilient and why you feel that is so critical to our lives right now?
Priscilla Davis: Well, I think everything stems from my own personal story [00:36:00] with mental health, as a teen. And once they finally like clicked to me kind of, what was that?
Peace of making me feel whole, and filing, fi, filling that healing. It’s, I have this like drive to let other people know that Christ is the master healer and he has to be a part of your equation of like your mental health journey and specifically like focusing on youth and helping them see that is just because.
The alarming research out there about the depression and anxiety of youth is it’s just outstanding. When you see like the research on self harm is astronomical. When you figure out like the hospital data and the number one group of people self-harming [00:37:00] are teenage girls and. Normally, let’s say like the last 50 years , the number one group for like suicide risk is middle aged men.
Now it’s younger, like college age men. And, so these struggles are getting like younger and younger and you see. These like rates of like skyrocketing, like anxiety and depression. And when you look at the data of like mental health illness going up and you see like spirituality and religion going down, then.
I can’t ignore that piece. Yeah. And ’cause like, I mean, I’m a big advocate of all the mental health tools of the therapy and the medication and everything that they teach you there. But you’re not gonna be [00:38:00] whole or go towards healing unless you have that missing piece, which is. Jesus Christ. Because another really interesting data point that I wish I could show everyone is that in the history of all like time, and then this came from Time Magazine, but there’s a chart where it says our mental health resources, so access to therapy and medication and mental health tools, you know, meditation, all the things, the chart is going like this throughout time, and you’re like.
Obviously we want more resources, but it is the highest that it’s ever been. And then that chart of like resources, it was next to a chart of our happiness and it’s still going downhill. So you’re thinking, why are they at such opposite ends? If we have the most help available than we’ve ever had, [00:39:00] why? Why are happiness levels?
In the United States, still at the lowest that they’ve ever been. So again, that to me, I’m like, well, look at the chart of religion and spirituality. It matches like the unhappiness. And so that’s why I’m like, there’s a missing piece people, so, so I am, I am really called to, to help. Especially the youth because their brains are still developing.
They are so much more vulnerable to that self-harm that we talked about. And so if we can help our children and youth learn these tools to be resilient in Christ, then that’s just gonna put them in a more joyful whole place as they grow up.
Karen Papin: Okay. That is just [00:40:00] such a fascinating insight right there, that yes, we have so many resources now as compared to, you know, centuries even 10, 20 years ago, we have all of these resources and yet the happiness levels are still going down and I love how you pointed out, it’s like spirituality’s going down. So , why do you think it’s so important to our happiness, to our mental health? That, that we have that spiritual component.
Priscilla Davis: So in my research of that, I once read a mental health book that. Wasn’t religious. It was, from a psychologist in the UK and in her book, she didn’t mention God once, but he was everywhere because what she said was that mentally healthy [00:41:00] people need a purpose, a mission, an identity, and a worth that’s higher than themselves.
And they need service to others. They need to get out of their own head and into, what can I do for others? How can I be of use? Like, how can I feel useful on this planet? And so like everything that she was saying, I’m like, people need God in their lives. And, I think that’s what it goes back to.
, And I can name like so many things that say the same thing. Again, like quoting, Arthur books that, works at Harvard, he says that like people need things like family. They need like a value in their life. They need that purpose. And that’s why like, he’s Catholic, but he uses all his kind of [00:42:00] like psychology work.
Kinda like bringing it back to if people are not gonna pick a organized religion, they still need a spirituality. They need something higher than themselves. They need to get out into their community because. That’s like the, doing the opposite of that. That’s where the loneliness comes in. That’s where why you have more depression and anxiety.
So it’s now we have like just so much data and research just to say like, okay, like even if you don’t pick like an official church, you still need to pick something to believe in. Something that gives you awe that is like outside of yourself.
Karen Papin: Amazing. Okay, so we kind of went off on a tangent with all of that.
But it’s just so good. So just to kind of bring us back to that stillness [00:43:00] piece . Well, this kind of goes along with what you were saying too ’cause you were talking about how we also need to look outside ourselves and serve others as well. So how does bringing that, that spirit of peace into our lives and that that spiritual stillness help us to be a benefit to others?
Priscilla Davis: Well, I think being still helps us refill our own cup and. In that way, we’re more ready to serve others. Or maybe within that stillness we realize maybe we have been spending too much thought on ourselves, and worrying about like, oh, like woe is me. Like everything bad is happening to me and you’re stuck in this rumination.
I think part of that stillness. It allows us to maybe get a prompting from the spirit. ’cause the spirit is also gonna tell us like, oh, you know what’s, [00:44:00] like the number way to feel better is to connect with others and serve others. You kind of like lose yourself and get out to do the work.
And that’s, I’ve seen it criticized in the past that , especially our faith. Asks too much service of people and then like, therefore, like, we’re like too busy, like serving. Which can definitely happen when you like, take it to the extremes. But I’ve seen now in like the research that when we serve others, that is one of the best ways to feel joy.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. So our stillness can. Can help with those promptings of like, okay, what do I need to do next?
Karen Papin: Yeah. Oh, that’s so good. Okay, so what is your favorite divine worth scripture?
Priscilla Davis: So, I [00:45:00] think my favorite scripture in like the whole planet, I’m like, I can tie it to anything but my favorite scripture, is two Nephi 31 verse 20.
It says, wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if you shall press forward feasting upon the word of Christ and endure to the end the whole thus sayeth the Father. Ye shall have eternal life, and maybe typically like other people wouldn’t think of this scripture as like a stillness scripture, but.
I feel like for me it, if I take that time to be still, then everything that comes to my mind is these scriptures because it’s telling me like, okay, like be still be steadfast in [00:46:00] Christ like it is okay. Being still helps me remember to have that brightness of hope instead of me like me panicking, running around and thinking, oh my gosh, like all is lost.
If I can be still, I’m like, oh, there is hope. If I’m still, it reminds me like, okay, I can love God and I can love others and they love me if I’m still. It reminds me to feast upon the words of Christ. So I’m like, okay, let’s be still and I can get into the scriptures or general conference. And I think my favorite part is like when I’m still, that’s another reminder, like, endure to the end.
Like, you can do this. You’re gonna be okay.
Karen Papin: I love that way of viewing that scripture and just how stillness can be throughout each of those [00:47:00] different steps. What is one small and simple thing that those listening can do today to kind of take action on what we’ve been talking about?
Priscilla Davis: I think carve out time for stillness, just five minutes. And I’ve been trying to find this in my own life in little pockets like are you in the car? So like something that you’re already doing, right? Like are you in the car? Maybe turn off. The music or the podcast? Are you in the shower? I’ve heard a lot of people, they listen to podcasts in the shower and it’s so funny.
I’ve tried, but I’m like, I can’t hear anything. Like do you have like a special in shower radio or something? And I have to admit, like I listen to a ton of music and podcasts. So when I’m in the shower I’m like, okay, I’m not gonna buy a special shower radio. I am gonna take. Time to be [00:48:00] still. I’ve heard, and I’m trying to work on it myself too, ’cause I’m like super lazy.
I’m like, I’m gonna watch a YouTube video while I eat lunch alone. ’cause all my kids are in school. But I’ve been trying to be like, okay, this is another opportunity for stillness. Just eat my food and quiet. That’s, I’m so like geeky. Another like piece of research is that when you’re outside taking a walk , if you pray for even like 10 minutes, there’s like chemical work happening to your brain that just gives you like a ton of endorphins and like happy hormones for the rest of your day.
So. I am also trying to like, push myself and be still, if I’m like outside, especially like taking a walk. ’cause usually I’m like, I’m gonna be productive and get a good workout, but I can’t run fast unless I [00:49:00] have like, music on that’s super loud. So walking in that like quiet, quiet prayer or like meditative state, that’s another opportunity.
So. All that to say is just take five minutes for stillness, and, and we’re gonna be able to listen for what we need.
Karen Papin: That’s great. And what I like about that is it’s not like a, you need to actually sit there and be still. It’s like you can be walking, you can be moving, you’re still in mind like that.
That’s what’s going on. And you’re connecting with Heavenly father because your mind is still. Well, Priscilla, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. I do have one more question, and that is how can those listening connect with you?
Priscilla Davis: Okay. Well, right now you can mainly find me on Instagram at she shares Goodness, and I’m wrapping up my website, but if you listen to [00:50:00] this, you can go to she shares goodness.com.
Karen Papin: Great. Thank you so much, Priscilla. It’s been great talking to you. Thank you. You too.
If you have found this podcast to be a light, please share it with others and our leave a review, which helps others find the podcast as well. To learn more about your divine worth and potential, you can download some free scripture cards. Focus on your [email protected] forward slash scripture cards.
Karen Papin:
To learn more about your divine worth and potential, you can download some free scripture cards focused on your worth at https://karenpapin.com/scripturecards. You are of worth. You have a purpose. The Lord loves you and he believes in you and only you can make the impact on this world that you are meant to make.
Join me next time as we talk more about divine worth and potential.
Does what God is prompting you to do feel daunting? With your own personalized fear to faith meditation you can create new thought patterns to move you from fear to faith in God’s plan for you.
Learn more about what God sees in you with these scriptures that show you your divine worth and potential.
This free 7 day gratitude course is to guide you to have the eyes to see God’s love for you and those around you.
Quotes from this episode
