THE EYE OF THE TIGER

NEVER GIVE UP

DO YOU HAVE THE EYE OF THE TIGER?

HAVE YOU EVER WATCHED THE MOVIE ROCKY, I LOVE THEM, THE REASON BEING, ROCKY NEVER SEEMS TO GIVE UP. IN ONE OF THE MOVIES HE GOES TO RUSSIA TO FIGHT IVAN DRAGO. ALL THE ODDS WHERE AGAINST ROCKY IN THIS FIGHT BUT AS WE
ALL KNOW IN THE END HE WAS ABLE TO WIN!!

THERE WAS NO EASY WAY OUT FOR ROCKY, HE SAW THAT HE NEEDED TO DO SOMETHING THAT WAS HARD, SO WITH THIS HE PUT IN THE EFFORT AND TRAINED, AND THEN HE WENT INTO THE FIGHT KNOWING THAT HE HAD TO GIVE IT HIS ALL. 

IN THE END ROCKY GAVE IT EVERYTHING HE GOT, HE HAD THE EYE OF THE TIGER!!

SO NOW LOOK IN YOUR LIFE DO YOU HAVE THE EYE OF THE TIGER? ARE YOU WILLING TO PUT EVERYTHING YOU GOT IN TO THE FIGHT?

THIS LIFE ON EARTH IS REALLY A FIGHT IN OF ITS SELF, THE ODDS ARE AGAINST US SATAN DOESN'T WANT US TO BE HAPPY AND TO BE ABLE TO RETURN BACK TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER, HE IS THROWING ALL THAT HE CAN AT US, FROM ANYWHERE TO FAMILY PROBLEMS TO SEX AND DRUGS, AND OTHER THINGS. HE IS TRYING TO THROW ALL OF THESE HOOKS, JABS, AND EVERYTHING ELSE HE HAS IN HIM. SATAN HAS BEEN TRAINING FOR THESE LAST DAYS FROM THE BEGINNING  OF TIME SO HE HAS HAD HIS TIME. SO IN A SENSE THE ODDS ARE REALLY AGAINST US. BUT THEN WE HAVE TO COME TO IT ON THIS POINT, DO WE HAVE WHAT IT TAKES? DO WE HAVE THE EYE OF THE TIGER?

SO HOW DO YOU THINK, WE GET THE EYE OF THE TIGER? FOR ME I USE TO HAVE THE EYE OF THE TIGER WHEN I WAS YOUNGER IN SOCCER, TILL ABOUT 14 WHEN I WAS HURT IN A SOCCER GAME, AND I WAS TAKEN OUT AND HAD TORN TENDONS IN MY SHOULDER, WITH THIS I WAS FEARFUL WHEN I CAME BACK. MY DAD SAW THIS AND HE TOLD ME NUMBER OF TIMES YOU GOT GET THAT DRIVE BACK. IT TOOK A LOT OF TIME TO GET THIS BACK, BUT I GOT IT BACK. THE WAY THAT I WAS ABLE TO GET IT BACK IS BY TRAINING HARD, AND IT FINALLY CAME DOWN TO WHEN I WAS IN ONE OF THE BIGGEST GAMES OF MY LIFE, AND WE WHERE DOWN IT IS AT THAT POINT WHEN I HAD TO STEP IT UP, AND I TOLD MYSELF "I WILL NOT LOSE."

SO AS I HAD TO GET THE EYE OF THE TIGER BACK IN SOCCER, I HAD TO GET IT IN THE OTHER SPORTS THAT I PLAYED AS WELL. I SEEM TO FINALLY GRASP IT AND I HAVE THE EYE OF THE TIGER WHEN I AM LOSING AND I ALWAYS TELL MY SELF "I WILL NOT LOSE" THIS IS WHEN I TYPICALLY AM ABLE TO DO IT.

AT ONE POINT IN MY LIFE, I HAD THE EYE OF THE TIGER, BUT I LOST IT. WHEN I LOST IT I SAW THAT MY LIFE WAS GOING DOWN THE WRONG PATH. I HAD STEPPED INTO THE RING WITH SATAN, AND HE WAS THROWING EVERYTHING HE HAD AT ME. I HAD AWAKENED THE GIANT, AND HE DIDN'T WANT TO LOSE.
AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS I WAS LOSING, BUT THIS IS WHEN I REALIZED THAT THERE WAS NO "EASY WAY OUT"  I HAD TO DO SOMETHING THAT WAS PROBABLY THE HARDEST THING FOR ME TO EVER DO. I HAD TO WIN THIS FIGHT! THERE WAS NO WAY GETTING OUT OF IT, I HAD TO FINISH WHAT I STARTED.
THE TRAINING THAT I HAD BEEN GIVEN EARLIER IN MY LIFE, WAS THEN GETTING TESTED AND I HAD TO DECIDE AT THAT POINT WETHER OR NOT TO USE IT OR LOSE. 

SO AS ROCKY HAD TO DIG IN AND REMEMBER WHAT HE HAD LEARNED. THERE IS NO EASY WAY OUT, BUT THE FIGHT THAT I HAD TO OVERCOME WOULD BE WORTH IT.

WHAT I HAD LEARNED WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, WAS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GOSPEL IN MY LIFE. INCLUDED IN THIS WAS HOW IMPORTANT KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS ARE, AS WELL AS SO MANY OTHER THINGS.
ALL THESE THINGS SOUND SO EASY, BUT WHEN SATAN IS TRYING HIS HARDEST ON BEATING YOU, IT'S HARD. BUT ONCE AGAIN THIS FIGHT WAS WORTH WHILE. I HAD TO COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT I CAN WIN, AND I WILL WIN. THIS HAPPENED WHEN I SAW THAT HE HAD NO POWER OVER ME WHEN I PUT IN THE TIME AND TRAINING IN READING THE SCRIPTURES, GOING TO CHURCH, PRAYING, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY REGAINING MY TESTIMONY AGAIN.... IN THE END, I WON! THE FIGHT WAS HARD, BUT I HAD PEOPLE ALONG THE WAY TO CHEER ME ON AND TO TELL ME TO "NEVER GIVE UP" AND TO "NEVER BACK DOWN".
IT ALL CAME DOWN TO WHO WANTED IT THE MOST AND I CAN TELL YOU THIS I DID!!!

I WANT ALL OF YOU TO KNOW THAT SATAN IS OUT THERE, AND HE DOESN'T WANT US TO HAVE THE HAPPINESS WE WANT. SO WITH THIS, WHEN WE STEP INTO THE RING, HE WILL THROW EVERYTHING HE HAS AT US, BUT WE HAVE THE TOOLS AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, WE HAVE THE "EYE OF THE TIGER" AND WE WILL NOT LOSE. AS WE CONTINUE TO LIVE THE GOSPEL STANDARDS, AND WORK ON DEVELOPING OUR TESTIMONIES WE CAN ACCOMPLISH THIS FIGHT AND COME OUT ON TOP.

BY TRULY READING THE SCRIPTURES AND MORE IMPORTANTLY BY TRULY GAINING A TESTIMONY OF THE BOOK OF MORMON, WE CAN COME TO THE UNDERSTANDING THAT WE CAN ACCOMPLISH THIS FIGHT, AND THAT WE CAN WIN!!