Our ability to succeed at what we do is powerfully bound up with where we are from. Power is embodied in the systems themselves, each institution capable of regenerating elsewhere, should it be cut off. Power and knowledge directly imply one another. There is no power relation without the correlative constitution of a field of knowledge, nor any knowledge that does not presuppose and constitute at the same time power relations. Each of us have his or her own distinct personality. However, overlaid on top of that are tendencies and assumption and reflexes handed down to us by the history of the community we grew up in, and those differences are extraordinarily specific. A soul inhabits a person and brings him to existence, which is itself a factor in the mastery that power exercises over the body. The soul is the effect and instrument of a political anatomy; the soul is the prison of the body. The soul is created by the confluence of power and knowledge—religious institutions, government, ideologies. As a result, the soul is corrupted, trapped in its time, an instrument of a political anatomy. In the popular culture lexicon, we understand the reverse to be true. Everything from religion to mass culture will tell you that the body may be enslaved in the gulag, the concentration camp, the assembly line, or the faceless cubicle, but the soul inevitably sets the body free.  #RandolphHarris 1 of 8

However, we are free to alter our surface personality and our surface circumstances. We can surgically improve our looks, we can—as rapper E40 supposedly did—exchange a life of hardship and challenges with popular fame and riches. Yet, because our souls are subjected and bound o the system we live in, any surface change we perform is always within the confines of intense bureaucracy and regulation. What we cannot do is truly articulate a freedom devoid od the constraints of society. What we can do is evoke an individuality that has not already been implanted in us by a combination of state-sanctioned regulations and the wish-fulfillment fantasies of our popular culture. Ideas such as the freedom of the soul and the individualist rebel are, essentially, built into the system. There is no clear way to move outside the system, because everything we know is the system. The Power Distance Index (PDI) is concerned with attitudes toward hierarchy, specifically with how much a particular culture values and respects authority. To measure it, you ask questions like: How frequently, in your experience, does the following problem occur: employees being afraid to express disagreement with their managers? To what extent do the less powerful members of organizations and institutions accept and expect that power is distributed unequally? How much are older people respected and feared? Are the power holders entitled to special privileges? #RandolphHarris 2 of 8

What we inherit and absorb from our society is not necessarily up to us. In low-power distance index countries, power is something of which power holders are almost ashamed and they will try to underplay. A Swedish (low PDI) university official stated that in order to exercise power he tried not to look powerful. Leaders may enhance their informal status by renouncing for symbols. Some will take a street car to work or trading a mansion for an apartment. Whenever it appears, issues and values are being sorted out deep in the soul, and all we can do is try not to identify with the emotions and simply let the struggle work itself out. Every individual is partly someone else, there is always something else in an individual besides oneself. The persons we live among give us certain social function and force to fulfill it. They attribute a particular character to us and often educate us in order that we preserve this character. This is how the individual has been colonized. This might explain why so many people seem to have a similar ambition gnawing a hole in their cerebellum from inside out. So it is that we love and hate our celebrities, collect the details of their lives the way an entomologist watches a rare species of butterfly. However, people increasingly seem to want to pin our celebrities to the specimen tray, more than they want to observe the in the wild. They want to rip off their wings and glue them to their own backs. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8

Each of us encounters unique challenges meant for growth. Also, our own bad choices can put more barriers in the path. Because your nonverbal modes of communication give you away, others know—sometimes consciously and sometimes subconsciously—when what you say or do is not in keeping with your feelings. If what you say (or do) and how you feel are clearly different, you are sending incongruent messages. Observers will usually focus on the negative. Defensive cover-ups, no matter how well motivated, make the listener feel terrible, while disturbing messages shared with heartfelt soul evoke feelings of respect and appreciation for the speaker’s candor under tough circumstances. However, many people shy away from expressing their true feelings because they do not want to be perceived as whining or complaining all the time. If you find yourself pulling back for the same reason, first ask yourself why you are second-guessing everybody else’s reaction to you. Perhaps you are underestimating the ability of other people to empathize. The other factor to consider is why you feel sad, angry, or fearful. Speaking from the heart does not guarantee a pleasant discussion, but it does ensure that the interchange will be more emotionally satisfying for everyone involved. It also lay the ground work for a more permanent resolution of any conflict and opens the door for the pinnacle of interpersonal relations: intimacy. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8

We have the capacity to smooth out the way, to fill in the depressions, and to beautify our course. The process is called repentance; the destination is forgiveness. If you have ignored warnings and your life has been damaged or disabled by a rough road, there is help available. Through that help you can renew and rebuild your damaged life. You can start over again and change your course from a downward, twisting, disappointing path to a superhighway to peace and happiness. Every incorrect choice we make, every sin we commit is a violation of eternal law. That violation brings negative results we generally soon recognize. There are also other consequences of our action which we may not be conscious. They are nonetheless real. They can have a tremendous effect on the quality of our life here and most certainly will powerfully affect it hereafter. We can do nothing of ourselves to satisfy the demands of justice for a broken eternal law. Yet, unless the demands of justice are paid, each of us will suffer endless negative consequences. Each of us has made mistakes, large, or small, which if unresolved will keep us from the presence of God. The Redeemer can settle your individual account with justice and grant forgiveness through the merciful path of repentance. Full repentance is absolutely essential for the Atonement to work its complete miracle in your life. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8

By understanding the Atonement, you will see that God is not a jealous being who delights in persecuting those who misstep. He is an absolutely perfect, compassionate, understanding, patient, and forgiving Father.  He is willing to entreat, counsel, strengthen, lift, and fortify. God so loves each of us that through that atonement we can live in a World where absolute justice reigns in its sphere so the World will have order. However, that justice is tempered through mercy attainable by obedience to the teachings of the gospel. Which of us is not in need of the miracle of repentance? Whether your life is lightly blemished or heavily disfigured from mistakes, the principles of recovery are the same. The length and severity of the treatments are conditioned to fit the circumstances. Our goal surely must be forgiveness. The only possible path to that goal is repentance. There Lord will not come to redeem his people in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins. Obedience and faith in the Savior give you power to resist temptation. In the same way that we learn more from doing than watching, we learn more about someone else’s experience by feeling the way they felt than by hearing all the facts and figures of their story. When we build our foundation on the Redeemer, when the adversary shall send forth his mighty winds, when all his hail and his might storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drop and drag you. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8

Study and ponder to determine how serious the Lord defines your transgression to be. That will bring healing sorrow and remorse. It will also bring a sincere desire for change and a willingness to submit to every requirement for forgiveness. Abandon you sin because this is an unyielding, permanent resolve to not repeat the transgression. By keeping this commitment, the bitter aftertaste of that sin need not be experienced again. Also, repentance is a thing that cannot be trifled with every day. Daily transgression and daily repentance is not pleasing in the sight of God. It is also important to pay restitution for your sin. You must restore as far as possible all that which is stolen, damaged, or defiled. Willing restitution is concrete evidence to the Lord that you are committed to do all you can to repent. This will help you develop an emotional lexicon to use when communicating with others. This expanded emotional self-awareness guides you to make choices that coincide with your deepest emotions, not just those on the surface. Operating on the level of soul gives new dimension to the substance and sizzle of what you say; it is usually the missing link from communication gone awry. Do not wall yourself off from true intimacy by allowing only so much of your true self to be seen. The more you reveal of yourself, the more you will be able to connect with other human beings. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8

Bonds born of soulful exchanges create profoundly intimate moments. Open yourself up to others and, as you begin to reap the benefits of vulnerability, you will find that others become more open with you. Full obedience to God brings the complete power of the gospel into your life with strength to focus on the abandonment of specific sins. “I was in the most bitter pain and anguish of soul; and never, until I did cry out unto the Lord for mercy, did I receive a remission of my sins. However, I did cry unto him and I did find peace to my soul,” reports Alma. That means we must trust God and trust his teachings. Even serious transgression can be overcome. When repentance is full and one has been cleansed, there comes a new vision of life and its glorious possibilities. How marvelous the promise of the Lord: “Behold, one who has repented of one’s sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.” The Lord is and ever will be faithful to his words. Dear God, enlighten our minds with the light of understanding of your Holy Gospel. Enlighten our souls with the love of your compassion and enlighten our hearts with the supremely glorified eternal spirit. God how us your miracles, please. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8