(I wrote this piece just over three years ago. I believe the message still applies and spreads hope. Please enjoy.)

“Every [person]’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.”

-Ernest Hemmingway

I like this quote by Hemmingway because he addresses one of the most curious paradoxes we face as people: we are the same, yet different.

How is this possible?

Well, first, let’s think how we’re the same. We’re all born, need food and water to survive, seek companionship and love, and have goals we seek to achieve.

So, then, how are we different? Well, some of us are born into a loving home, others into an empty house, eventually moving to a foster home, and who knows from there. Some of us don’t get the food and water we need, while others get that plus what they want. Some live without compassion, never feeling loved, and others need only to make a simple call home to hear the voice of a loved one who cares. Some people’s goals are to not die today, or not get robbed later that night, while others hope to be doctors, professional athletes, or teachers.

In summary, there are universal truths that serve as essential foundations for each of our specific situations. 

Some of us are born with greater privileges than others. I’m one of those people, and I’m very, very lucky and blessed and I thank God every day for my place in life. However, my situation, though it may give me secular privilege, does not give me divine privilege.

Life is a grand mixture of good and bad. Any other belief is a sly attempt to escape the truth. Science agrees. It says that for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. However, as we pull from Hemingway’s wisdom, though the absolute truth that good and bad both exist in our life, it’s our personal response to what goes on that differs and defines us.

So how can we gain the most positivity out of the good and bad in our life?

We must follow Jesus Christ.

Yes, it is our Savior Jesus Christ who performed the act called the Atonement thousands of years ago that touches our lives today, if we allow Him to. Why Him? Why not a self-help book or a good Ted Talk?

Though others have created great lessons and teachings to assist us, every ounce of truth that is taught by them has been taught by God from the beginning. God is the author of absolute values.

Love, acceptance, repentance, compassion, forgiveness, faith, second chances, growing pains, trying your best, seeking good friends, developing good habits, becoming educated, reaching goals, smart financial planning, etc.

Each of these life-improvement exercises has been created by God and put into motion on earth by His Son, Jesus Christ through the Atonement. The death of Christ gave us new life.

But how?

Since He is the ruler of the universe, God is allowed to change bad things into good things. No, He does not exempt us from troubles, but He assists us through these hard times. When we make mistakes and damage ourselves, either physically, emotionally, or mentally, Jesus Christ gives us the opportunity to literally forgo the eternal consequences of our mistakes and move on. He makes what was once bad, good; a learned lesson rather than a permanent black mark on our possibilities.

This effect is a bit like the mathematical notation of absolute value. In its practice, any number or equation, WHETHER IT BE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE, will yield a POSITIVE answer when solved, ALWAYS, without exception. No matter how many negatives are included in the problem, if the absolute value lines are present, the result is positive. It’s the same in life. If we choose to apply the absolute value power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ by living according to the Gospel’s absolute truths, all will be turned positive. Again, bad won’t disappear from our lives, but the bad will be transformed into something good. A lesson learned, a mistake now known to be avoided, or something of the like. God wants us to be happy and this is how He does it.

The absolute value of the Atonement is yours for the using, so use it.