This year started off with my hip being out of alignment. Sometimes, I just have one leg shorter than the other. Sometimes, my hip is twisted inwards. When my body is out of alignment, especially in my hips, my back and neck can suffer discomfort as well. If I don’t go to the chiropractor and get it taken care of, it begins to affect my sleep and my ability to do daily tasks.

I have an amazing Chiropractor and I visit him when I need to. I don’t love being on that table and getting twisted into a pretzel. I don’t love inhaling and then exhaling so that he can press down and pop things into place. It is a very uncomfortable time for me. At least, this is how I saw visiting the chiropractor in the first year or so.

I used to only go when I couldn’t take the pain anymore. While in the waiting room one day, I listened as a patient was leaving and scheduled his next visit. I began talking with him and he said that he comes monthly to make sure that everything is as it should be. I thought that was so interesting. This helped change the way I thought about going to the chiropractor.

Even though I didn’t enjoy going and being smashed until things were in the right place, I felt amazing when I left. Even if the inflammation was still there and I was sore, I knew that things were put right again. I’d feel like skipping to my car, but knowing my body should be careful not to chance it. I was fixed! And as long as I didn’t do anything foolish, I could keep the pain and discomfort away and not have to return to be fixed again.

Eventually, after more years going by, I realized that I needed to understand that circumstances in life will end up leading me back to the chiropractor for an adjustment. Shoveling snow, a misstep over a root while hiking, losing my balance when the sidewalk is uneven, so many silly things that have happened to me. If I just go before the pain is too much, it will be even easier for my body to recover than if I let the pain keep me up at night while I’m trying to find a comfortable position while sleeping.

This year so far, I have been weekly. Why, you ask? Well, it seems that things in my environment seem to challenge my hip in those tender moments after getting set in place. Every week so far, I have extended too far and pop, it went back right to where it was before it was fixed.  This is so frustrating. But you know what? I know where I need to go to get it fixed.

I have been thinking about this a lot. You know what it reminds me of? Repentance. I grew up and had this idea that if I was good, I wouldn’t need to use it. Did that stop me from doing not so good things? No. Did I repent? No. Why not? I have no idea… Maybe I was too prideful. Maybe I was too scared of it. Maybe I had no idea how to do it. All I know is, things got pretty difficult and it ended up keeping me up at night while trying to get comfortable to go to sleep.

Eventually, there was too much to repent of and it seemed impossible to put things back where they should be. How do I even begin to sort this mess out? I wish I had a better understanding of repentance. I have no doubt that Satan was right there whispering in my ear how hard it would be to repent. Oh, you don’t need to repent for that, everyone does it. It isn’t big enough to repent for. Oh wow, you messed up big time, I don’t think you can repent for that. Oh! That sin, that sin is an unforgivable sin. You can’t come back from that sin. You’ve messed everything up now. I guess you can’t have that “happily ever after” now… Satan is really good at what he does.

You know what though? I could repent. I just needed a great desire and determination to do it. I needed someone to guide me through it. I eventually found my great desire and then the determination. The Spirit gave it to me. The Spirit told me that it was possible. Then I went to talk with my Bishop of my church and we worked together until I was ready. It was the most amazing, tender, and sweet experience. The best gift of my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

It is because of Him that I am able to find peace from my mistakes. It is because of Him that not only can I be forgiven and put things in place again, but also you can do this. Jesus Christ is real. He lives. His sacrifice was the most crucial part of the Plan for us to be able to return to our Heavenly Parents again.

So, how do we think of repentance so that it doesn’t seem like such a scary thing? Have you ever read The Sermon on the Mount? In Matthew 6:12 it says, “And forgive us our debts…” Our debts are our offenses, faults and sins. It was here, when He taught us how we should pray that He taught us to repent daily! It was there in the scriptures my entire life, and I just discovered it this last year.

Repent daily. It is so simple. Repenting daily will help us to be more mindful of our choices that we make each day. Reflecting on what we need to work on, how we are showing up daily will help us to become what we desire to become. Focusing on how to do things in a more loving and Christlike way. The Gospel of Jesus Christ can seem really difficult. But once you are ready to live in His way, He will help you until it doesn’t seem difficult anymore.

When we find ourselves out of alignment with the teachings of Jesus Christ, we need to find our way to make those adjustments to our lives and to our spirits so that we can put things into place once again. Daily repentance is the key. Can it be uncomfortable? Yes, in the beginning, most new habits are uncomfortable. But as we strive to use this concept in our daily lives, I believe that it will become something that we look forward to. It will be something that we are so grateful for and look forward to the opportunity to put things right and try again.