In the Grand Scheme of LIfe, Who's Opinion Really Matters?

As we go through life, I think it is natural for us to try to figure out who we are. Some people take a very introverted approach, while others may base who they are on the people they associate with. Some may even create a fantasy of who they believe they are when in actuality they are someone totally different. So this past week, I have been reviewing my daily activities, my goals or ultimate desires, and pondering about who I really am.
I'm going to start from last Saturday. I had a few invitations to hang out with different people after I arrived home from work. I wasn't in the mood to really do anything so I just chilled for a while til something appealing was introduced to me. One of my friends invited me to go to the hot pots and hang out. I haven't done anything like that in a while so I took him up on his offer. It sounded relaxing and fun so I went. A little background information about him, he is a punk kid. I always seem to get along with that type really well. He doesn't really get along well with his family. He isn't very active in the church. He has long hair, ballroom dances and love to ride his low rider motorcycle. In my opinion, he is a really cool kid and he has a great heart although he may not be making the decisions his parents want him to make.
On Sunday night, I was invited to two separate parties and had to plan my evening so I could attend both. The first party was filled with lots of attractive boys (very few girls). It was fun, we ate crepes, it was good. The second party was for a good friend. She is a super snowboarder chic. After most of the guests had left I sat and chatted with her and another girl about snowboarding for a long time. I didn't realize this til then, but snowboarders have their own lingo. They would say things and I didn't know what they were talking about. They invited me to learn to snowboard and I'm sure I'll chill with them again. It was fun to see a different side of people that I hadn't seen before.
Monday I went to a ward party and hung out with a bunch of Mormons. It was fun. We dressed up like we were from the 70's and danced old school style. The bishopric was there and we all had a fun time. It was a very comfortable environment.
One of my old friends from Bon Losee has been living in Lehi for the past year and I finally made it over to visit her this week. She is a model in Vegas. She has lived a life that I don't understand. She was working at a night club, doing modeling assignments, and now knows a lot of people at all the cool clubs in Vegas. She is beautiful and still very down to earth. She has done a great job to maintain her standards while living in the "city of sin".
I also went on a date this Thursday with a cute English Teacher from the high school I work at. The cheerleaders have been working to set me up with him multiple times. He is super sweet and he does challenge me in some ways. He is a soccer coach and he works with special ed students. Very different from what I am used to but I am letting things play out without a lot of stress.
On Saturday I went to a house warming party that was put on by some of the girls in my ward. They are super cute. It was great fun, great food and I met a lot of different people. This scene was a bit more indie. The people were much more liberal and had serious opinions about some controversies in life. It was good to be around people that accepted others for who they are and were fun to associate with. I found myself being very intrigued with who they are and the opinions they expressed.
Yesterday, Sunday, I went to the farewell of one of my good friends younger brother. He will be leaving soon to serve his mission in Spain. Anyways, I hadn't seen this friend in forever either. We have experienced a lot together and it was good to make ammends with her. She isn't living the gospel at all and you can tell that she allows herself to struggle much more than necessary because of that. I also was able to see her family and they are doing so good. I am very happy for them. It was great to see my friend and catch up a little bit.
So, maybe my weeks adventures don't seem to have anything to do with the religion, but I was talking to my brother last night and correlated some things and found out a lot about myself. I am a person that loves diversity. I long for it and living here, in Provo, Utah, there is a definite lack of diversity. I love the influence of living with so many members of the church but I need to be around people that are different from me. I realized that I seek diversity where it is not openly present. I love to meet people that have different ideas than me and that live a different lifestyle. I am intrigued by them and want to learn more. I want to see if the life they live brings them happiness, and if it makes them happy, I wonder if it would make me happy as well.
So, I was talking with my brother and he often comments about how some people are really trendy and they want to be thought of as cool. It made me think that what my motorcycle friend thinks is cool is going to be totally different from what my Vegas model friend thinks is cool. And the church friends are going to think that one thing is really cool while my childhood friend that isn't active in the church would think it is very uncool. I came to conclude that all these people have a different definition of what they view to be "cool" or acceptable or desirable. Because I have a tendency to surround myself with so many different groups of people, I feel I have a greater opportunity to define myself and decide what I deem to be cool. I realized that I think all these people are cool and that because they are all God's children, He thinks they are cool too. When it could be easy to try to impress all these different people and want them to like me, I have found that the most important person to impress in our Heavenly Father. He loves everyone. He thinks that we are all fantastic and that we have great potential to do anything. He loves us if we love to ride motorcycles, or if we love to get dressed up and look fancy. He loves us if we dress in the latest fashions and He loves us if we don't dress much at all. It is important that we develop relationships with other humans, but we have no need to try to influence their opinion of us because the only lasting opinion that really matters is how our Heavenly Father views us and I know that is true!