The Yellow Brick Road

Alma 25:16

"Now they did not suppose that salvation came by the law of Moses; but the law of Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus they did retain a hope through faith, unto eternal salvation, relying upon the spirit of prophecy, which spake of those things to come."

It seems the more one tries to control their own life temporally, the more the Lord reminds you that your ways are not always His ways. And that His ways for one person are rarely His ways for you. That just because one person's life plays out in a certain way, or that most people's lives seem to play out in a certain way, does not mean that your life will or even necessarily should play out in that same way.  I suppose the best way to look at it is with faith and trust. By understanding that so long as you keep the most important things in life first, that everything else will fall into place for the best. 

So long as you keep things in perspective and listen to the Lord's opinion above the opinion of your peers (or even yourself some times), that the Celestial Kingdom awaits you. After all, it doesn't really matter what temporal status we attain in this life, so long as our heart and our disposition are in the right place, the Lord will take care of you. It certainly takes humility to put that faith into action. Humility to place the "common sense" of how life "should" work out behind the unknown in which the Lord leads you through. It reminds me of a scripture referenece by President Boyd K. Packer, in a recent General Conference talk he gave, which reads: 

"And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are  hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." (Ether 12:6)

The analogy that he gave was along the lines of being willing to walk your life into the darkness of the unknown a few steps. And after you do that, the Lord will turn the light on and light your path. If we show the Lord that we trust in his guidance, he will take care of us, walk beside us, carry us, whatever it is that he needs to do to guide us towards the Kingdom in which we truly desire. For the Lord desires that we all return to dwell with our Father in Heaven. However, if we do not truly desire to be there, it will be impossible to get there. No amount of wealth or no particular job or life-situation, or church calling... will get us to the Celestial Kingdom. It's all about what's inside of our hearts and whom we become. Obviously if we become a faithful disciple of Christ, we will be willing to let him direct our lives in whichever path that may take us.