I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and an awesome New Year's celebration. I know we had both; spending time with family and friends re-energizes me.
Since it is Monday we had Family Home Evening tonight. The lesson was on goal-making. I've been pretty lax with it these last few years; it seems that life is getting in the way of me reaching my goals. (I've go to put the blame on something!) So we talked about personal goals and family goals, and I wanted each of us to write down at least three goals to work on. This week we'll all be working on putting a plan together to help us focus on and work toward our goals. We also talked about being accountable to each other and supporting one another. I hope a little bit sank in!
I'm excited to work on my goals and resolutions, and I'm determined not to let myself get scared off or overwhelmed by them. One thing that helped put things in perspective was an article in the January Ensign magazine by Elder D. Todd Christofferson called Recognizing God's Hand in our Daily Blessings.
Here are just a couple lines that I'm taking to heart:
“As we reflect on the value of resolving to do better, let us determine to discipline ourselves to carefully select the resolutions we make, to consider the purpose for making them, and finally to make commitments for keeping them and not letting any obstacle stop us. Let us remind ourselves at the beginning of each day that we can keep a resolution just for that day."
President N. Eldon Tanner (1898–1982), First Counselor in the First Presidency
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recently taught that consistency in simple daily practices such as family prayer, scripture study, and home evening is crucial in building successful families. “Our consistency in doing seemingly small things,” he said, “can lead to significant spiritual results.”
President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994), speaking of repentance, gave this counsel: “We must be careful, as we seek to become more and more [Christlike], that we do not become discouraged and lose hope. Becoming Christlike is a lifetime pursuit and very often involves growth and change that is slow, almost imperceptible.”
So here's to change! One of the first goals I am working on is to improve my health, my weight, and my eating. I've been steadily putting on weight this last year and a half, and I'm ready to fit into (and look good in!) my clothes again, and to be able to wear my wedding ring, too. I'm joining the 6 Week Frugal Weight Loss Challenge at Stockpilingmoms.com.
My goal is to lose at least 10 pounds in that six weeks' time. I'm giving up my lovely Diet Cokes, having a water-drinking goal, eating smaller portions, and walking at least 30 minutes/day 5 days/week. And if I keep telling myself that I can do it just for that day, I think it will make all the difference in the world.
