New ______
Wow, I haven't blogged in almost a month!
So by now, almost exactly a month of summer has gone by. And for me, it hasn't been a bad month, but it hasn't been the month I would've wanted. This past Wednesday was the 4th of July, which of course means a big fireworks show. While sitting through the overly-long, 40 minute fireworks show on Wednesday, it all reminded me of New Year's. The beginning of a year is also a time of celebration with fireworks and fun. And New Year's is a time of new beginnings and fresh starts, accompanied by resolutions of how you'll make your life better in the coming year. These resolutions often are invigorating for a few weeks, but then expectations fall flat and the high hopes of the year are not realized, when the year has barely even started.
While contemplating this New Year's activity in July, I thought of how my life is now compared to where I want it to be. Of course, I'm not a bad person or anything, but some things aren't my strongest attributes right now. The problem with New Year's resolutions are found in their title- they only happen once a year. For most people, doing something an entire year is challenging. But why don't we all make new week resolutions or new day resolutions? Why can't this week be a fresh start, or next Tuesday? The novelty of a fresh new year can be applied to each day or each week. Just like each new year has never happened before, each new week has taken place before either. But still goals and resolutions can be difficult on a weekly or daily basis. Everyone just has those bad days. So what's the formula for setting a goal and keeping it?
Well I'll be the first to admit that I set very ambitious goals that often don't come to realization in the time table I've set. To simplify the goal process I offer three steps:
Next, avoid temptations. Often the word temptation conjures images of shady places and sketchy activities that you would never take part in. We often skip over the fact that simple things can be temptations. Watching TV can be a temptation. Checking Facebook can be a temptation. While these things are not bad, they can be serious inhibitors to getting things done. We have an array of awesome activities and ideas in front of us that can lead to countless hours of time wasted. Watching the occasional good TV show is not bad. Keeping up with friends and family is not bad. When these things take over every minute of available time, then it becomes a problem. For example, if you went on Facebook for 5 minutes, twelve times a day, then you would spend 1 hour a day on it. That's 7 hours a week. Those 7 hours could be channeled towards countless good goals and activities.
Finally, build a foundation of faith. In a recent talk "Mountains to Climb", President Eyring called for us all to build a foundation of faith. Foundations are imperative to any structure. "That solid basis for a foundation of faith is personal integrity," he continues, "Our choosing the right consistently whenever the choice is placed before us creates the solid ground under our faith. It can begin in childhood since every soul is born with the free gift of the Spirit of Christ. With that Spirit we can know when we have done what is right before God and when we have done wrong in His sight." Many of our resolutions involve becoming a better person. If we have faith in God, our ability to become better will be strengthened as we come closer to Him.
Well, hopefully this sheds some light and inspiration on the subject. Hopefully, we can all become better as each new week and new day passes. Happy New Week!
So by now, almost exactly a month of summer has gone by. And for me, it hasn't been a bad month, but it hasn't been the month I would've wanted. This past Wednesday was the 4th of July, which of course means a big fireworks show. While sitting through the overly-long, 40 minute fireworks show on Wednesday, it all reminded me of New Year's. The beginning of a year is also a time of celebration with fireworks and fun. And New Year's is a time of new beginnings and fresh starts, accompanied by resolutions of how you'll make your life better in the coming year. These resolutions often are invigorating for a few weeks, but then expectations fall flat and the high hopes of the year are not realized, when the year has barely even started.
While contemplating this New Year's activity in July, I thought of how my life is now compared to where I want it to be. Of course, I'm not a bad person or anything, but some things aren't my strongest attributes right now. The problem with New Year's resolutions are found in their title- they only happen once a year. For most people, doing something an entire year is challenging. But why don't we all make new week resolutions or new day resolutions? Why can't this week be a fresh start, or next Tuesday? The novelty of a fresh new year can be applied to each day or each week. Just like each new year has never happened before, each new week has taken place before either. But still goals and resolutions can be difficult on a weekly or daily basis. Everyone just has those bad days. So what's the formula for setting a goal and keeping it?
Well I'll be the first to admit that I set very ambitious goals that often don't come to realization in the time table I've set. To simplify the goal process I offer three steps:
- Be realistic
- Avoid temptations
- Build a foundation of faith
Next, avoid temptations. Often the word temptation conjures images of shady places and sketchy activities that you would never take part in. We often skip over the fact that simple things can be temptations. Watching TV can be a temptation. Checking Facebook can be a temptation. While these things are not bad, they can be serious inhibitors to getting things done. We have an array of awesome activities and ideas in front of us that can lead to countless hours of time wasted. Watching the occasional good TV show is not bad. Keeping up with friends and family is not bad. When these things take over every minute of available time, then it becomes a problem. For example, if you went on Facebook for 5 minutes, twelve times a day, then you would spend 1 hour a day on it. That's 7 hours a week. Those 7 hours could be channeled towards countless good goals and activities.
Finally, build a foundation of faith. In a recent talk "Mountains to Climb", President Eyring called for us all to build a foundation of faith. Foundations are imperative to any structure. "That solid basis for a foundation of faith is personal integrity," he continues, "Our choosing the right consistently whenever the choice is placed before us creates the solid ground under our faith. It can begin in childhood since every soul is born with the free gift of the Spirit of Christ. With that Spirit we can know when we have done what is right before God and when we have done wrong in His sight." Many of our resolutions involve becoming a better person. If we have faith in God, our ability to become better will be strengthened as we come closer to Him.
Well, hopefully this sheds some light and inspiration on the subject. Hopefully, we can all become better as each new week and new day passes. Happy New Week!
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