Treating Myself Like a Toddler

Gretchen Rubin recently posted a note on Facebook entitled "Treat Yourself Like a Toddler." This concept is the epitome of my personal commandment to "TCOY (take care of yourself)."

Getting enough sleep, eating right, having enough quiet time, not getting too cold, keeping my favorite "toys" near at hand - these are all important considerations for my personal happiness, especially during the sometimes stress-filled holiday season.

Quote of the Day

"I have found that most people
are about as happy as they make up
their minds to be."

~Abraham Lincoln

Quote of the Day

"We are repeatedly what we do.
Excellence, then, is not an act,
but a habit."

~Aristotle

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

Resolution: An Attitude of Gratitude

On the first day of November, it is a good time to think about "liv[ing] in thanksgiving daily" (Alma 34:38). I am resolving to make a "gratitude journal" post on my blog every day this month.

Resource: "The Divine Gift of Gratitude" by Thomas S. Monson (October 2010).

Resolution: Temple Worship

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (that is, a Mormon), I believe that each of the 134 currently operating temples around the world is a "House of the Lord." A temple is a sacred building; it is a place of learning, a place for making covenants to serve Jesus Christ and humankind, a place of peace, a place for quiet contemplation.

At the end of 2009, my local ecclesiastical leader (that is, my bishop) challenged the members of our congregation to spend more time in the temple in the coming year. I took that challenge seriously and determined that I would sacrifice some of my leisure time to attend the temple more frequently. A typical frequency of attendance is monthly, but that didn't seem to require the level of "sacrifice" I desired to make (despite the fact that I've not always attended even that frequently). I decided that I wanted to attend as close to weekly as my schedule would permit.

When I completed a five-year work commitment on June 30, I analyzed my temple attendance frequency for the first half of the year, computing an average of 2.3 times a month. I decided that I wanted to work toward doubling that average over the next six months. I also wanted to contemplate and incorporate into my worship some of the "suggestions of how to gain more benefit from temple attendance" from Richard G. Scott in an address he gave in April 2009 entitled "Temple Worship: The Source of Strength and Power in Times of Need." My husband and I also determined that we wanted to complete a project we'd tentatively started, inspired by a friend who was doing the same thing, to visit each of the thirteen currently operating temples in Utah during this year.

As I've attended the temple in recent months, I've concluded that this goal of increased temple attendance is much more than an attempt to comply with a challenge from my bishop or to do something "fun" with my husband. The temple truly is a place for me to follow my Personal Commandments to "be still" and to "let go and let God." I am more peaceful when I visit the temple. I feel a sense of being part of something bigger than myself. I am empowered not only to cope with the realities of day-to-day life but also to stretch, to grow, so that I can become the person that I want to be. Being in the temple makes me happy.

My on-going resolution for temple worship includes visiting the temple an average of five times each month and rotating among the various activities of the temple.

Resolution: The Simple Woman's Daybook

I've decided that I'm going to participate in The Simple Woman's Daybook. I see this as a way to simplify, to be grateful, to be still, and to seek joy, while trying to blog more frequently.

I plan to post my daybook on my "regular" blog on a weekly basis, linking to the host site. My first post is here.