Simply Said

Nothing is simpler or more potentially powerful than one well chosen word.  

Apparently there is an idea circling the blogoshpere of using one word to inspire one's year in terms of improvement (I hesitate to use the "R" word).  I've now seen it a few times, some posts serious and some in jest, but I got this idea initially from Octamom.  While I'm rarely known for my brevity, the idea of a single word directing my progress appeals to me.  It seems more achievable than a laundry list of all of the areas in my life which I feel are lacking.  Finding that word, the one word that will make a bigger difference than any other, that is another story.

I think that people are drawn to different words the way they are drawn to colors or symbols.  Words are in fact symbols, often, of deeper meanings.  Many of the words that seemingly appeal to the masses have little pull on me.  They seem broad in meaning, trite, pedestrian.  Words inspiring change and improvement often fall into this category for me.

So change.  Looking for change, for improvement.  I thought about "skinny," but that sounded crass.  I've seen "simplify" and I can appreciate that, but my problem would then using that simplified time and space wisely, which does not necessarily follow.  "Blog less, Mother more" is a phrase rather than a word, and something I'm not sure I'm ready for.

This then, for me, came down to identifying my biggest challenge, or at least the most meaningful.  That is easy.  It is in my spiritual health that needs the most attention.  I attend church meetings more than regularly.  I fulfill my callings with thought and organization and care.  When the compassionate service leader calls, I am there.  I am a decent Visiting Teacher.  I hold regular Family Home Evenings, family prayer and family scripture study.  I also feed my kids breakfast and make their lunches.  But I often don't eat myself.  And I generally don't read my scriptures on my own, and my prayer habits are not regular.  

I do think a lot about my relationship with God, and my inadequacies there.  Because I like to think.  I don't need a schedule for thinking.  So if some of that thinking can count as having a prayerful heart, maybe I'm not quite as bad off as I think.  Taking an honest inventory, it seems I do best at personal spiritual health habits when I have made a project out of it for one reason or another.  Because I also like a project.  Or at least I am good at getting a project done.  

So my word for the year is "Discipleship."  I think discipleship is what is most important for me to develop, to focus on.  Maybe a year-long project will turn into something more permanent, some changing of the hard-wiring in my system.  I hope and suspect that other problems I see in my life will then fall into one of two categories.  They will either naturally improve as a function of trying harder to follow my Savior or they will not matter so much.  And I think I am at a stage in my life where I at least have the desire to let go of the things that matter less.

Now, first thing's first.  I need to find a super-cool quote for my blog and contact my local vinyl lettering sales woman.  Well, maybe not.  But I do need to go have a morning prayer.