What is Grace?
There’s a hymn in our church hymn book called Did You Think to Pray? The second verse says “When your heart was full of anger, did you think to pray? Did you plead for grace, my brother, that you might forgive another who had crossed your way?” Today I want to try to touch on the aspect of grace hinted at in this verse–giving grace to others. Grace is a huge topic. Let’s start by talking about what grace is. In Hebrew, it means favor or goodwill. In Geek it is a gift freely given. The gospel topics app says that grace is the divine help or strength extended to…
Habits–1% Improvements
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! It’s 5:20 AM and time to get up. I wake up at the same time every morning and do the same daily tasks as part of my morning routine. I drink water, write 3 pages, visualize, exercise, and study my scriptures. My morning routine has become a habit. It is something I perform regularly and automatically. We all have habits. Some are good and some are bad. Kissing your kids before bed is a good habit. Yelling at your kids to get their chores done is a bad habit. Drinking water is a good habit. Drinking soda is a bad habit. James Clear teaches in his…
People NEED to Help
I love how, when reading, I come across random good quotes. My middle daughter and I are reading “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck. The Joad family has just finished their first day on the road–they are traveling to California in hopes of finding work after being kicked off their land. They meet another couple, the Wilsons, traveling and ask to share their campsite for the night. Grandpa Joad is sick and dies right as they are trying to get settled. The Wilsons immediately jump in and help. They offer food and blankets and help bury the body. Mama Joad feels guilty for putting the Wilsons in such a…
Don’t Make Assumptions
Have you ever heard that silly saying about assuming? When you assume you make an ASS out of U and ME. (pardon my french) It came to mind often as I read the third agreement. The third agreement from Don Miguel Ruiz’s book The Four Agreements says “Don’t make assumptions. Find courage to ask questions and and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.” It is so easy to make assumptions. When a stranger says something rude, we assume he’s a jerk. When a friend forgets…
Don’t Take Anything Personally
Last week I wrote about the first agreement–be impeccable with your word. This week I read the second agreement and listened to the corresponding podcast. The second agreement is don’t take things personally. “Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.” This agreement can be a little bit more difficult to implement. But I like what Don Miguel Ruiz says right at the start of the chapter–if you take something personally, then it is probably be cause…
Be Impeccable with your Word
I’m slowly reading The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. Mostly because a podcast I listen to did a read along, and I wanted to participate. She did one episode for each of the agreements. So I’m reading the chapter then listening to the podcast. I’ve only done the first agreement so far (that is why I say I’m slowly reading the book). The teachings in the book come from a practice handed down in an ancient southern Mexico society called the Toltec. The premise of the book is that we all have beliefs that we learn from the adults around us. As children we believe everything adults tell us.…
10 Things Happy People Do
This list isn’t mine, but the commentary is. I can’t remember where I got it (maybe from a YouTube video we watched during quarantine), but I loved it and had to share. Feel free to add to the list. Happy People: 1 Surround themselves with happy people. I find this to be true. It’s easy to be happy when those around you are happy. The higher energy of your associations lifts your energy. 2 Try to be happy. I believe happiness is a choice. I love the quote that says “Being negative only makes a difficult journey more difficult. You may be given a cactus, but you don’t have to…
Having the Energy to Make it Back
I went hiking with some friends last week. One thing you should know about these friends is that they are hike-ers! They hike often and hike for a good chunk of time. I enjoy hiking but don’t get out very often and when I do it’s probably for an hour. 2 max. They knew this and were aware of the difference in our abilities so they kept checking to see how I was doing and if I could keep going. Their asking reminded me a movie I had watched years ago. The main character in the movie told a story about a competition he and his brother used to have.…
Quarantine Goals
Earlier this year I came across a photo or meme that looked similar to the one below except that it was Goals for 2020. It had some of the same spaces, but also some space that are unique to new year goals. Seeing it again made me wonder if I could make quarantine goals? Can I come out of this time a better version of myself? Is there a habit I want to stop or something new I want to try? Is there something I want to have or somethings I can give? Who do I want to be by the time this is all over? How about you? Have…
The Power of Habits
I love when I hear the same message from different sources in a short amount of time. This morning I listened to two podcasts that talked about the importance of habits. One was specific to habits and crises and the other was about habits and results. Both had great information, and I want to share some of the notes I took while listening. (No, I don’t usually take notes when listening to podcasts, but today I just HAD to.) PODCAST #1“This is not the time to throw out everything that worked. This is the time to dig-in to what worked. Consistency compounds. We are not created by the things we…
