Well, it's that time of year again. The decorations are down (supposedly; I'm actually still working on that one) and the skies are grey. Our waistlines are bigger after all that holiday food. Our motivation is high.
What will I accomplish this year?
This year I will finally get thin.
This year I will finally get organized.
This year I will finally make a habit of . . . .
It seems to me that I usually set goals that have been my goals for some time. The things I want to work on are usually accomplishments that have eluded me for years. This year I'm gonna do it.
Sound familiar?
I don't think the new year is a time for new beginnings. It is a time for inventory and continuing the journey. I'll pick myself up where I am and take a couple steps forward. I'll likely take a few steps back as well, but that's okay by me. As long as by the end of the year, when I total all my steps, I've taken more forward than back. As long as the general direction I travel is forward, I'm happy. I suppose I'll move in a rather zig-zag pattern, but that's still forward, isn't it?
I have been working on my 101 in 1001 list. I'm not setting any New Year's Resolutions, since I've already got plenty of things planned. My 101 list progress follows.
Accomplished: 17
Currently working on: 17
Hired out: 3
Not going to happen: 1
Yet to embark upon: 63
And I've got about 2 years and 2 months left to work on them. Slow and steady wins the race, right? (The operative word being STEADY.)
As I examine myself and my motivation (or lack thereof, as is often the case) I can easily get discouraged or distracted. I think it's helpful to remember that any worthwhile goal is going to take work. And work, as we know, is an eternal principle.
President David O. Mckay said "Let us realize that the privilege to work is a gift, that the power to work is a blessing, that the love of work is success."
I love that.
Maybe that should be my motto for the year: The love of work is success.
I want to love my work more. If I think of my work as a blessing to my family and a labor of love, then hopefully I'll be more motivated, accomplish more, and complain less. If I love my work then I'll be successful in it.
I'll be happier too. And who couldn't do with an added measure of happiness?
3 comments:
The highest reward for man's toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it.
--John Ruskin
I need to give myself much more freely to my work. Thank you for a bit of motivation.
"Work is an antidote for anxiety, an ointment for sorrow, and a doorway to possibility." Pres. Uchtdorf. (that one's on my wall right now)
I like the idea that the love of work is success--and I think that's any work. Parenting, housework, personal goals I have to work at, employment etc. I think I'll add that to my wall.
I love the quote Shelley mentioned. That's exactly how I feel about work. We just aren't meant to be idle for long.
Thanks for your message and for your comment on my blog. You are a dear friend; I love having you in my life!
Enjoy your day and I'll see you tonight!
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