This morning I had an aha.
I love these moments!
For some reason I was thinking about the Fourth Article of Faith. This is what is says, "We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost." What stood out to me this time was where the remission of sins happened. It doesn't say that with repentance. Instead, it says it with baptism.
I've always thought that when you repent that is when you receive a remission of your sin. Which, I guess, is true. It just isn't how I thought of it. Baptism is an ordinance we perform to show Heavenly Father our willingness to keep His commandments. As we keep the commandments and our covenants we receive a remission of our sins because we are changing ourselves (repenting) to become more like the Savior which brings a remission of our sins.
With it being the first of the year, goals are on my mind. I don't want another year to go by wondering what I accomplished; how I improved; or wonder what I even did that was of any worth.
There seems to be a disconnect between what I've read and believe will help me and actually doing it. I believe that having set goals will help me move forward in areas where I want to become better. Following through with that belief is another story. For instance, I really want to be able to speak Spanish fluently. I keep making that a goal, but I haven't made much progress in the years and years that I have had that goal. My hang up is those baby steps I need to take consistently...and perfectionism. I tend to want to know perfectly what is going to help me and what exactly to do and how to do it without taking that first step, or trying anything out and seeing if it works for me. I tend to start feeling anxiety as I try to work it out on paper, and I start feeling overwhelmed.
Another example is improving my ability to communicate in all areas...writing, speaking, listening, reading for deeper meaning, asking great questions. I posted years ago about overcoming my fear of writing. That's the reason I started this blog 5 years ago. Now that I have only written three blog posts in that amount of time I am deciding that I need to get it together. My husband actually helped me with the 'how' of doing it. He suggested that in order to increase my ability to write I could post on this blog. I came up with the number of days that I would do it. It also helps to have a deadline. It gets your adrenaline going...at least it does for me. I am doing this as part of my ticket for Wood Badge. So, for five weeks I am writing on this blog at least four times a week. Wow, that makes me nervous! I started one post already and didn't feel like it made sense even to me. Getting your thoughts out on paper (or a blog) is a lot harder than others make it seem. Writing four blog posts a week is now seeming to be quite the feat.
I'm committed though!! I am going to do this. These first posts might leave a lot to be desired, but, hopefully, they will improve.
