Goals: Week 1

Guys, things went so well this past week.  My first day of waking up early was incredible.  My dad helped to push me to stay awake the rest of the day.  I go so much done before noon.  It was amazing.  I got my bed made, my room cleaned, did an hour of workout at the gym, read my scriptures (which is so much more awesome in the morning), read some War and Peace, practiced the piano a bit.. It was hard to stay awake; I realized how the struggle was more mental than physical.  I prayed earlier that day for some help in staying awake.  I know the Lord helped me, and he showed me the blessings of doing things his way.

Later on Wednesday I ended up crashing in the morning.  I tried to stay up, but I didn't have anything pushing me to stay awake.  At least I woke up early, right?  I'll get there.

I haven't seen the morning stars in a long time.  That first Monday, I rode to the gym with my parents at 5:30 and just stared up at the stars for a long time.  They were beautiful, and arranged in different patterns that I haven't seen in a long time. :)  Also, a great blessing of waking up early on Friday was being able to see the sunrise (above picture).  My dad called me on his way to work and told me to check it out.  I was so grateful to have seen it!

I feel the Lord and his presence in the morning.  Night time, when I am alone, seems timeless.  Morning time, when I am alone seems magical and energizing.  I think and go about my activities with anticipation and excitement, with vigor.  They are very similar feelings in the way of peace and time, but the morning is has this forward motion about it and building anticipation (as it should, right?).

So, I guess going to bed by 10:30 on Fridays and Saturdays isn't feasible, right?  I had a friend help convince me of that.  Thanks, Erin.  But the goal stands for Sunday through Thursday.  And I'll let myself sleep in on Saturdays until 8:00am

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Serving has been very fun this week.  It's great to start the day and think, "Ooh! I wonder what I can do for somebody today."  The creative juices start flowing.  I also found that sometimes I didn't have anything planned and an opportunity arose--taking advantage of it was more of an excitement than an obligation.  I'm starting to realize that serving at least once a day is a bit too easy, but I'm going to try and stay consistent with my original goal.

The bed got made every day this week.  One day it didn't happen until 4:00 in the afternoon, but I got it made.  The room DID get cleaned.  That's going to be a challenge, though.  I can feel it starting to annoy me.  It's just nice to be able to be in my own room, to feel the spirit of order and be able to read my scriptures, pray, think, etc., without being distracted by an unmade bed while I kneel on a pile of laundry or something!

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If you notice I'm not writing about my goals, please kick me in the pants or something.  I'm going to stay accountable to you all.  I want to do this.  What a feeling it is to prove to yourself that you can change, that you can be different.  It's great to be the masters of our bodies and minds.  I Thank the Lord for giving me reason and hope for change.  I'm grateful for his little pushes as I ask him for help with my goals.  He loves me.

I hope you all are doing something different this year that you didn't do last year.  I hope we can change together.  Let's help each other!