Every little thing is gonna be alright

Some days it just seems like you're trying to walk up the down escalator. Normal pace will never get you where you want to be and it takes a little extra strain. Well imagine someone pushed the speed-up button, if there was one, and you found yourself tripping to try and get to the top. It's no fun and you'll end up all scrapped up. But if you were to stand at the bottom and take a few minutes to collect your thoughts, get the goal in mind, and time it just right I bet you'd still make it. Some times we forget to stop and think things through. There's nothing better than sitting down at the kitchen table and planning out where you'd like to be. It makes you feel empowered. I find that when I just simply write things down I end up accomplishing them without really putting all my focus.

In October 2010's General Conference, President Uchtdorf gave a talk titled "Of Things that Matter Most". It focuses mostly on slowing down and turning our attention to what matters most. Prioritizing. I'm not going to lie. I really like technology. I really, REALLY like my iPhone. One might even go so far as to say I'm addicted. But it seems that technology is taking attention and time away from the relationships right in front of our faces. We go to dinner and 5 out of the 6 people have to answer a text or a call at some point in the night. Maybe this is why there were less divorces 15 years ago? There were less distractions? If only we could cut out the fat, as an old boss used to say. If we could get rid of all the truly unnecessary things in our lives, slow down, and re-evaluate, we might actually have less stress and more healthy relationships. I am certainly not an expert at this. It's the 23rd of the month and I've sent/received a total of 4,634 text messages. That's A LOT of time spent talking with people who aren't right in front of my face. Can you imagine if I had used that time to read to my children or work on a church project I've been working on or enjoy the family I have or do a household chore I've been putting off? Wow!

I'm not going to say that I will never text again, because that's just plain ridiculous, but I am going to try and keep it below 500 for the rest of the month. That's only 6 days. But less than a 100 texts a day. Can I do it? I bet I would feel so much less stress if I spent less time hangin with the iPhone and more time focusing on my kids or honey. I just got off the phone with V. He mentioned to me that I can sometimes ignore him when I really get going with a conversation. How awful is that?! Here's to cutting out the fat and focusing on the real things that matter in life; the beautiful people standing next to me.