Life is better living the truths in the scriptures

Yikes, my last two posts were in September and January. I have not been consistent in writing since last year. This has been partly by choice and partly because of a lot of busy things going on this last year. Let's see where this post takes us (or me).

Ya, that's right. About a year ago I thought I was going to graduate, get a job and move. It turns out that I didn't graduate, got turned down for job interviews because of it and had no reason to move. There were a whole bunch of our friend who moved out of the ward at that time and we wanted to be a part of it. There was a mass exodus of friends that moved into this ward (branch at the time) and we wanted to ride the momentum and head out of here on a wave of excitement.

Heavenly Father has other plans for us. I actually think he has different plans for Angie, but I'll tell you the plans that I think He has for me.

I have learned to slow down a lot. Not all the way. But I am able to consciously slow down about all the things I think about and pack into my schedule. It turns out that the reason I'm so busy is because...drum roll, please...I fill up my schedule with stuff!

Man, how silly is that. I was so close to the problem I couldn't even see it. My stress levels have risen over the past several years and got to the point months ago that I thought I was going to pop. I'll just say that I was very tense, almost like I was in a fight or flight situation with every little thing in my life, every thing I thought about. There was no danger, just the perception that I had to accomplish a lot in a short time. The more I worked through, the more I pressed on to do more. Did I slow down to appreciate the accomplishments?

Nope. Big mistake.

Aren't I supposed to enjoy the journey and enjoy the accomplishments? Yes, yes, yes! But I didn't. I couldn't in that state of mind. I pushed to get done, thinking I'd feel better when my load was lighter.

One of the many scriptures that has brought me to this realization is 2 Ne 2:25, which says

25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

And, of course, my friend King Benjamin's wisdom in Mosiah 4:27, which teaches me that

27 ...it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.

The Lord is blessing me through the truths in the scriptures and the whisperings of the Spirit. I have been practicing turning off my Go, Go, Go habit and playing more with my kids or actually sitting around and doing nothing. 

This week I read a nice article about productivity on LinkedIn by Ilya Pozin. It's really about unproductivity. Thing #1 hits the nail on the head - put less on the To Do list and get more things done. It's not about the amount of things you check off your "list", but what is actually accomplished. And I'm not even talking about work here. I'm talking about life in general. Life needs to be worth living and that means enjoying the journey as we were meant To Do by our Creator.

I'm becoming better off by living the truths in these scriptures.

Yes!