Rising to New Levels

I CHALLENGE YOU...

These days, I feel like I need to be more. I feel like I am just sitting idle in a good place, but that I could be striving to be in a much higher place. I feel like this in all aspects of my life.

My marriage. I have an amazing marriage. I love my husband unconditionally, he is my "soul mate" and we are perfect for one another. We are honest and help each other become better people. But I feel like I could be a better wife if I were to put more focus on him. If I were to be more in tune with his wants and try harder to make him happy.

Motherhood. My son is the best kid that anyone could ever ask for. He sleeps through the night, takes good naps, is perfectly content on the floor playing with his toys, eats nearly everything that he should .. he rocks! But I feel like I don't spend enough time on the floor with him. I should be reading to him more, and trying to teach him things. Exercising his brain and helping him reach his full potential.

Myself. I feel like I'm too lazy. I am as active as I need to be to keep my life going (which includes keeping up with Aiden and TK.. aka. my life) but I am not exactly making things easier on myself. I'm not making sense now. ha. Well I feel like by putting for a little more effort to be healthier, I will, in the long run, make life easier. By exercising and eating better (while it will take getting used to and a little more time) I will have a healthier, more energetic body, I'll be able to do more with my day with the extra burst of energy, and we will probably save some money if I make full, healthy meals for my family rather than wasting money on junky fast meals/snacks.

Religion. I feel like I've slacked in this the most. Not that I've gone downhill or anything.. I mean if anything I am slowly rising. However, by putting forth the slightest bit of effort I could be growing so much more. By taking the 15 minutes in the morning to read my scriptures and pray or by having a discussion with my husband over dinner about concepts that are over my head or by taking an extra 2 minutes before bedtime to have family prayer, even just ONE of these things would help me ascend to where I really want to be.

Friends/Family. Living so far away from so many of my friends and family, I just feel so.. distant. Not only the miles have gotten in my way but life is just moving so fast. Between Aiden and TK, most of my time is gone. But then you add in work, and errands, and getting ready for school, and running the household (poorly...) there's really not much else. So I need to take advantage of my driving time or multi-task to be able to call and catch up or email or whatever it takes to show those that I love that I STILL love them.

homemaking This goes along with a lot of my earlier goals. Eating healtier-gotta know how to cook if you're gunna be making healthy meals. Spirituality-the home needs to be a place of order, and peace. Marriage/Motherhood-I'm not the only one who has to live in it. As a mother and a wife, i need to be putting forth more efforts to keep our house in order. Each time I clean a room, it lasts about 2 hours. (mainly because the only room I REALLY need clean to feel the slightest bit good is the kitchen. and cmon, that one is used the MOST.. it never stands a chance). But I need to put my mind to it and get my house 100% clean. Then maybe it will be easier to keep it that way.

Time ManagementI've gotta find a way to do all of this!! I need to prioritize and not procrastinate. I have to focus on how the benefits will outweigh the work and effort that I need to put into it.

SOOOO!! All of this leads me to a challenge. A challenge that I propose to myself but extend to all of you. I CHALLENGE YOU... to choose at least ONE of these areas or even an area of your own to improve on. And work on it.

I am going to be working on all of mine listed above and so when I find a good, healthy recipe or a fun exercise workout, I'll share it with you! Or a great excerpt in the scriptures that really inspired me, ect. Please, leave a comment letting me know what you will be doing so I can be sure to keep an eye out for your posts and we can all keep each other in check!! Bug me if I haven't posted about anything. Ride me about it!!

This is something I feel very strongly that I need to do and support is always great!! So please, let me know if you will accept the challenge. For me, this starts today. Good luck!

Peace, Love, and CookieDough.