the new me

Lelly's SPT this week is this:

stop for a minute and take a self-portrait, a snapshot of you in the here and now. what ARE your dreams and goals for 2008? what is your word? what are you thinking about right now as we plunge head-first into the new year?

Tuesdays are my most over-scheduled day so I'm going to take this challenge today. I really love the idea of setting goals for the year, especially when you only set a few. I am a big believer in the rule of threes, maybe by Covey? The idea is, you set a goal and find three things you can do that month to help you reach your goal. Then you find three things you can do that week, then three things each day. I like this for people like me who get distracted so it helps me keep focus. I may have to blog about how I'm doing throughout the year to keep my focus. This year I'm going to set two goals, two is about all I can realistically handle, plus they cover more than one base. The first one has to do with my word of the year, which is:

patience

I chose patience because it's definitely something I could definitely work on. I thought of this as a goal a few years ago when I was at a Relief Society thing and there was a speaker there. She was talking about recognizing the good thing about ourselves and mentioned being a very patient person, it's something she appreciates about herself. She said her children all know that they can come to her and tell her anything and she won't snap at them or over react. I had kind of an 'ah-ha' moment asking myself, "do my children feel this way?" Probably not. What's funny is that I don't usually mind waiting in line at the grocery store, or dealing with toddler craziness or my chaotic schedule or even middle of the night tend to the baby issues. I feel like I'm pretty laid back, pretty patient already but not when it comes to my kids. So, that's my goal, pretty straight forward. Now I just have to think of my three things today. :)

My second goal is a little broader in it's reaches. I resolve to become a more spiritual person. I was taking notes during testimony meeting on Sunday and made a kind of list that I could work on. Committing to daily personal prayer, scripture study, family scripture study, all these things are somewhat lacking at the current moment. I can do better. I will be reporting back.

So maybe at the end of 2008 I will be able to report that I am a more zen, patient, laid back, spiritual being and maybe we can do some yoga together.