From Theory to Practicum

Here I am on a Monday morning after a great weekend with all our family home and after watching another amazing General Conference and I ask myself, "How do I get from where I am to where I want to be?"  Of course I ask myself this in a spiritual sense, but I think the question applies to all areas of my life.  I feel like I understand the theory of making changes, I just struggle with the minute to minute, day to day decisions.


For example, here we are - 52 days into our challenge, more than half way through -  and although I can say that thoughts of making changes have occupied my mind everyday multiple times, I can't say that I think my appearance has changed much.  In fact, if I think about how long I have been doing this, I can get kind of discouraged about the lack of visible change.


So what does it really take to make these changes?  At the dinner table yesterday afternoon, my 21 year old son told me that if I had the desire to be thin, then I would be (easy for him to say!!!).  Does that mean that I don't really have the desire to be healthy?  Do I just think that I want to be healthy but deep down inside I just really want to taste yummy food?


I say that I want to be organized and family centered in my focus on life but then when I am asked to do other things that aren't a priority, I lack the ability to say no (my hairstylist reminded me this morning that I have got to learn to say NO!).  So what do I really value?


I think all of this introspection is part of the process, but only if I am able to come to terms with some of the hard questions and answers in life.  Only if I am able to move from the theory to the practicum of daily decisions!