I sat down to write this post and found myself staring blankly at the screen. What can I say? I love reading about all the great things you all are accomplishing. And I'm comforted that you're not all running marathons, or conquering the world, but that some of you are dealing with mundane everyday kind of things like me. To all of you - thanks for sharing the inspiration!
I set a goal last month to do our family scripture study daily, and to specifically have one 'perfect day' of being the kind of Mom I want to be. For me that means having all the prayers, scripture studies, family home evenings, meals and basic chores done. They are all simple little things that seem so hard to do.
It should not have been too difficult. But, let's be honest. If it weren't difficult for me would I have needed to set a goal to do it?
So anyway, I went through the month with this goal sort of in the back of my head. Long story short, I never had my perfect day, which really consisted of just checking everything off the list for one day. But I came pretty close, and I did improve in all those areas just by thinking more about them. We actually had family scripture study a few times. We had family night EVERY WEEK for the month - which meant moving it to Thursday night several times so my husband could be home for it. (I am feeling super proud and accomplished about this!) And we had family prayers. We are heading in the right direction, and on a good roll. I figure that as long as I don't give up, and just keep trying, that I'm doing well.
My goal for next month:
I have a little blog where I post my illustrations for people to download for free. It's mostly church stuff, like primary singing time games & charts, or clip art for young women's and relief society. I started it just to feel like I was doing something with the talent that Heavenly Father has given me. It's cutesy foofy stuff. I didn't imagine that very many people would take an interest in it, so I've been pleasantly surprised at the amount of people who have visited my blog and started using my artwork for stuff.
Having been inspired by Dave Ramsey, I want to try to pay off my lingering student loans, and other debts. So, in order to kick things up a notch, I've decided to open an Etsy shop. I'm really quite nervous about it. People downloading stuff for free from my blog doesn't necessarily mean they'll be willing to pay money for it on Etsy. But, I'm going to be brave and give it a try. I guess that means I'm cautiously optimistic.
My specific goal is to have my shop all put together with logo, banner, policies, etc. and have 8 items in it by the end of the month. Wish me luck.
Susan.
8 comments:
Way to go! I think striving to have a perfect day is a great but very difficult goal to accomplish. I am inspired to try it, if it at least helps me improve myself a little bit, which we all could, right? I am excited to see your artwork and if you have any questions about opening your shop, you can email me. I opened one last year and have made a lot of mistakes, i mean, learned a lot! ;) adanson4@att.net
Way to go! I think striving to have a perfect day is a great but very difficult goal to accomplish. I am inspired to try it, if it at least helps me improve myself a little bit, which we all could, right? I am excited to see your artwork and if you have any questions about opening your shop, you can email me. I opened one last year and have made a lot of mistakes, i mean, learned a lot! ;) adanson4@att.net
Good job Susan! Specifically on the FHE. Our family benefits so much when I don't shut down at night and prayers and "putting the house to bed" can make such a difference. Good luck with your Etsy Shop start up. I'll pin it all to get you some traffic--will that help?
I love the realness (is that a word?) of your goal, and that you embraced each tiny bit of your improvement, even if you felt you fell short of perfection every single time. That's a wonderful lesson for me. (Plus, I was beginning to fear I'm not the only marathoner here!)
I hopped over to your blog, love your stuff. You're the Sally deFord of the church illustration world! (She posts free piano sheet music, and has rightfully earned the praise of church musicians everywhere.) I think you will be blessed for your generosity with your talents. Good luck with your Etsy shop. I hope you'll tell us all about it.
Dear Susan, Yay! My family is normal! Yay! Your family is normal! Or maybe we are not normal together...?! :-) I have a feeling, it is the former. I had an epiphany about perfection yesterday in regional conference: What IS perfection anyway? Maybe the way we press forward, stumble, get up, work hard, improve, and fall again IS perfection? I think it sounds to me like you're doing it all just right! I LOVE this article I found about perfectionism, and will read it over and over again.
Doesn't sound to be like you have perfectionism issues and neither do I- you should see my kitchen floor right this second- but it is a fascinating article nevertheless!
https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/volume-12-number-3-2011/be-ye-therefore-perfect-beyond-perfectionist-paradigm
I love and have used your artwork OFTEN and feel so star-struck by you. I'm going to be President of your Fan Club! Go For IT!!!
Thanks Julie for the article. It is truth. Some times when I'm struggling understanding a person's nature (finding them really irritating) It helps me to think about their eternal self that has shed the weight/imperfectness of mortality.
I feel like I struggle because of my own mortality, and that could be viewed as excuse (when I'm trying to eat healthy) but also a life line when I'm interacting with my kids, husband, calling, jobs...
I have a quote I love that says "Ideals are stars to steer by, not sticks to beat ourselves with." It's pretty easy that even if we miss the goal, we still have come so far towards reaching it. Striving for perfection is only good if we recognize the blessings and steps we did make. Good luck with your etsy shop. I would love to see pictures for primary talks. Your illustrations are fabulous.
Way to go on the FHE every week! You may not have done everything you wanted to do this month but that is huge! We struggle with that so much. I love your idea of a perfect day. I sometimes think about what my perfect day would look like and they days I actually live are very different ;/. I think you should TOTALLY set up an etsy shop! You are so talented, I love looking at your art work.
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