"Simplifying our temporal enviroment leads to discovery in the spiritual enviroment."

What do you think? Would we recognize more ideas as promptings of the Lord if we slowed down our temporal duties?

A sudden thought to say something...

I was leaving piano lessons this evening with Bethany, and was almost to the door when I thought I should tell Juliann, our piano mentor, about kifer and lacto-fermentation. I looked at her and said, "I feel I should tell you this so I'm just going to say it". I went on to tell her and then two other ladies told me they have kifer grains they can give me. I will make some kifer milk and bring some veggies I'm fermenting right now to Juliann next week.

Why did I say that? I'm not sure but I do know that Juliann is going through radiation therapy to fight a type of nerve cancer that was/is in her face. She will be expecting to get sores in her throat very soon. That is all I can say for the idea. Maybe it's to make her a bone broth and some soup? There are a lot of maybes in my mind. I just don't know.

I heard the thought and I acted. What will come I'm not sure. Maybe this will get the other ladies to do something since I had no idea they know about Nourishing Traditions.

Here is something that came to me yesterday:

I have decided to starts a girls club. I needed two co-advisers to help me. (I've thought about doing this in the past but did not take the idea seriously.) I called two gals who said they wanted to help. The first is Jessica, and it turns out we know each other from a George Wythe class we took. She is cute, perky and happy. She reminds me of Tonks from Harry Potter. The second mom called me this morning and said she knows my husband. Carolyn grew up in Ramona and is actually a friend of a younger sister, Elary.

Point? True it's a small world but not my point. My point is that I acted; and look who God sent me. Two women who have connections with me.

This Say Go Be Do so reminds me of the movie Field of Dreams.  "If you build it, they will come."

-Nickie

Ordered it!

I ordered the book today. Not sure how diligent I will be with posting. But, here's to trying!

Lisa

Humble pie...

I have held a grudge against a Provo city employee for almost two years. But not any longer. This all started with the Farmers' Market and feeling accused of not paying our rental fee. I didn't appreciated the accusations which where not true and I was able to verify the payment. But being me, I just decided to not like this woman for two years! Gove helped me to see that maybe I should consider how hard things were for her as she was new to running the market. I tried to think along these lines and I came to see that I have been wrong and I would need to go and apologize to her.
As I came up to the council meeting room, there she was waiting at the door. I went right up to her and asked to speak with her. I said this was going to sound funny but I had held a grudge against her and I was wrong and want to ask her forgiveness. She was quick to forgive and apologized herself to me. She was very nice and explained how she was on blood pressure medication and her body wasn't responding. True I wasn't the only person unhappy with her. But really, for me to dislike her for 2 years has been pitiful and prideful.
We parted happily and on good terms. Once I was sitting and the council meeting was running, she came and gave me a peace offering of 6 Hersey candies. She actually seems quite nice. It's so hard to know when you first judge a person. Of which I am almost queen of.

Say go be do...I'll just keep working at it.

P.S. It's now Wednesday morning and I was writing in my journal...I realized that last nights opportunity was not a coincidence. I feel that my Heavenly Father gave me this opportunity, or rather made it for me to take a hold of because I have been trying to obey the prompting of the Holy Ghost even in things I would not have thought as spiritual promptings. I see this as a gift to repent and have made amends. I'm thankful.
What we give comes back in return in the way that we need it.

I Could Get Used to This

The book arrived yesterday, but I didn't have time to start reading it as I was preparing to go to Relief Society. I got home late and started reading. My husband was on the couch next to me and I paused from my reading to talk to him about Say Go Be Do. He is really good about acting on them.

(In fact, when I got home from the church I noticed our house smelled funny. To me it smelled like Bondo, but Joel said it was gasoline. Before I had a chance to ask him why the house smelled like gasoline a flurry of small children came running from their rooms-to say good night, but also to find out if I had brought them anything from the Exchange Table. Yes, I had, a big bag of books, but no you can't look at them 'til tomorrow-now go to bed you aren't supposed to be up this late-hug-hug-hug, good night, good night-love you, too-get away from that bag or you won't see them tomorrow-go to bed now! Whew. With all the kids back in bed I could finally say to my husband, "why does the house smell like gasoline?" He said he had a prompting to work on the chainsaw and make sure that it was working. It wasn't-so he was trying to figure out why the engine would cut out as he gave it gas and had brought some parts into the house to work on. The smell of the gasoline came in with the parts. He hasn't used the chainsaw in years and I can't imagine why we'll need it ready, but there it is. It was a Say Go Be Do and he acted on it. He does that stuff all the time.)

I didn't get to read the whole book last night because I followed a Say Go Be Do to go to sleep. But I read enough to get the idea of what I should be listening for. So this morning, I turned my "ears" up. I got a prompting to tell my oldest how much I love and appreciate her. She does a lot for me and the other kids. I come to expect too much from her. She's only eight years old, but sometimes I treat her as if she is 16 and should "know better" in many situations.

I saw her sitting alone in the front room, her head was down and she looked a little sad. So with just the two of us in the room, I sat on the couch and drew her close to me in a big hug and told her that I love her, and I appreciate what she does as my daughter and what a big helps she is to me. I told her what a great big sister she is to her four younger siblings and that she is a good example to them. I told her she was an important part of our family and I know that I don't tell her enough how much I love and appreciate her, but that I will change and let her know more often. Then I gave her another big squeeze and a kiss on the cheek. She took a step back and had just the biggest smile on her face-she was beaming. I was too. It was a sweet moment for the two of us. I am really grateful I acted on that prompting. I almost put it off. Had I done that I may have never gotten around to it, and what a shame it would have been to miss that.

I Had To Share This...

I had a Say Go Be Do that I didn't follow through on while leaving the temple Monday morning. I felt I should have spoken directly to a sister from church who was there with a group of ladies from my neighborhood. As I said hi in general I thought that was good enough. BUT no, just as I'm leaving, I felt I should have touched and spoken directly with Betty. But I said no to myself because it would have been odd to return and do just that.
I realized I talked myself out of a Say Go Be Do moment. As I drove home I decided I would go see her and explain.
Later was just after 8pm when I told Gove about it. He told me to get down there and tell her. I went like a diligent wife. I was somewhat shy but I just said what I was doing with this challenge, explained how I didn't listen to an idea that came to me and I was now at her home to wish her a good week.
It turned out we had a nice conversation that would not have occurred at the temple. Did I miss at the moment when the idea came? I thought I did. But now I don't think so. I had the idea, I didn't follow at the moment but I did make a plan to go, I did go later, and I and she had a nice experience.
My conclusion is that it's not that you have to act at the moment with every Say Go Be Do (some you really must act right then) but you do need to write it down and make a plan for how you will accomplish the prompting and follow up with writing what the outcome was.

-Nickie

The Say Go Be DO Challenge comes with a Promise!

Would you like to know what it is? All right, I'll give it to us just as Tiffany wrote it.

“The more Say Go Be Dos you listen to and act on, the more you will receive and the more capacity for impact you'll have.”

Of course this promise comes with a three part challenge. Are you game? I think you are. So here it is.

1. FOCUS on receiving and acting on your Say Go Be Dos.

-Use physical reminders. Like writing say go be do on your mirrors.

-A vision board is suggested. I can imagine what this is but I have never heard of it. Imagine a picture of someone who symbolizes Say Go Be Do to you? I thought of Jesus, Mary/Martha, Mother Teresa, Gordon B. Hinkley, Thomas S. Monson, Eliza R. Snow

2. KEEP a Say Go Be Do journal.

-Write down your impressions, your intuition, your desires to do good, and then jot down what happened after you implemented them. You can journal how you will implement your promptings as well.

3. BLOG with at lest 4 other people, on a daily bases(oh this is hard for me), about your Say Go BE Dos.

-The idea is to create an Integrity Team of people who want to get better at doing what we know we ought to do.

-You can invite others to read our blog and get inspired to do this themselves.

-By accepting this challenge, we are agreeing to focus on the development of Say Go BE DO for 30 or more days.

Now, as long as we are trying, we will have failures. But that does not mean we are on the Path of Failure. Not at all. The Path of Failure is accomplished by not trying. We, who keep trying, are actually on the Path of All Success. Failure is part of succeeding.

So jump for joy, give yourself a hug, and pat yourself on the back.

Get out there and try it again.

-Nickie

Yea! The Book has Shipped

Just got the automated email from Paypal telling me my book has shipped. Estimated arrival 2-5 days. So maybe middle of next week. Looking forward to finding out more about what I’ve committed myself to.

In the meantime, I’ve been reading Nickie’s posts. Apparently Say Go Be Do is about following promptings from the Spirit. Funny, that is something I have been struggling with and fretting about for the last few months.

Do you believe in coincidences? I don’t.

Why I Accepted the Challenge

I started a new blog (not this one) for our family to keep in touch and maintain current contact information. I thought it would be fun to include Blogs as a category on each family’s page. Nickie has maintained a blog for years (I’m very impressed because it’s something I’ve claimed I wanted to do, but never did…I started several and then abandoned them one by one) and so I added it to their family’s list. In so doing, of course, I saw her blog when I tested the link, but didn’t linger as I was busy getting the Allen Family blog set up.

Today I decided to add a blank target in the HTML code for all the blog links so that when they are opened they go to a new tab, rather than change the content of the tab you’re in. Once again, I tested the link…it worked. This time however, I paid more attention to her most recent post. It was an invitation to participate in a 30 Challenge using the book Say Go Be Do by Tiffany Rhodes Earl. She indicated that she was “looking for a few good friends who will form an Integrity Team with me as we take the SAYGOBEDO 30 day blog challenge.”

I just turned 40 and lamented about it; not my age so much, but my lack of achievement. Wasn’t I going to have written a book by now? Wouldn’t I be more organized at this age? You mean I am still struggling with my weight? So after having read Nickie’s post I decided that this challenge was for me. Well, I am not a big believer in coincidence. It was not a coincidence that mom’s email calling for updated family info prompted me to start a Family Blog. And it was no coincidence that the idea came to me to add blogs to the list of things on each family’s page. And since I was not in tune enough to pay attention to Nickie’s blog last night, it was no coincidence that I was prompted to add the code to each blog that forced it to open in a new tab. Thus, having another opportunity to pay attention to what was written and not just how pretty I thought her background/theme is.

So I immediately responded to Nickie’s call to get off my behind and DO something and commented on her post proclaiming that I am “in.” Then I ordered my book (sadly there is not a Kindle version) and it will arrive in one to two weeks.

Stay tuned for exciting things.

The SAY GO BE DO Challenge is Coming May 1st 2011 !

Do you want to see what will come?
You can experience the 30 day Say Go Be Do challenge with me.
Just buy the book here: http://shop.lemimentortraining.com/
Read it; it's quite short and easy to follow, with five short stories
that show you the why of Say Go Be Do.
Email me or leave a comment if you want to participate.

Why I'm Accepting the Say Go Be Do Challenge

It's really simple. I often get an idea to do something and just as fast as that idea comes to my mind, I'm telling myself not to listen to or obey that idea. “It's silly”, “I can't do that”, “No way am I going to go talk to that person”, the list goes on and on.

I get disgusted with myself at times. Disgusted to not be living at a higher spiritual level. Letting myself down and in course of time I let other people down who needed/need me. Of course neither I nor they know we need each other but we are the vessels that God is working through. I have not read Tolstoy's Diary, but he and Suzuki are quoted in Say Go Be Do and I agree with them. Tolstoy said, “To deceive oneself is worse than to deceive others.” Suzuki said, “If you think of doing something, do it. To merely want to do something is not enough. There is no merit in just thinking about doing something.”

I think Tiffany example of her father and what happened to him while living in South America hit home for me. Not that I've let someone die physically but have I contributed to inner areas of death by not responding to help someone when the idea came to just talk to them and say something nice, uplifting, or just acknowledging their humanness? I can think of a few years in my life where I felt like I was falling inside of me just ready to smash on the ground. I want to follow my saygobedos to make the fall easier for someone else, and I want to follow these ideas, impressions, feelings, promptings, whatever you want to call them so that my life can grow more fully as well.

Lastly, I'm just plain curious what will happen to me and others who take this challenge to heart and go for it.

I'll let you know.

-Nickie

Oops...A not so say go be do moment

Should I write those 4 words separately, or make it one long compounded word? I like it as one word myself.

This morning I decided to quickly follow on an idea to call BYU and add Eli and Beth to the Ballroom Dance Camp. I've had the idea since Monday and I had just put it off until today. As I called registration and was actually talking to Ben (who was very friendly and helpful) I had the feeling I should have talked with Gove more fully on this idea. But I just as quickly told myself that I was following an impression and I ought to go forward.

Bad idea. It turned out that Eli has scout camp the same week and a girl can't register without a male partner. Oh sure there is a waiting list that has over 40 girls hoping for a partner. I often consult my spouse. But I didn't this time. I had to go back and cancel the whole thing.

So often I am such a silly person. I just went full steam ahead without thinking wholeheartedly. All the same I'm thankful to see the need to express gratitude to my Heavenly Father for His guidance through the promptings of the Holy Spirit, to pause and realize what I'm feeling and say what that is, pull back and take the time to follow through systematically, feel again, and then move.

It's o.k. I'm learning...

A good saygobedo happened for Beth tonight. She came to me just prior to 10pm and said she felt the ducks should be put into a cage for the night. I was about to talk her out of it when I saw that she came to me with a feeling of saygobedo and I could not snuff it out for her. I supported her and went out with her. The ducks were sitting outside the hen house so I too think it was a good idea to have followed on the impression she had. Good for you Beth.

My saygobedos...

I started to seriously pay attention to my promptings (saygobedos) three days ago. And some fun things have occurred.

On Monday, I felt I should have a quick, personal, interview with each child about what they wanted to learn. I did it. And through following a saygobedo moment, I learned that Beth wants to study Latin and Mattia wants to study Greek and Astronomy. Eli wants to just float along and maybe listen to Spanish.

(Funny thing is, I have all those materials just waiting to be used.)

Also on Monday, I purposefully paused in my day to listen to my mind for some ideas that I might have been pushing back. None came at the time.

Tuesday was just yesterday but I didn't write and now it's out of my head. Rats...

Today was great! About a week ago I had a feeling I should apply for a board/commission with two of our city public agencies. I chose the Provo Library and the Parks/Recreation Dept. Since then the thought has come to go and introduce myself. Yikes!

So there I was at the library today with our girls when I decided I would follow that saygobedo, throw caution to the wind, and see what came out of it. I was almost to the administration office when a nice gentleman asked if I needed help. I knew instantly he was the man I was coming to see. I said his name. It was him and he told me he knew me. (Which later we learned he doesn't know me) but was just looking over the applications for the board. I was invited to his office. We had a great conversation and there was nothing to fear but fear itself.

Today, Mattia started her Greek lessons with the alphabet. This evening I had another saygobedo and knew I should watch the astronomy lesson from The Teaching Company with her. This was so neat. The lesson was fine but it was my daughter that I was watching who was amazing. First of all, many constellations came from Greek names and here she is studying that language. Secondly, the girl knew about the right shoulder of Orion being called something like Betelgeuse (sound like beetle-juice). Her mind was completely open to learning today and she new this. She recognized that she was excited to learn. So much so that she reached out and held my hand just to ground herself I think with the reality of how she was feeling. She knew she was growing. I'm so glad to have shared that moment with her. Fun, fun, fun.

Lastly, I was walking over to a presidency meeting this evening and I knew I would need to stop and speak to a sister I had not seen for a few weeks. As I came up to her house, there she was outside. I've never seen her outside her home so it was perfect timing. I listened, decided to walk, was even short on time, yet listening paid off for both of us.

It's a start. I made phones calls instead of saying I'd do it later. The same with emails. I can't say how often I plan to get back with someone. But planning to is just the same as not doing it. Go for the action.

I know I missed some impressions too. It does take time to be aware... Now I can go to bed.