personal progress - choice & accountability experience #2

i figure that i am pretty safe posting this on here, because i was checking out the analytics on my blog the other day and like no one reads it except for me.  i'm fine with that.  after all, it is just for me to keep a record of things anyway.

lately i have been working really hard on personal progress.  being the first counselor in the young women's organization in my ward, i feel like i need to set a good example for the girls and complete the personal progress program myself.  i did complete the program when i was in young women's myself, but you can complete the program as an adult as well, so i figured "why not?"

anyway, i want to share some of my thoughts about personal progress and the progress i feel that i am making personally.  my blog seems like a good place for that.  maybe one day my daughters will be able to read these posts and gain a greater understanding and love for the program because they can read about when their mom completed the program.

i've completed a few of the value experiences now, but i'll just start with the one i am working on now.

Choice and Accountability value experience #2

Read the pamphlet For the Strength of Youth. List in your journal each standard of righteous behavior the pamphlet outlines, and record why it is important to choose to live those standards. Practice living righteous standards by choosing three standards in which you need to improve. You might choose to be more selective about television, music, books, or other media, or you might improve your modesty, language, or honesty. After three weeks share your progress with your family, your class, or a leader.

to start with, i pulled out my "study journal".  i don't really have a name for it.  it's not my sunday lesson journal, it's my other one.  i did as instructed as started reading the For the Strength of "You"th  pamphlet.  (note that i like to take off the "th" from youth so that it just says "you")  anyway, i started reading and wrote down the first topic heading in my journal.  as i read, i listed in my journal the standards that were outlined in that section. (note: that cute little value sticker, i got it here)

now, most of the standards listed are pretty straight-forward.  there were some things that i wrote down that might be considered "my interpretation" of a standard.  that's okay, personal progress is personal - for you!

this next part can also be written in your journal, but instead i decided to actually underline the passages in the pamphlet.  you need to identify why it is important to live the standards.  in the front of my For the Strength of "You"th, i have written the following with different colors.  i am sure as time goes on that i will add more colors, but this is what i have for now.

then, i went through the book highlighting the different reasons it was important to live the standards with my lime green pen.  again, everyone will likely underline some of the same things and some different things.  this is personal progress and what makes something important to one person will be different for another.

once you've read through the entire pamphlet, listing the standards for each section and identifying why it is important, then you are need to choose 3 standards in which you need to try and be better.

i chose gratitude - specifically having a spirit of gratitude in all i do and say.

i also chose, language - specifically avoiding gossip and speaking in anger. and the third thing also falls under language, do not use profane, vulgar or crude language.  

here's where it gets dicey.  i'm not perfect!  sometimes that is really hard to admit. i'm sure most people already know this about me, but it is easy to fool ourselves into thinking that people only see what we want them to see.

anyway, i get mad and when i get mad, i tend to yell at my kids and my hubby and the dog, etc...  i need to not do that.  also, when i get mad, i don't use good language.  i have gotten a lot better, but it is still sometimes a struggle.  so these are the things that i am going to work on over the next three weeks, and hopefully longer, but for this value experience  three weeks is the minimum time you are supposed to try and improve in these areas.

i made a couple of little sticky notes for myself to remind me of the standards i am trying to live better.  i have placed them in strategic places where i will see them often.  i am also praying daily for strength and help with these areas that i want to improve.

in about three weeks, i'll let you know how it's going!