What if I asked you to touch your nose, then your toes, then your mouth, eyes, ears, and lips? Would you do it? Some would. Yet some would ask why - and may be skeptical of it because they don't want to look stupid doing something so elementary.
What if I told you that you would get a very sweet prize at the end of twenty years if all you did to earn it were these simple exercises - every day? Would you do it? What if I told you that the sweet prize really might not be attained any other way?
Would you do it? What if the sweet prize was seeing your children succeed? What if it was your own success in your goals? Would you do it?
Some would. Some would say, "Whatever! Like that is going to really get me those things."
Well, what if I said that if you made your bed every day, prayed, journaled, drank 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water every day, exercised, cut out refined foods and focused on love, every day, you would get those things? You might believe me, and you might not. Some of those things sound hard and some may sound easy. To some, they may sound too easy. Some may get very bored doing these things.
But does that mean that doing these things would not give you the sweet prize at the end of twenty years? No. It most certainly still would give you the sweet prize at the end of twenty years.
Think of slowly painting a picture with small dots. If you put a few dots on the picture every day, over time it will start to take shape into something of an image.
If you choose to only put a few dots on every week, it will take longer for the picture to take shape. You may even forget what the picture is supposed to look like over time, or loose motivation, seeing that you have so far to go every day.
So, if you haven't caught on yet, the point I am trying to get across here is that by small and simple means are great things brought to pass (Alma chapter 37). We are all meant to do big things. Sometimes we are called to do big things in a short amount of time, but many times, we are called to do big things over a long period of time, requiring a daily effort fraught with faith, hope and love - that will, over that long period of time, turn into something very big.
Now I would like to give you an example of this. Many times in my life, I have struggled with daily things that are beneficial to my over-all health. However, I had plenty of reserves for handling bigger problems or situations - I was used to saving my energy for the big stuff. I actually, sometimes, was too afraid that if I used my energy for small things every day, I wouldn't have what I needed in the event of a big circumstance. Well, I have had the fortune of experiencing a very real shift in my life. A shift from fear and huge circumstances, to faith and daily diligence. I no longer fear I won't have the energy for the big problems because I am ready to do daily things to prevent big problems and that also give me energy in the case of a big circumstance.
I still struggle though. It was as I was reading this 37th chapter in Alma that I realized that the Lord was asking me to do easy things each day. For a long time, I really felt he was asking me to do hard things each day. So, this shift has been very foreign to me. I have wanted to invite huge circumstances into my life for the sole purpose of doing something big, and learning something big. For a big faith growing experience. I see now, that it is okay for me to not have to have the big - although that may still happen - because I have the easy and the small.
Here is my list of small and simple things that I strive for every day that I know are putting oil into my "lamp", and bringing to pass something marvelous. Mind you, I am by no means perfect at doing all of these every day, but when I really focus intently on them, the results are amazing!
Pray
Use the bathroom
Make my bed
Read my scriptures until I feel something good happen inside my soul
Eat nutritious foods - specific to my needs
Drink enough water
Help my children get ready for the day and be nice to them
Exercise
Shower and get dressed in clean clothes
Deoderant
Primp
Write in my journal
Pills
Clean up bedroom for 10 min.
Clean up after breakfast
Make a to-do list for the day.
These all together actually feel like a big feat and not small, considering I have 9 children. However, they are small things in themselves, that really bring synergy into the events of the day.
