Stand True and Faithful + 7 Habits

There is wonderful truth in the reading for this week. The really interesting thing for me this week was reflecting on the past 25 years of learning and applying these principles in my life. 

First:

Stand True and Faithful. When President Hinckley delivered this talk, I was a new mom and pretty much a newly wed. I remember this talk. It was powerful then, but it has deeper meaning and power in my life now as I reflect back on my mothering and marriage and life. Pres. Hinckley pleas with the young women to stand true- to be true to who they are. He admonishes them to be faithful. And he does it with sincere and straightforward words. I always appreciated that about his talks. He also delivered them with so much love. 

This is a message that is not only applicable today, but needs to be heard by this generation. Several of my friends who are moms of teenagers, as well as our YW and their parents. I have observed that there is a lot of "casual obedience" amongst the youth in our area and many can be directly tied to one or more of their parents. By that, I mean that parents have been somewhat vocal in not seeing the importance of living high values. Values such as, Sabbath Day observance, modesty, being careful on media choices, dating before 16, etc. It has been particularly hard for those LDS youth who are trying to live the standards of the Gospel but feel undermined by their LDS counterparts. The parents and youth leaders in our wards and stake are working together to try and help strengthen the families that are teaching and raising today's youth. I passed this talk onto many of them as a great resource. 

Second:

When I was dating my now husband (and soon after we were married) we read and studied "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". We worked on some of the exercises together and counseled on how to apply the principles we read about into our marriage and family life.  It was not easy for me. Self-help type books were not at the top of my list of preferred reading material. I had a hard time following and understanding. I had to read things several times to absorb them. But I enjoyed what we were doing together and it was spiritual bonding for us as newlyweds. 

I don't think I have read the whole book since then. I have read pieces and parts of it. But as I read through this summary, I realized that more of that experience sunk in than I realized. Each of the Seven Habits are concepts that I understand and consistently try and live in my marriage, family life, school life, work life, church callings and personal life. I don't think I even knew what the word synergy meant till I read it with my husband all those years ago -- but I often refer to it when teaching and mentoring others as a wonderful strength to understand and master. I am not yet a master of any of them (even after nearly 25 years), but I am always working on all of them. That was really special for me to recognize that. It reminded me of that sweet time we had together as we worked on it as newly weds. I am thankful to my husband for doing that with me. I am thankful for all of the moments in my life that these principles have strengthened me and I am excited for whats to come.   
  1. Be Proactive
  2. Begin with the end in mind
  3. Put first things first
  4. Think win/win
  5. Seek first to understand- then to be understood
  6. Synergize
  7. Sharpen the saw                                                                                                                           
         
Seek first to understand- then to be understood
I think this habit has the most meaning for me at this point. It is a principle that I strive to live and have for some time. However, it is also one that I still have far to go to master it. I find myself, too often, trying to explain my thoughts and feelings. Sometimes it is in response to a youth or child talking to me. I am not always comfortable just listening to someone. I do think that I have improved some, but have a way to go still. I believe it will help me be a better partner, friend, mother, and just all around person, to really listen and seek to understand others.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

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