Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Use it or lose it!

"By trifles in our common ways,
Our characters are slowly piled,
We lose not all our yesterdays,
The man has something of the child.
Part of the past to all the present cleaves,
As the rose-odors linger in the fading leaves.

In ceaseless toil, from year to year,
Working with loath or willing hands,
Stone upon stone we shape, we rear,
till the completed fabric stands,
And when the hush hath all labor stilled,
The searching fire will try what we have striven to build"

- "The Building of Character" by J.R. Miller

Having been raised in the "Dream big! You can be anything!" generation, I sometimes lose sight of the little things and take their importance for granted. Several things in the past week have made me realize (again) how much the little things matter, how with each choice "our characters are slowly piled" as the poem says:

- I met with a friend from college to see about getting involved in youth ministry at the parish where she works. I've only done 1 thing in the last 6 months related to ministry. And I thought to myself "What the heck! I have a degree in catechetics and theology, I need to USE it!"
- This past weekend I was *cough* celebrating my fertility *cough, cough* and I was really out of sorts. Like more than usual. The BF and I realized that for the last few months I've been doing better, and then this time around my cry-at-the-drop-of-a-hat, wanna-sleep-all-day crampiness came back with a vengeance. I have this essential oil that contains natural progesterone (it's called Progessence Plus, made by Young Living Essential oils), and when I put a drop of it on daily, I feel SO much better and I hardly have those issues. However, during the past month I wasn't doing that. "It's one little things, what's the big deal?" and after a month of that, I reap what I sowed.
- BF and myself were also reflecting recently is that how it's difficult to monitor an internal spiritual difference when going to daily Mass, but boy do you feel it if you stop going after you have been going!
- MK NSD Sherril Steinman says "No consultant keeps attitude to pristine level who hasn't sold something in the last two weeks". Another angle on this is "The easiest time to make a good sale is right after you've made a sale".

Taking all these things into consideration, it's like if you get something in motion it will get its own momentum, but "an object at rest will stay at rest".

So what momentum do you need in your life? What little things could you be doing to make each day count? What will you lose if you don't use it? Get in motion.

And now I have to go repeat that exhortation to the reflection in the mirror.

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