Just Do It

I have a great denim skirt.  It’s great because it’s long, because it’s made of stretch denim and so it fits regardless of where my weight is.  It’s low maintenance, travels easily, and rarely needs ironing.  I have loved it.

But my skirt has had one problem.  The slit, though modest while I was standing, extended past my comfort level when I sat down.  (And isn’t that what church is—sitting down again and again?)  Perhaps if I had model-beautiful knees I wouldn’t have been so self conscious, but as it was each time I sat I had to pull my skirt down and arrange things carefully so that my neighbor wasn’t getting an eyeful of my knobby white knees.  It was so annoying.

When I first wore the skirt I decided that I should fix that overly long slit.  But I just wasn’t sure how it would turn out.  Did I have any thread the right color?  Would it hang right?  Would the stitching rip out?  I wasn’t sure I could make it look ok, and so I didn’t do it.

I just kept wearing the skirt, and pulling it down over my knees.

 

And then one day a couple of months ago I just grabbed the skirt, and walked over to the sewing machine, loaded some blue thread, and sewed. 

 

Do you know what?  It is great.  My wonderful skirt is even more wonderful now that I do not have to worry that I’m flashing my fleshy knees at everyone.  The blue thread doesn’t even show at all.  And nothing is ripping.

All this time I have worn the skirt and wished it was different, yet never actually tried to fix the problem.  Just fretted about it in my mind.

 

So today I’m saying: Just Do It.  Whatever that thing is that has been worrying you, that you’re not quite sure about—just do it.  So what if it doesn’t look perfect.  Give it your best shot, and chances are it will be better than having your knees showing all the time!

In Stephen Covey’s book, “The Divine Center,” he says that the tension that we experience when we put off doing something we know we should do usually causes us much more stress than the task itself. 

My 3 minute fix at the sewing machine was a definite testimony of that!

Words I Never Expected to Hear Myself Say

Honey, don’t walk down the stairs with a pot on your head.

 

Her reply?

Mom, it’s not a pot.  It’s a cauldron…

The Lion King

(with Connor, our extra son)

 

Last night we had the opportunity to go and see the broadway play of The Lion King.  In a word, it was AMAZING.  I had seen it about 6 years ago with Jason, and it was just as wonderful as I remembered.  Here’s a little sneak peak from their youtube channel if you want to see the costumes.  (The gazelles were my favorite.)

 

 

The music was all so much more beautiful than I remembered.  (I can forget a lot in 6 years!)  There were the songs that we know from the animated movie, but also many more songs written for the stage play.  The rich African harmonies were so powerful.

 

The part that I most appreciated last night was the gospel application.  I know that the Lion King is based on Hamlet, but I’ve only ever seen the movie once or twice so I haven’t spent much time thinking about it.  I hadn’t realized before last night that it is also very much a story of a prodigal son.  I thought the scene where the now adult Simba sees the ghost of his father, Mustafa, was so powerful.

Mufasa's ghost: [apears among the stars] Simba, you have forgotten me.
Adult Simba: No. How could I?
Mufasa's ghost: You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.
Adult Simba: How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be.
Mufasa's ghost: Remember who you are. You are my son, and the one true king.

It made me wonder how often our Heavenly Father would say the same things to us. 

“You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me.”

“Remember who you are.”

I can’t describe how powerful it was, but it was beautiful and it brought tears to my eyes. 

 

What a great evening!

New Year's Resolution #32

(this post is especially for Diana, who seemed to be hinting earlier that I've been a slacker about posting recently...)

Here's my first resolution for you.  (Posted in no particular order.)

In 2011 I resolve to ALWAYS (did I say ALWAYS clearly enough??) write on ziploc bags before I put them in the freezer--both the content and the date.  I always think I will remember what is in the bag, and then later I pull it out and it's an amorphous indistinctly colored mass and I never know if I should cook it or throw it away as quickly as possible.  So this year I resolve to do a better job of labeling.



A closely related but less frequently needed freezer goal would be to never again forget to turn the freezer back on after I clean it.  That was nasty...

An Even Better Headline...

I really had every intention of blogging today. I have a list and everything. But circumstances conspired against me and instead I will just give you an even better headline.

A Woman's Tears: The Anti-Viagra?

(Russ says it's true...)

Under Construction: New Year’s Resolutions Ahead

 

I’ve been thinking a lot about New Year’s Resolutions.  I couldn’t think about them much before New Year’s, because I was too busy partying.  And I couldn’t think about them after New Year’s, because we were still partying with Cindy Lynn.   But now she’s gone back to the frozen North and I’m going to be thinking about them more.  I’m particularly working this year on making realistic, trackable goals.  And perhaps even a little chart (a la The Happiness Project) on my mirror…

One of the Strangest Headlines Ever

 

New Mexico governor decides not to pardon Billy the Kid

 

Um…isn’t Billy the Kid dead?

 

Does he really need a pardon???