Good, Better, Best

There must be a message in recent general conference talks out there just for me. Elder Dallin Oaks talked about all the good things there are to do out there in the world, but there are things that are better, and things that are best. It reminded me a little bit of the Berenstain Bears Ready Set Go where the bears compete. Some are good, some are better and some are best. Poor Papa bear is only best at napping. I think Papa bear and I have something in common. Sister Julie Beck, in General Women’s Conference urged us/me to focus on the essentials and forgo the frivolous. I knew in an instant what she was talking about. All the frivolous things I do came clearly to mind. Now, generally, these talks leave me with a great feeling of inadequacy. (Thank goodness for spell-check. I could never have done that on my own.) You know the feeling – not good enough, house not clean enough, not thin enough, don’t get my visiting teaching done early enough, blah, blah blah. On and on goes the voice in my head. Anyway, I decided to list all the frivolous things I do and decide if they are good, better or best – or not in the running. This is by no means a complete list:

1. Play Jewel Quest II. Not even in the running. I spend way to much time on this ridiculous game. It is sort of addicting; I even see it in my sleep. I start out thinking that I’ll only play a minute or two and then discover that my entire morning is gone.

2. Nap. Good, but better or best if I were in bed at a decent hour so that I didn’t have to go back to bed – which I sometimes do instead of play #1 above.

3. Sew. Better, or maybe even best if I forwent (I believe that is the past tense of forgo) #1 and #2 above. I would like to get Aunty Fran’s quilt done since I didn’t finish it before she died’ didn’t finish before her son’s birthday, and didn’t finish it before he graduated from high school. Maybe I’ll finish it before he goes/comes home from his mission.

4. Read. I actually haven’t read anything but Twilight in ages. And that took me 3 months to read. I used to read all the time, though some of the choices were only good – and actually some of them weren’t even that high on the list. I need to work on this one. Reading has always been my passion. It’s funny; I can read a novel (silly ones, especially) and can’t seem to get into a good/better/best regimen of reading my scriptures.

5. TV. Unfortunately, because I haven’t slept long enough, and then spend too much time at the office (not awful), by the time I come home and get dinner started, I am too tired to do much else. So I just sit and surf the channels until I discover that I have been through all the channels at least 12 times and there is nothing on worth watching.

So, I resolve to give up Jewel Quest II, drop 2 shows from my DVR schedule (it is amazing how much sleep I lose over the likes of Law & Order:SVU, Without a Trace, and Las Vegas. I am not quite ready to give up Ugly Betty or Bones). I also resolve to quit saying how busy I am because we all know that it is only 1, 2, and 5 that are really using up my time. I think I’ll also give going to bed before midnight a try. Maybe that will actually take care of #2.

PS – Latest report from Weight Watchers –down an additional 3 lbs.!! I have many to go to be at a healthy weight, but I am on my way.