Acorns in my pocket

The other day I took the kids to the park. After playing we decided to take a walk in the nearby "woods". There is a really nice pathway and it was a beautiful day, but we didn't get far. An overhanging oak tree had dropped quite a few acorns and little John was consumed by them, picking them up as fast as he could. "Acorns!", he said, "look mom!", and "pretty", or "look at this one". He seemed genuinely interested by each one he touched, no matter how they looked. And so, one by one he filled the pockets of his jacket. Soon every time he bent down to pick up another acorn, two or three would spill out from his pockets. "Oh no!" he would say, and quickly try to get the fallen acorns back into the pocket. It was cute! It was funny! And I realized that on another level, it was me.

I am a mother of two young children, I am a wife, I am a daughter, I am a friend, I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Each of these roles that I "play" have their own acorns. There are so many good things to do and to learn! And I tend to collect them. My "pockets" are so full of ideas, unfinished projects, and unmet expectations that I can't move without something spilling...so I usually just don't move. It's the whole "I've got so much to do that I don't know where to start" problem. I'm reading a book right now, by David Allen, and I thought this statement to be very true, "Many of us seem to have it in our natures consistently to entangle ourselves in more than we have the ability to handle."  President Uchdorf summed my problem up pretty well in his conference talk earlier this month. He said;

"Let’s be honest; it’s rather easy to be busy. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. They flood the open spaces in their time with lists of meetings and minutia—even during times of stress and fatigue. Because they unnecessarily complicate their lives, they often feel increased frustration, diminished joy, and too little sense of meaning in their lives."

Umm, yes. This is sounding familiar. All these good things I want to do and accomplish do not make me happy. In fact I can't get half of them done so I feel like a big fat failure! He goes on to say;

"There comes a point where milestones can become millstones and ambitions, albatrosses around our necks."

Hmmm, lets continue shall we?

"Elder Dallin H. Oaks, in a recent general conference, taught, “We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families.”     We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives."

There are LOTS of acorns, and that's a good thing. I guess I just have to find the best acorns for me, and know when my pockets are full. Know what I mean?

Mosiah 4:   27 And see that all these things are done in wisdom and ^aorder; for it is not requisite that a man should run ^bfaster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.

Doctrine and Covenants 10: 4 Do not run ^afaster or labor more than you have ^bstrength and means provided; but be ^cdiligent unto the end.

Even David Allen had some good advice, "You're going to have to learn to say no -- faster, and to more things -- in order to stay afloat and comfortable."

So here it is. I'm telling myself "no". I'm making an effort to ignore some acorns so I can more fully enjoy my "walk". I'll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck!