Listening to the Spirit

I really enjoyed the lesson today in Relief Society. It was from the last General Conference--by Richard G. Scott. He talked about acquiring spiritual guidance. Of course the whole talk was inspiring, but for some reason a couple of things stood out for me. He said "The inspiring influence of the Holy Spirit can be overcome or masked by strong emotions, such as anger, hate, passion, fear, or pride... Strong emotions overcome the delicate promptings of the Holy Spirit." It is not a new concept to me, but for some reason it stood out as important to remember. Another thing that stood out was that Satan is extremely good at blocking spiritual communication. With some individuals he is able to convince them that they are not able to receive such guidance from the Lord. I think all too often we don't get dramatic answers to prayers and so we don't recognize the answers when they come in more subtle ways. However, I do know that God answers prayers, that he loves me and that I need to make myself open to understanding the promptings. And I can't let anger, fear or pride get in the way.

Consistency

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to be consistent at everything? We should consistently exercise--right? I do consistently exercise, for a few weeks, or sometimes even months, then things start happening and pretty soon I realize it has been several days, or a week since I last exercised. Then, when I start again, I am not at the same point I was when I started. It is frustrating.

Then we are supposed to consistently read scriptures, and the Ensign, and the lesson manuals--right? Does consistency mean once a month--consistently?

And consistently clearing away clutter (it multiplies faster than I can get rid of it).
And consistently cleaning the carpet. Why does all the mud end up on the carpet?
How about consistently eating healthy foods and avoiding unhealthy ones? Does consistently planning on losing an extra 10 (or 20) pounds count? Or do you actually have to do it for it to count?
Or consistently raking leaves and apples in the fall, so that there is not a ton of rotten fruit on one's lawn in the spring.

Well tonight I feel like I am consistently frustrated with life. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to be more consistent.

Update

I know things have happened since I wrote about airline tickets, but none of it seems terribly interesting. Think--think--think.

Last weekend I worked at the Hospital. It was so busy that I was overtime both Friday and Saturday and was there 7 hours on Sunday. I missed out on our sibling dinner for the month because it was supposed to start at 6 on Friday and I didn't get off work until 7. I had from 18 to 21 visits each on Friday and Saturday. Things have slowed down a lot since then. Today I had 7 visits. It is hard to predict how busy it is going to be.

Ken and I went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. Neither of us liked it. It was dark and depressing and violent. We both felt like we wasted our money.

I started my Master Gardener class last Wednesday. It was interesting. The instructor said we got about a semester's worth of information in 3 hours. We talked about how plants are classified--stems, bark, leaves, flowers, male and female parts, fruit and seeds.

I am continuing with my voice and piano lessons, although the piano is a little less defined and regular that it was at first. Sometimes I feel like my voice is improving and sometimes it doesn't. I guess that is normal. I am still teaching 2 online nutrition classes for the semester. The semester is almost half way through (week 6 of 14 weeks).

I think the area under the kitchen table doesn't get heat circulating there. I can be just fine as far as temperature is concerned. Then I sit and work on the computer and my feet and lower legs are freezing. Amy suggested I knit some leg warmers, so that will be a new project for me. I first of all need to get some yarn. Also, thank goodness for space heaters. After all, why should I heat up the whole house just to get the area under the kitchen table warm? Of course, hearing Feathersky's report of freezing because the furnace is totally out, makes me thankful it isn't my whole house that is cold.

I finally got around to balancing my bank statement. I had only put it off for the past 7 months. Obviously it isn't my favorite thing to do.

Well, this is about as exciting as my life has gotten lately.