Simplify

Ok, let's be honest. I've been a stressed mess lately. Nursing school has been pretty good so far, but it is just so much to handle. I've been making decisions for where I'll get to rotate for clinicals, trying to decide what I want to specialize in, where I'm going to have to live for all these things to happen, studying for exams, etc... Not to mention there seems to simply not be enough time in the day to get everything done. Like I'll sit on my couch for 8 hours doing homework and studying, and still have a bajillion things on my to-do list.

So I've had to have a "real talk" with myself a lot the past few weeks, about how much is feasibly going to get done, and what it just not going to happen. Some things just can't be done. I'm tempted to let myself work on homework for endless hours without taking a break, but that is taking its toll. I've always been super busy in college... ever since I started (9 years ago, gag). Ballet company, class, work, rehearsal, trips home, callings............................. I'm used to having a heavy load. But right now is a little different because I'm pretty burned out, even though I'm just at the beginning of this road. It's hard to find motivation when I'm just not motivated for school haha.

I was just talking to my sister, Adri, last night, and at the end of our conversation I started apologizing for being a "Debbie Downer" all the time, because I feel like I keep whining. I probably do. She was the loving sister she always is, and told me it's okay to vent. But I feel like I was being very negative, and I need to cut it out, because none of the things I'm doing are bad. All of the things required of me right now are actually blessings. After I got off the phone with her I remembered something that I had written down, but hadn't looked at since school started. I remember at the beginning of the year I set a goal, "Don't complain about my blessings."

Being the type-A planner that I am, remembering that goal made me want to sit down and make more goals haha. So I thought about what I really needed to do in this situation. I was reminded of a beautiful song that my institute teacher showed me on the first week of class, when I was already stressed out of my mind and trying to do too many things. I listened to this again, and was reminded of how valuable it is to have some quiet time and slow down. You can listen/watch here

 

I needed to simplify. So as I sat there to make goals, I thought about the new initiative that the Church started this year for the youth and children. It is an initiative to help them set goals in four different areas of life: spiritual, physical, social, and intellectual. The four categories are based on the scripture that describes how the Savior grew, "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52). The approach is straight-forward and simple, so I made my own planner page to insert into the beginning of each month.

Don't get me wrong, I set monthly and yearly goals of every kind in every category. I have them all in my planner. But this time I decided to set goals in each of these areas that would help me simplify each of these areas. I don't need to do more and achieve more, I just need to do what matters most. Sometimes what matters most is going for a walk. Sometimes what matters most is calling your mom. Sometimes what matters most is studying for only 2 hours and then being able to tell yourself, "that is enough today," which I've never been very good at.

I set four goals, one in each area. I often set too many goals, so I made myself stick to only one for each, and then I also made a spot to record the result of each goal at the end of the month.

I was reminded of a talk that Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf  gave a while ago about simplifying. Find it here. I had also just listened to another talk he gave called Of Things That Matter Most. Both are excellent, and I highly recommend them to anyone who is having a hard time balancing conflicting schedules and feeling overrun.

There is so much value in setting goals, but I don't think we always need to set "more" goals or goals that make us do more. Maybe, the most valuable thing is whatever will help us see value in what we are already doing, and seeing what we can do without.

If anyone wants to try setting some "simplifying" goals, here's the link to the planner page I made last night:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/134V-FNx-ed3AXQ6bwGwmIdJS05Hi9wnw/view?usp=sharing

I scaled it for myself to only be a half page so it fits in my planner. I uploaded the full-page document above.

Remember, don't complain about your blessings. Happy simplifying :)