Small and Simple Things

I've decided that for this year I'm going to focus on the small and simple things, because I really suck at it right now and want to get better.

I'm a very impatient person--anyone who knows me in person can attest to this fact. I like to skip ahead to the good stuff: I read the end of books before the rest of the book, I speed on the freeway (and every road for that matter), and I suffer from grocery-shopping rage (like road rage, but with grocery carts). When I set goals for myself I get easily discouraged because I just want to skip to the part where I'm perfect at whatever I'm trying to fix. Shouldn't I be able to change overnight?

Well, I'm slowly realizing that the only way to really change my life is to take a step at a time--sometimes at a snail's pace. The scriptures teach that "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise" (Alma 37:6). I want my life to be great, so I guess that means I've got to start small and simple, and stop trying to take shortcuts. Shortcuts haven't cut it for me for too long, and for good or ill, the things that matter most in life hinge upon the small and simple.

Plus, small and simple sounds so much more manageable than big and mighty, doesn't it?