TJ Hirst

Try-It With-Me Tuesday, an interactive weekly time and place to foster connections that challenge and encourage the process to become a well-rounded person.

Thus far, I have mostly posted challenges that stretch me and those who try it with me. But an equally important part of my goal in writing for Try-It-With-Me Tuesday is to give and receive encouragement. Yes, I need encouragement to overcome discouragement—especially now as I jealously await (from my snow-covered locale) the spring-time weather that has arrived in other parts of the country.

To encourage is to inspire with hope, courage, or confidence and to give support. Personally, I need courage and inspiration to continue in a worthy purpose, whether it be writing on this website, being a good wife and mother, or serving God by nurturing my own spirituality and serving others. We all need encouragement in our process to become the person we want to be. For that reason, here is my challenge for the week:

Encourage someone this week by giving genuine praise or positive feedback.

Interestingly, this challenge comes from the reflective thoughts I have had since writing Commonality in a Community of Mothers. Many women across all religions share a common desire to use our time wisely to accomplish meaningful and inspired purposes, including being good mothers. Sarah at Genesis Moments considers this question as it relates to earning an income but concludes with the inspiration she gains from women who encourage her:

Most importantly, I am learning through these humble spiritual giants to pray above all things, on all things, about all things, under and through all things and that God is faithful if we believe in Him. He knows our comings and goings and will see us through.

I loved reading her thoughts and followed her link to Musings of a Housewife, where I read some more:

I often wonder what I’m doing with the blog. Is it a waste of time that I should be spending on more holy pursuits, or is it an opportunity for me to put my gifts to use by bringing women together and bringing new products to moms? Is it simply a place to socialize and ramble, or does it serve a greater purpose? Do I share too much, or should I share more? Am I really being myself? I evaluate these questions often.

Another forum posed a similar question To Blog or Not to Blog? in response to this excellent talk given by an LDS leader on womanhood and motherhood.

I took from that talk this important message:

There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. The choice is different and unique for each mother and each family. . .What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else.

Elder M. Russell Ballard
Daughters of God

As I consider all of these words from varied religious perspectives, I know that I can be tough on myself or overly sensitive to the reaction of others in regards to my own priorities and purpose. Knowing, however, that this is not a struggle that I alone face, I am inspired to trust in the personal messages of encouragement that I receive from my own prayers and to look for opportunities to give encouraging words to others.

Do you want to Try It With Me? Share your thoughts next Tuesday, April 22, at Finding What Inspires on this week’s challenge. I am also spending some time trying to memorize something inspiring for the April Reading Challenge.

Join in by trying the challenges with me, commenting, linking, or suggesting a challenge. If you want to write a post on your blog about what happened when you took the challenge, I will publish your link. Just link to my website in your post and send me your link.

Try-It With-Me Tuesday, an interactive weekly time and place to foster connections that challenge and encourage the process to become a well-rounded person.

The April Reading Challenge is to memorize something you have read that inspires you.

The students I teach in an early morning religion class are encouraged to memorize 25 scriptures from the Old Testament of the Bible this school year. One student has expressed that memorization helps her recall what she has learned and answer questions about her religion.

I am no longer a student with a need to recall for tests, but like this student, I have discovered there is still value in memorizing even after leaving formal school. In fact, it wasn’t until I discovered the value beyond recall for tests that I was enthused and motivated to memorize. Memorization develops my mental concentration in all tasks and is a tool to control my thoughts. In addition, when I memorize something that has inspired or enlightened me and then bring it back to my mind, I retain the emotions and knowledge I initially felt and also gain new understanding from it.

What important benefits have you gained from memorization?

Even though my goals (and yours) to memorize are valuable, for me to actually memorize this document will require diligent, almost vigilant, daily attention. A deadline (April 29th) helps. Being accountable to another person (anyone who reads this) also helps.

Here’s what else I am doing and plan to do to help me memorize:

I write each paragraph out on a note card.

I study the first card until I can say it without the card.

It takes me at least a day or two, sometimes even a week, to learn each card.

When I know the first card, I move on to the second card and study it.

I actually study my cards while I exercise or wait.

I try to say both cards together before I move on to the third card.

When I think I know each card, then I study the document as a whole.

I try to recall each paragraph, one at a time, until I can say it all together.

Then I rehearse it in front of the mirror, and finally say it to my family.

This is not a proven method, just what works for me.

How do you memorize?

Your tips and these tips for How to Memorize will be a help to me and those who want to try to memorize something with me this month. Good Thinking to You!

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Note: I did not post my review of the biography from the March Reading Challenge on Saturday as I promised. (I am sure no one was anticipating it). But my change of plans is an interesting insight. I was reading the biography on Dolley Madison with my mom, who lives in another state. She is listening to it on audio tape as she drives home from work. I finished reading the book last week. When we had a brief conversation about it, I was reminded of my desire to try it with her and connect through our discussions. I am going to wait to post my review until she has finished and we have had more over-the-phone book discussions. Those connections are as important to the process as the end result.

Join in by trying the challenges with me, commenting, linking, or suggesting a challenge. If you want to write a post on your blog about what happened when you took the challenge, I will publish your link. Just link to my website in your post and send me your link.

Have you noticed the change in daylight? I was driving yesterday morning, at the same time as usual, but the light outside was so much brighter. In fact, it was so different from the previous week, I thought I was LATE!

Our sunrise here in north central Minnesota last Friday, Feb. 29, was at 6:57 a.m. Today the sunrise was at 6:44 a.m. What time was your sunrise?

Minutes do matter.

For light lovers and those affected by seasonal affective disorders this is great news.

Personally, I think many of us suffer a little bit by less sunlight in the winter, we just don’t call it a disorder. In fact, while it is very, very cold here today and snow is still on the ground, the sunlight is mood lifting.

UPDATED NOTE: I have been reminded that daylight saving time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 9. We will move our clocks forward one hour. Then, our sunrise will be at 7:41 a.m. on Sunday. Umm . . . .well, we still will have more daylight . . . just moving it from one end of the day to another.

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I am suffering from a chronic condition, sinusitis. The pressure in my head for more than two months has been intense. I just finished my third round of antibiotics. Both the sickness and the cure are wearing me out with fatigue. The effect on my mood has been obvious.

Yesterday we visited a young girl, a friend of my eight-year-old daughter, who is also suffering. She has kidney stones, rare for someone so young, and has undergone surgery and anticipates another one. The effect on her mood was indistinguishable from the normal happy child she is.

Her expressions in the midst of her pain and discomfort were the opposite of what I would anticipate. She grinned the whole time we visited. Not only that, her smile was contagious.

We were all grinning with her—seeing the upbeat prospects for her recovery and feeling relief that we have modern technology to help her.

Our visit left me with a desire to smile more often.

Check out my challenge tomorrow with my first “Try-It-With-Me Tuesday.”