Now it is today's word's turn...Experiment

     I will just say that this whole CEO project is an experiment.  Really, isn't every day and experiment?

n.

A trial;  an act or operation designed to discover some unknown truth, principle or effect, or to establish it when discovered.  Experiments in chemistry disclose the qualities of natural bodies.  A series of experiments proves the uniformity of the laws of matter.  It is not always safe to trust a single experiment.  It is not expedient to try many experiments in legislation.

v.i.

To make trial;  to make an experiment;  to operate on a body in such a manner as to discover some unknown fact, or to establish it when known.  Philosophers experiment on natural bodies for the discovery of their qualities and combinations.


     Aren't we searching for and applying new things in our lives every single day?  A new lipstick, a new perfume, a new phrase, a new recipe, etc.
     This course is all about a new way of thinking and feeling about one's self and one's existence.  Every day adjusting and tweaking, removing and replacing, evaluating and even keeping.
     Experiment is a good word.  I experimented with the word 'energize' today.  I think the experiment was a success because I managed to keep the energy pretty positive and kind.  There was laughter in my relationship today.  It was so very nice.  I like it so I think I will keep doing it...the positive energy, kindness, gentle speaking thing.
     It pays to experiment.

Here's to Growing and Glowing!!
Onward and Upward!
Tari

Today's word is Experiment...but I have some thoughts about Energize.

     I have been thinking about how I move through a day.
     On the days that I teach I am really on my toes to keep a positive energy about me.  I want to be sure that I treat all the people that I come in contact with with respect.  I want them to be comfortable around me and I want to be a good example.  So I am very careful about the words I choose and the tone of my voice and my body language.
     In the past I have come home from a day full of other people...by that I mean folks who aren't my immediate family...and said, "whooosh, I am glad this day is over."  And I fall into irritability...crankiness...not being very kind.
     That energy that I expend with other people...that same energy should surely be expended with my family first and foremost.
     It is my goal to have that energy be my constant state...with no more "whooosh"s.  I love the people in my family, so very much.  I love the people I teach as well.  I want to make my family's experience around me as fun an experience as I want my students to have around me.
     I can do this.  It is possible and probable and so very okay.

Here's to Growing and Glowing!!
Onward and Upward!
Tari

Energize...Equate...Embrace...Eternalize

     Thursday's word was ENERGIZE.

• To act with force;  to operate with vigor;  to act in producing an effect.
• To give strength or force to;  to give active vigor.

     I am not sure that this word has ever applied to me.  I don't typically display much vigor.  I have always been on the slow moving side.  So I am thinking that this word has come into my life to say, "Tari, get a move on!!!"

     On the other hand, I can be rather strong or forceful when the situation requires it. 

     I will continue to look at this one and see how I can rightly apply it to my life...how I can employ it in right living.

     That day, Thursday, I spent at my computer trying with all my energy to finish a project by my self-imposed deadline.  It ran over into Friday...I did get my portion of the project done with time for my husband to do his portion but he ran into a snag...so it is still waiting...and it is passed the deadline.  I gave NO energy to the feeling inside that wanted to come out as a tantrum at my husband.  I just was content to have my portion finished and planned to help him figure out his.

     I have to say that that was very satisfying.  I want to give energy to that skill.  It makes for a better night's sleep.

Friday's word was EQUATE.

     The 1828 dictionary doesn't have a definition for this word...so I looked somewhere else.

• consider (one thing) to be the same as or equivalent to another.
• "customers equate their name with quality"
• synonyms...identify, compare, liken, associate, connect, link, relate, class, bracket

     Interesting word for this project.  

     I think I have been doing this as I read the Old Testament, and as I have read the Book of Mormon...and any self-help book I have given any time to.  

     I was reading about the Children of Israel...you know...how they were taken out of Egypt and they were being guided to the Promised Land...and they looked at the pillar of fire and the pillar of smoke and KNEW it was God leading them and one day they just decided that it wasn't him anymore.  How dumb is that?  How often do I know that God is there leading me and teaching me and one day I just 'forget' that is happening and have a melt down.  Wow!!

     And then there are the passages about discipleship.  I am learning to take those passage a lot more personally.  Too many people think that Jesus is just talking to the 12 apostles when he tells them to do the miracles that they have seen Him do.  But He was talking to all of us who claim to be followers of Christ...we have to equate ourselves with those scriptures...with those directives. 

     This is an area of omission on our part.  We...I need to be taking those directives a LOT more seriously.

Saturday's word was EMBRACE.

1. To take, clasp or enclose in the arms;  to press to the bosom, in token of affection.
2. to seize eagerly;  to lay hold on;  to receive or take with willingness that which is offered;  as, to embrace the Christian religion;  to embrace the opportunity of doing a favor.
3. To Comprehend;  to include or take in;  as, natural philosophy embraces many sciences.
4. To compromise;  to enclose;  to encompass;  to contain;  to encircle.
5. To receive;  to admit
6. To find;  to take;  to accept..
7. To have carnal intercourse with.
8. To put on.
9. to attempt to influence a jury corruptly --- Blackstone

Noun

1. enclosure or clasp with the arms;  pressure to the bosom with the arms.
2. reception of one thing into another.
3. Sexual intercourse;  conjugal endearment.

     I think I am going through this challenge with an open enough mind to see the things that I would like to embrace and incorporate into my being.  I know that I am living a little more deliberately than I used to.  I am not used to the structure that I am imposing upon myself in order to get the tasks done that this challenge requires.  But I have resolved that it will only be an imposition until I have created so more appropriate habits...not just action habits but habits of thought and self-talk.

     Embracing the concepts of this challenge is very desirable to me.  I believe that this challenge only helps me to become more deliberate and effective in my life and my relationships.

     This is a good thing!

Today's word is ETERNALIZE

• To make eternal;  to give endless duration to.

     Well, this just follows naturally the thoughts and feelings of the previous words/experiences.  

     When the adjustments are made, the tweaking of the habits...then the better person that I become is one that I hope will last through eternity.  I really do believe in eternity.  I hope to be in the best possible place throughout all eternity.  I am hoping that the things that I learn from choosing less "normal" (speaking of today's society) ways of thinking and acting will lead to a place on the right hand of God.  Like the scriptures talk about.

     I want the changes that happen to last forever...and I want to keep improving as time goes by...shedding the less desirable habits, thought patterns, self-talk, worries and concerns for those of a more durable way of thinking and speaking.

     I hope I have made some sense here.  I hope.

Here's to Growing and Glowing!!

Onward and Upward!

Tari

Exist

     Yes, I do exist.  So do you.  So what are we doing with that existence?
    Today I smiled a lot.  And I spent some time with my grandchildren...some of them.  Jonah and Seline and I walked to our friends' house today.  Oh, and we had Christian in the stroller.
     What a lovely experience.  Jonah and Seline were on scooters pretending they were space ships and that I was the mother ship.  Whenever we crossed a street they decided to be near the mother ship so they wouldn't be sucked into the vortex (just the asphalt...but how cute is that?)...if there was a concrete gutter across the street it was a worm hole and was safe.  It was a good way for them to stay with me because I walk slow.  Whenever they came to a corner ahead of me they would return to the mother ship and we would approach the crossing together.
     Being the mother ship was such a good way of being reminded that this Nana exists to help keep them safe.
     It was such a nice walk.
    Christian is 18 months old.  He loved that walk...he was so enamored of the trees.  When we passed close to one he had to touch it.  It made walking a little slower but it was so worth it.
     Children help us old folks remember to take the time to look around and see all that is around us.  They help us see beyond our "boxed in" lives and see the evidence that God exists.  Trees, birds, squirrels, puppies...they are not accidents.  They are well thought out creations of a God in heaven who loves us and wants our existence to be pleasant.  And the children make it meaningful.
     So, yes, I do exist.  And I do it happily and gratefully.

Here's to Growing and Glowing!!
Onward and Upward!
Tari

Explore, in review...and the word for tomorrow, Exist

     So today I went to the optometrist.  Learned that my eyes haven't really changed as far as a prescription is concerned but the Dr. decided to explore for a bit and discovered that I have dry eyes.  Did you know that dry eyes can affect your vision?  Well, I learned something new today.
     I went to the Family History Library at BYU today and wrote 10 pages in long hand...about my memories since marrying Randy.  I got to where we moved to Boise after our youngest son was born.  Keep in mind that this is just a sketch...and I am amazed that I remember so much.  I almost remembered addresses.
     It is fun to explore memories...I chose only the good ones...  :)
     After writing for awhile, I went to the computer and started looking at what I could do to find another family member from the past.  That is a quest that requires more expertise than I have right now.  I don't read German, so I got stuck.  I did find some interesting newspaper clips though, while I was searching for more information on Heinrich Henry Humbach, grandfather to my grandmother on my father's side.  I would just LOVE to find where he was born, and when he became and American citizen.  He landed in New York Harbor in 1881.  He and his little family came over on the Salier.
     Anyway...that was my exploration into my family tonight.

     Tomorrow's word is EXIST.
     The primary sense of this word is to set, fix or be fixed, whence the set of permanence, continuance.

1. To be;  to have an essence or real being, applicable to matter or body, and to spiritual substance.  A supreme being and first cause of all other beings must have existed from eternity, for no being can have created himself.
2. To live;  to have life or animation.  Men cannot exist in water, nor fishes on land.
3. To remain; to endure; to continue in being.  How long shall national enmities exist?

     Well, there it is...EXIST...happily, I DO exist.  Now how well do I endure?  Most days I do find the ability to smile and be very grateful for something in this life.  See, gratitude is a key to enduring this existence well.  We will see what tomorrow brings for this word.

Here's to Growing and Glowing!!
Onward and Upward!!
Tari

Explore! Moving on...

     I have taken far too long to come back around to blogging.  I apologize if that is becoming somewhat of a swan song.  It irritates me as well.
     I have decided to take this project with a grain of salt...have you ever noticed how salt enhances the flavor of things?
     So far I have addressed the words:    Execute
                                                              Effect
                                                              Emit
                                                              Examine
                                                              Eliminate
                                                     and   Exact
     Today I am choosing the word Explore.
     Explore's primary sense is to stretch, strain, drive; applied to the voice, it is to strain or press out sounds or words;  applied to the eyes, it is to stretch or reach, as in prying curiosity.

1. To search for making discovery;  to view with care;  to examine closely by the eye. (Moses sent spies to explore the land of Canaan).
2. To search by any means;  to inquire with care;  to examine closely with a view to discover truth;  as, to explore the depths of science.

     A little like Examine, but a little different, too.  I like this word because it implies, to me, adventure.  I would like to make this project an adventure of exploration rather than a TEST...which the word Examine "means" to me.
     Both of these words are good ones but I am liking this one (explore) tonight.
     I have a coach helping through this process...I think she is willing to be there for me as I endeavor to succeed in this thing.  She knows that I want to come through this a better person...more focused on positive things so that I can be less focused on myself and more focused on helping others in the long run.
     The examination process showed me that I am not as broken and/or worn out as I thought I was.  I am more like the Victorian estate that looks like it is ready to be scrapped but really has "good bones" and just needs a little tender loving care to make it glorious again.
     When I wake in the morning I will have this word in the forefront of my mind...I have a purpose for the day.
     At 10:00am I will be at the optometrist's office...we will be exploring the virtues and short comings of my vision...deciding if I need to replace my glasses with a new correction or keep the same correction but replace faulty lenses.
     I am sort of correcting my "vision" with the program.  I am adjusting how I see myself in the grand plan of life...mortality.  And I am exploring other possibilities about myself.  I am a lot stronger, kinder, substantial than I have given myself credit for.  And I fit differently than I have tried to make myself believe...better, I think.  And I think that this helps me see things from a different perspective, you know the challenges that come up in life, the bumps in the road.  They don't have to be terrible things anymore.  They can be different from what I have made them out to be and they "feel" better than they did before.  I don't know if that makes sense to you but it does to me right now.
     I am NOT blowing my own horn, nor am I looking to prove anything to ANYone other than myself here.  I really do believe that we are harder on ourselves than we need to be...than we ever should be.
     The admonition is "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of they people, but thou shalt love they neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD."  Leviticus 19:18
     "Love they neighbor as thyself"  don't hold a grudge...don't hold a grudge against yourself either.  It just makes sense.
     How do you love anyone if you don't love yourself?

So I will explore this concept...and eliminate some grudges that I have against myself...and execute change...and emit more positive, loving energy (which becomes a lot easier when the hard feelings are eliminated and replaced with more charitable feelings)...and appreciate the effects.

Here is to Growing and Glowing!
Onward and Upward!
Tari