Seven Habits of Highly Effective Family -A couple of my take-aways

Have you been working on being deliberate? It is not easy. It takes effort, thought, and action.

I recently listened to tapes by Stephen Covey called 'The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families'. It was incredible! I would highly recommend it to everyone! Especially those with young families (although the information is good for anyone and everyone!) Some of the things he talked about I really needed reminded of.

We keep ourselves from our own happiness. Our happiness is determined by ourselves. We have been given agency to choose for ourselves. Do you choose happiness? Or do you choose stress, tension, strain, and annoyance?

Are you living your life? Or are you being lived? If you are living your life you are enjoying it, you are taking control and you are not allowing things to just 'happen' to you. You intentionally live the way you want to. For me that is interacting with my children, spouse, and family, and deepening my devotion to God. I want to live my life. I don't want to be lived by going through the motions and reacting to everything that happens to me. Start living the life you really want!

The things that matter most should never be put at the mercy of the things that matter least. I LOVE this one, probably because it is very applicable, because it is something that I struggle with. I am guilty of being on my phone more often than I should and when I do that I am sacrificing time, memories, and learning with my children. In all honesty, being on my phone matters least to me, but at times I seem to do it the most. That was really eye opening to me, that I am sacrificing what I really for what I really don't want. What things matter to you that are at the mercy of things that matter least?

Those are just a couple of the things that I really liked from those tapes (yes my car is old, yes I still have a cassette tape player, yes it still works, yes I use it frequently) (One time I was taking a Co-worker to get her car and she was very awed by the fact that I had a cassette tape player in my car that worked, and that I still used it.)

It takes effort to do these things, to live intentionally and deliberately. But it brings SO much more happiness! I have been incorporating what I have learned into my life and I am a changed person. I love my learning, growing, trying, and becoming better! I may be slow at transformation but I am transforming. Are you?