It is so easy to get off track, in the words of the Christian movie "Courageous" it is so easy to take our hands off of the wheel and let life sweep us away. It is so easy to wake up one morning and realize that what we thought our life was is no longer accurate, we let ourselves coast and now we don't recognize where we are. This getting off course can happen in so many different ways, whether after weeks of ignoring the scale we find a number we're not a fan of, or when we are not being as kind in our interactions with others because we forget to wake up each morning and commit to following the example of our Savior, or we wake up in the morning and find the house a mess because we forget that decluttering each day can help the deep cleans so much easier. At whatever point we wake up and find that the circumstances around are not quite what we want we realize that at the heart of it all is a lack of accountability, a large part of following the path we want to be on, a path that leads us closer to our Savior and our Father in Heaven because it teaches us how to be like them and feel comfortable in their presence, we must hold ourselves accountable.
In the case of not the weight we want, we weigh ourselves each day, not to beat ourselves up, but to track progress, to know what minor changes need to happen, instead of weekly (which then turns to monthly) which can then feel so overwhelming we can't even begin. For more loving kindness we read our scriptures daily to learn about the testimony of the being we are to emulate, a clean house is a matter of doing the dishes, vacuuming and dusting more than once every month anniversary. Staying on whatever path we need to end up where we need to go means being grounded and anchored to our hope and purpose.
The last few weeks I have been drawn to family history in a whole new light, not just names on a computer screen that tie to mine, but names attached to stories, grandparents, uncles, great aunts, these people all lived, they all have stories of faith, stories of learning and growth. The more I learn the more I feel their legacy and want to live it for myself. Family stories connect us to our past and point out to us either a path we choose not to follow or a legacy we hope to share with generations to come. Learning of our family, taking full advantage of this Memorial Day to remember all who have gone before can connect us to our past, gives joy in the present and hope for the future. I hope we can each connect with a family member in a whole new way, a new story, a new memory, to connect us to a story of love, loss, service and hope, this is the legacy we bring into the future. Stories of the past can anchor us to the path we hope to travel. The legacy given us can keep us accountable when we may stray a step from the path. The hope of sharing the legacy the next generation down, the stories of their faith and sacrifice can help keep us on a path drawing nearer to God.
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