My 2010 Theme

Do you have a theme for your New Year?


I was pondering the beginning of a new year, wondering where the past year has gone, and trying to think about what I would like to accomplish in 2010. I decided that I needed a theme for my New Year.


I am all about themes - a party theme, a theme for a gift, a theme for decorating. Themes. I love them. Give me a theme and I can go crazy with ideas. I wanted to pick a theme that could not only improve me as a person, but improve my family and my interactions with others. As I looked back at 2009, particularly the last few months, I really enjoyed my "Happy" theme (see October blog posts). Choosing happiness was big for me. And not just choosing happiness but spreading it too.

So I have chosen to use President Monson's October 2009 General Conference talk, "What Have I Done for Someone Today?" as my 2010 theme. This talk really touched me and I have read his words many times since. Here are just a few of his thoughts that I loved:

President Monson tells of an article written by Jack McConnell, MD. McConnell tells of his childhood and says that every day as the family sat around the dinner table, his father would ask each one in turn, "And what did you do for someone today?" What a simple question that is! What a huge impact it could have on us and our families if we asked this same question each day! I love it...

President Monson says:
"I am confident it is the intention of each member of the Church to serve and to help those in need. At baptism we covenanted to “bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light.” How many times has your heart been touched as you have witnessed the need of another? How often have you intended to be the one to help? And yet how often has day-to-day living interfered and you’ve left it for others to help, feeling that “oh, surely someone will take care of that need.

We become so caught up in the busyness of our lives. Were we to step back, however, and take a good look at what we’re doing, we may find that we have immersed ourselves in the “thick of thin things.” In other words, too often we spend most of our time taking care of the things which do not really matter much at all in the grand scheme of things, neglecting those more important causes."

I also love the idea of having a "warm fuzzy" jar as related by President Monson. He relates, "One very creative Primary sent a large jar containing hundreds of what they called “warm fuzzies,” each one representing an act of service performed during the year by one of the children in the Primary. I can only imagine the happiness these children experienced as they told of their service and then placed a “warm fuzzy” in the jar." I cannot walk by the brightly colored pom poms in the store now without thinking of them as "warm fuzzies." I love it...

So many good ideas. So many opportunities to serve, and bless and lift up. My hope this year is that I may extend myself a little further, listen to the whisperings of the spirit a little closer, and feel the happiness that comes through helping others be happy.

May you and your family be HAPPY this year and may you find a theme for 2010 that will bless your life. Happy New Year!