"We are men of action...

lies do not become us." Okay, name that movie!

I have been thinking lately about the importance of action, and how action gives strength to some of my favorite words.

Belief plus action equals faith.

Thankfulness plus action equals gratitude.

Wishing plus action (and believing too) equals hope.

Faith, gratitude, and hope are strong words. Charity is a strong word too. And all of them require action. Faith in Jesus Christ requires us to act in following his gospel. Gratitude requires us to give a demonstration of our thankfulness to whomever we are thankful to. Hope means we believe something is true so strongly that we act on that hope.

Sometimes I feel so frustrated in my inability to carry through with action on things that I think are important to me. I have the thought, but just can't seem to follow through with the action.

You may identify with some of my feelings.

How often has my skinny self woken us with ideas about how I will eat healthy and treat myself well, only to find that the rounder me takes over somewhere mid-afternoon?

How often have I started with such patience and love for my children in the morning, and found that tired mom really starts to try and rear her not so attractive head before we get to bedtime?

That inner struggle between the natural man and the spiritual man is so real and so frustrating. When we can't make our actions match our knowledge of what we ought to be doing, it is such a terrible feeling...to know that we have given up our agency in a way that we regret.

I am working harder to figure out how my relationship with my Savior can help me bridge this gap between knowing and doing. I continue to be reminded that I can't do it all on my own, though I am sad to admit I think I've tried. And wasn't that the point of our needing a Savior anyway? We can't do it on our own.

Our actions are important...faith without works is dead. But without taking the time to invite the Savior regularly and specifically to help me experience the change of heart I am seeking, I have found that too much of my action is wasted, as it isn't leading me where I want to be.

Here's to a new year full of action (not that my previous years lacked action)... more carefully prioritized action, better guided through a strengthened partnership with my Savior where I finally learn to better spend my time on the things that matter most, and then...let the rest go.