i did. i probably wouldn't have if i hadn't called it ahead of time, but i did, and it smelled good and looked good and kids faces were smeared with frosting, so i had one.
a cupcake that is.
okay, okay two! but they were really short (paul didn't really distribute the batter evenly in the pans, hehe) and with minimal frosting. there were still a dozen left today, since it made two dozen. but i didn't even have a hard time resisting them as they sat there on the counter. and i never thought twice about sticking my finger in the frosting in the fridge. i did think about it once, but it was brief.
however, when we gave them to the kids again tonight and i watched them eat them the temptation came back. mmm, chocolate frosting on chocolate cake. but, i held strong. i stuck to my commitment. go me.
i'm drawing some good parallels between this and gospel principles. and even if that's all i get out of this, i still say "win!"
like, for one, it's about 100x easier to resist the junk if it's just not in my house at all. it's not hard to not eat something you don't have. sure, i could test my strength and see how close i could get to the food without eating, but why put myself through that torture? the real strength comes in knowing i won't have to even resist the temptation because there's no way to fulfill it! there is no "strong enough". avoidance is always the best option.
also, it seems to be easier to limit and focus my spiritual (and mental and emotional) self when i've learned how to control my physical impulses. you don't have to "give in" just because it's there. it's possible to say no, and, in fact, gets easier the more you do it.
of course, none of this is ground-breaking stuff. seems like almost all of the analogies we use in the church are all basically the same, and we've heard just about all of them, but still. we should liken all things right? D&C 29:31 . . . yea, all things both spiritual and temporal—
and also D&C 29:34 . . . all things unto me are spiritual . . .
there's a couple others too, but i don't think anyone probably cares too much to read my enumerations of personal epiphany.
so anyhoo, while it IS getting easier--slowly, steadily--there is still a long way to go. one day at a time. sometimes one hour at a time.
1 comment:
I love this post! It's so true, why walk yourself toward temptation? My friend wrote a post about marriage and one of the things she said she and her husband don't do is keep number's of the opposite sex in their cells. One of her commenters said it was sad that they don't "trust" each other. I found it sad that she didn't understand that it isn't an issue about trust, rather than a respect for the sanctity of the marriage. If you never approach the line, you're never tempted to cross it! And THAT is the point. It applies to everything we do!
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