Well, when I think of something that I would consider my motto, several things come to mind. Short, pithy little statements that can keep me going when it feels like maybe I can’t put one foot in front of the other any longer.
****One of the first things that comes to mind is this homily I learned while growing up. We used to call it the Pioneer Adage.
I have NO idea who coined the little couplet, but it helped me make a lot of decisions, both little and big, for myself before I got married and also while running a household of eight people for all the years my kids were growing up.
USE IT UP. WEAR IT OUT. MAKE IT DO OR DO WITHOUT.
I still refer to this little verse. And when the decision is to “make it do or do without”, I think of the motto Louis uses frequently. Something he learned in the Army. Then I look around to see what I can use to make the thing “do” for me.
ADAPT AND OVERCOME
****Another motto, I guess you could call it, is this one when I REALLY need an omph to push me along.
I COME FROM PIONEER STOCK. I CAN DO THIS!
These are the times I am in pain, or a job seems overwhelming, or I am racked with guilt because I haven’t taken care of some promised outcome. This is when I remember that I don’t have to cross the Great American Desert barefoot, under a broiling sun, and eat the dust of the people trudging ahead of me. Then I can start again to tackle the job I have to accomplish.
****Probably, my kids would say my motto, as I led the family in housework, laundry, and any kind of project was an emphatic
MY WAY!
But it got the job done, albeit with some resentment and lingering dislike through to their adulthood, I’m sure. But my way is a dang good way!
Perhaps my creed would be a more accurate way of judging how I try to live my life. Not by just a few clever words, but by adhering to and following a soul-searching treatise I wrote several years ago on a layover in Houston, Texas, in June 2012. This was in response to an invitation the instructor of our congregation's weekly women's auxiliary meeting gave at the end of a lesson about George Albert Smith a week or so before. That was during the era our study manual for the year was the Teachings of the Prophet, each year a different Prophet.
George Albert Smith was the prophet and religious leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when I was born, but he died when I was about five years old. His Creed is quite a legacy. It was a blueprint of his life and a hallmark of how he acted in all his many roles.
I hope my creed is also a legacy for those in my family who come after me. Though some of the wording reflects my employment with United Airlines at that time, my aspiration to live this creed in my current life circumstances is the same. Here it is….
MY CREED
I would seek the blessings of paying a full tithe, as I know my willingness to do so protects me in both spiritual and temporal ways.
I would look forward to attending Sunday meetings and cultivate the feelings of peace and serenity the Sabbath affords for a successful week ahead.
I would take opportunity to read and peruse the magazines published by the Church in order to enhance my gospel scholarship and learn better ways to live the gospel on a daily basis.
I would recognize that many people around me are in need of ministering, and I can do that by looking them in the eye and sincerely greeting them as I pass them on the street, see them on the plane, or rub shoulders with them at Church meetings.
I would rejoice in small encouragements I can give which will nevertheless uplift those people with whom I come in contact.
I will complement them on a color or item of clothing they are wearing, some assignment they performed, or an event in their lives.
I would note how my own heart is warmed when I am remembered on my special days, and I will remember others on their special days.
I would recall the mundane and thankless jobs I have had over my lifetime and then make sure I thank the cleaners on the plane, the housekeepers who have made my hotel room clean and comfortable, and the caterers who work in all kinds of weather delivering food to the galleys on the plane.
I would remember my commission to share the gospel—with everyone.
And that “everyone” includes my friends, my neighbors in the world, and my family, some of whom may be in a different place on the road to eternal life.
I would keep always uppermost in my mind that I set out for salvation, and I will live each day to that end.
