Good vs. Better, Better vs. Best

General Conference October 2007 a talk was given titled "Good, Better, Best" by Elder Dallin H. Oaks. I was a young single adult and though it struck many hearts at the time, to me it did not. At that point in my life it seemed that I was making choices mainly based on fun or lame, good or ok, lazy or productive.

Fast forward about 6 years later, having not read the talk since it came out, it flooded my thoughts to the point where I HAD to look it up and read it again. It came apparent that my life now revolved around choosing good, better or best; a raising of the bar moment.With my precious newborn tucked safely in my arms I knew that these 3 were my only choices and that choosing the best was detrimental. Lot's of people gave the statement to "cherish these precious newborn months because they go by so quick," and though those words are SO true, it was pretty pointless for them to say that to someone such as myself as I relished in EVERY second with that sweet babe. I fed, changed, held, snuggled and stared at her a good 20 hours a day. That's right, I averaged about 4 hours of sleep throughout the day for those first couple months. She hardly slept, and when she did it was never long. I could have called my oh so supportive, loving and ever so willing family members to take her and give me the "break," I know, but I just felt I had to choose the best with my time, and the best always drew me to be with her. When she was asleep I also had the same 3 choices: clean my house=good, shower and change= better, but eating and sleeping always = best and therefore won out every time. Thankfully my wonderful husband was there to pick up everywhere I lacked.

My little one is now a walking talking/jabbering toddler; her newborn stage of complete dependency is over. But, when I get those darling little fingers prancing on the bottom of my bare feet and hear her giggling the words "tickle tickle," my heart melts to remembering that the best decision is in front of me as I lay on the couch snuggling my stupid i-pad. A good decision checking on a FB message I left someone, a better decision going through pinterest looking for the recipe I need for supper, but the best decision to jump down to my daughter and give her hugs and tickles whilst smothering her with kisses. 

This talk (click here to watch/read the talk)is filled with wisdom in how we can better spend our time. Here are some of my fave quotes from it:

      "  Of course it is good to view wholesome entertainment or to obtain interesting information. 

               But not everything of that sort is worth the portion of our life we give to obtain it. "

" Some of our most important choices concern family activities. "

" There is inspired wisdom in this advice to parents: what your children really want for dinner is you. "

" President Gordon B. Hinckley has pleaded that we “work at our responsibility as parents as if everything in life counted on it, because in fact everything in life does count on it.” "

" The instruction to magnify our callings is not a command to embellish and complicate them. To innovate does not necessarily mean to expand; very often it means to simplify. "

Heaven's slice is simply choosing the best things for our time and energies.