Being Temperate in All Things

So this is a different kind of post for me, but one I really wanted to add in because my testimony has been strengthened today. As a small background, I, like probably all mothers at different times, have felt an extreme lack of motivation to do anything beyond surviving each day--mainly keeping diapers changed and the kids fed and bathed. Beyond that, there has been little exercise, planned and prepared dinners, and no more than just the basic house cleaning and laundry. I make all kinds of excuses for myself but my main one has been that I just can't seem to get myself motivated--it has been strange for me because I used to be much more of a goal setter and dedicated to improving myself in atleast one area of life or another. I've been struggling with this and other negative feelings for the past year and today I fasted about it. Fasting is one of those things I have not been very good at--mainly because I have been either pregnant or nursing for the past 2 and 1/2 years, but I have been past that point for about 4 months now and have failed to fast with a purpose until today. My testimony grew today about fasting with a purpose. I began with a prayer that I would somehow hear or learn something today that would help me get past these negative and depressing feelings.
My answer began in Refief Society when the lesson was on goal setting and the different programs that are out there in the church to help us with this. There actually is a Relief Society goal setting program out there just like the YW, YM, and primary have. It is called, Pursuit of Excellence. It was a great lesson and gave me time to think about the changes I needed to make as a wife, mother, daughter, and sister.
The rest of my answer came when I came home and decided to read an ensign article rather than turn on the tv or eat. The article I read was by Elder Kent D. Watson of the seventy and was from this past general conference. It is entitled "Being Temperate in All Things". The main thought in it that struck me was this, "Tempered glass, like tempered steel, undergoes a well-controlled heating process which increases strength. Thus, when tempered glass is under stress, it will not easily break into jagged shards that can injure." The whole article was inspiring to me. It talked alot about self-mastery. I have been pondering on this for the last couple hours and have come up with my New Year's resolution that I am not going to wait for the New Year to begin working on.
Like Elder Watson stated the heat that tempered glass undergoes is well-controlled. The process would not work if the heat was sudden and given all at once, just like the process of self mastery and temperance cannot be expected to happen all at once, which I believe has been one of my downfalls of the past year. I have allowed negativity and feelings of failure to rule my life because I was unable to do it all at once, and therefore, in a sense, I just gave up. The process, must be well-controlled.
The other part of his quote that I liked was that the heating process is what increases the strength of the glass. Without that heating process the glass would not become tempered, and therefore when shattered, would break into jagged shards that injure rather than small pieces that leave no serious injuries. I have to be willing to go through that "heating process" whether I feel like it or not if I want to become the person God wants me to be.
Anyway, this is getting quite long, but I have come to the conclusion that I am only setting ONE main goal for the coming year and will have little monthly and weekly goals that will help me attain that one goal. When I look at it like this it does not seem so overwhelming and impossible to attain. My goal is just the title of Elder Watson's talk. To become more temperate in all things. Now I know that I will not become a perfect master of self and that is why I use the word MORE temperate. Each month I will set 4 goals total that work towards gaining self mastery in 4 different areas--spiritual, intellectual, physical, and emotional(which for me will mostly be improving relationships). Hopefully this will help me keep my priorities in line and not feel so overwhelming since it is broken down into smaller segments to help me work towards that overall goal in life, which is self-mastery.
Again, my experiences today have been such a testimony builder and a reminder to me that God does hear and answer our prayers and when fasting, we can be more in tune to hear Him and feel his love.