Promises, Journals, and Harry Potter

Mosiah 5:6 - "...and the covenant which ye have made is a righteous covenant."

One of the major projects I've been working on in conjunction with my blog and my novel(s) is the digitization of my mission journals. While I lived in Jamaica for two years, I kept a set of eight leather bound journals, which detailed and delved into the experiences and thoughts I had every single day from beginning to end. My current goal is to eventually take the highlights and pitch those as a novel themselves.

As of right now, it's quite a document! At my current progress, I have typed up about 484,542 words, give or take a few here and there. In comparison, if you were to read the same amount of words in the Harry Potter series from the first page, you would hit my count a good ten or so chapters into Order of the Phoenix. 

Now, I'm not saying my narrative is as grand or epic as Harry Potter by any means, but I'm coming up on the length. With one more volume and possibly an appendix to complete, I might just reach Half-Blood Prince. We'll see!

I just finished my seventh volume yesterday, publishing it privately on Kindle for my family to read. 

VICTORY!

This particular volume described the time of my life when I first began to consider the type of person I wanted to be after the mission. During one of my many musings, I penned a list of fifteen "Obligations to Self," fifteen ideals I wished to live my life by.

I wanted to share these desires I have for myself with you today.

I will pursue and achieve my goals and dreams to the best of my ability.

I will pursue ambition, wealth, and fame to lighten others' burdens and let my light so shine.

I will seek to improve and increase my talents daily.

I will make smiling my first priority.

I will learn from my mistakes and vow not to make the same mistake twice.

I will think of others before myself.

I will be the kind of person I would want to be around.

I will be honest and fair.

I will be loyal to my friends.

I will count my enemies as my friends.

I will immediately forgive and seek forgiveness, regardless of the situation.

I will refrain from forcing others to endure the same wrong I have experienced.

I will keep all the commandments daily.

I will be a witness of Christ at all times.

I will focus every day on becoming more like Christ.

What do you think? Did I miss anything I should have added? Is your list different? What obligations have you made to yourself? Be sure to comment below!

Love you guys!