| "As
Soon As" is a principle we can use to encourage our
family members and ourselves to be patient in wanting.
It is abbreviated as ASA. It helps us keep activities
and acquisitions in line. It helps satisfy our natural
desire for more & more. Here are some examples for
using ASA:
 A
child is shopping with his mother. The entire trip around
the store is one round of begging and whining for a toy
car. Knowing it is natural for children to want, the wise
mother suggests, "You are paid a quarter a day to
empty the trash. As soon as you save the $5.00 you can
buy the car yourself." By using ASA, the mother taught
three character-building lessons to her son:
- patience
- the value
of a dollar
- how to work
and gain independence so he doesn't need to beg.
 Are
we struggling to get our children to practice their music?
How about using ASA? "Sure you can go swimming with
Cathy, ASA you practice." Having worked in music
for over 50 years, I have seen the ASA principle work
wonders. There were even some parents who paid their children
money ASA they memorized a selection. And, do you think
the students were glad or sad afterwards? Right, they
were glad and so were their parents!
How can we
use ASA for our own growth? Here are two ways I used ASA:
- I told myself
I could read the morning newspaper ASA I read my Scriptures.
- I told myself
I could break my monthly fast ASA I had fasted a full
24 hours.
It is the way
we feel afterwards that determines the
worth of an activity, isn't it? It was after
I read my Scriptures and after I fasted
for 24 hours that my self-confidence soared.
Note: I tried ASA to get in the habit
of eating a raw veggie before I ate sweets, but I was
raised on after-school snacks of a rich chocolate cake
that Mom had baked, or a case of Snickers Dad had put
in the refrigerator. So, at 83, I am still
working on it, ha!
Using ASA helps
us prioritize and keep "first things first."
If there is a Happy Habit we wish to establish, why not
have it follow one we have already mastered? For example,
if we already have the happy habit of drinking a glass
of water on arising, why not add the juice of a lemon
to help make it a healthier one?
Using ASA develops
Happy Habits. We are all creatures of habit, so why not
cultivate happy ones? Once self-control, self-denial,
and delayed gratification become happy habits, our lives
will improve. My Grandpa Allen used to say, "Anticipation
is Sweeter Than Realization." It will be fine
training for each of us to patiently bask in our sweet
anticipations as we look forward to our realizations.
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