A Challenge

The past couple of weeks have been extremely busy and hard.  I have been trying to be positive, an aspect that I tend to overlook.  A good friend of mine has started writing her top ten things she likes about herself every single day, not just once, every day.  I like this idea.  Do we ever actually realize what we are good at?  The paradox of being human, I suppose.  We have all these amazing qualities, each and every one of us, and yet we are always wondering if we are measuring up.  It reminds me of an episode of one the shows I watch, where the FBI agent is trying to get a suspect to talk, and the suspect is refusing..so the FBI agent says something to the effect "let the record show that so and so is holding back information pertinent to this investigation.." and suddenly, almost as if by magic, the suspect talks, because he doesn't want to be on record..after giving up the information the FBI wanted, the agent says something like "by the way, there is no record".  Who is really keeping score?  In the grand scheme of things, who is really sitting there tallying up everything you are doing?  And why is it that we keep score on ourselves?  Why not just say, in a loud voice, or a quiet voice, or a normal voice, or a whisper, a shout, a scream, a proclamation,...I AM A BEAUTIFUL GOOD PERSON!  See, it really isn't that hard.  Try it.  Shout it.  Exclaim it!  YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL, UNIQUE PERSON.  It is so easy to look at all the things we aren't good at.  To compare ourselves to what we perceive others have.  I am guilty of this.  I look at my sister, who is super mom. I look at the ladies in my ward, who all seem to live in giant homes, with designer clothes and who can give their kids every thing they want, I look at my friends who seem so strong, who have talents I wish I had.  I compare, and I despair.  Why can't I have those things?  Why can't I be super mom?  Or live in a big house, or have faith that is strong, or talents like sewing, painting, being a good listener, a strong woman, or a good friend, or a really good scheduler, or.....WHY?  And I give up, I see only the things I don't have, or that I am horrible at and I get so caught up in what I AM NOT that I forget WHO I AM.  So, I challenge you and myself, to be like my friend and find ten good things about you, and write them down on your blog.  Challenge your friends to do the same.  It's like when we they make us stand when we are in young women's and say the theme "We are daughters (and sons) of Heavenly Father, who loves us and we love him" Isn't it about time that we show him that we love what he gave us?  US?  He gave us this life, he gave us this world, he gave us everything we needed to see how much we are WORTH.  Challenge yourself, your family, your neighbors, your friends.  I bet you can find ten things you are good at, I bet you can find about a thousand more if you really took the time!  The possibilities are endless here, LADIES!

Ten Things I like about ME

1. I have a great listening ear
2. I am a good reader
3. I am a mother who tries
4. I am a good, honest person
5. I help others out
6. I can bake a mean cupcake
7. I can write some pretty good stories
8. I try to be compassionate to those around me (most of the time)
9. I am patient with others
10. I love to sing and shake my booty! :)