Our lesson in Relief Society yesterday was centered on the talk that Elder Uchdorf gave in General Conference to the women about the "Forget Me Not" flowers. One of the main points of his talk was to help us women be more patient with ourselves and to love ourselves.
I know that I definitely struggle with measuring up to my own high standards at times, but I have to say that I think I've finally reached a point in my life where I'm a lot more patient and content with myself. Maybe it has something to do with being in the 30-something's, but I'm really enjoying it.
For one thing, I'm not as hard on myself about my body anymore. Yes I am still trying to obtain that pre-pregnancy number on the scale, but I don't hate myself in the interum like I would have in my 20's.
Several years ago, I would compare my life with other peoples lives. I've come to realize that a) We always tend to compare our weaknesses with other peoples' strengths, and they do the same thing as well. So really you have a bunch of people feeling bad about themselves for silly reasons. And b) A lot of times it's comparing apples to oranges. I mean is it really fair to compare your mothering skills and knowledge to someone who has been a mom 10 years longer than you? No, not really.
The biggest thing I have learned is that we are all in different stages of life, and you have to cut yourself some slack. Be gentle to yourself and love yourself. If you are a mom with young kids, don't let your friend's immaculate house make you feel bad about your own cleaning skills. Again, it's apples and oranges. Maybe her kids are older and past the stage of destroying everything in sight. Her struggles are different than yours. The fact remains, is everyone has struggles but they are different and all very tailored for whatever situation of life they are in.
My point to all of this, pertaining to myself, is it's nice to finally be able to look in the mirror and not hate my body for what it is, but love it for how far its come and enjoy the process of obtaining goals to continue to be healthier. It's nice to know that even though we just bought a 1600 square foot home that is a total fixer upper and not as nice as a brand new home that is twice the size, that it is perfect for us and the situation that WE are in right now. And that for us, it is a huge accomplishment that we worked hard towards. It's nice to look at my boys who aren't always the cleanest, who sometimes wear pajamas all day long - but to know they are loved and are being taught good things.
Love yourselves. Be patient with yourselves.
2 comments:
That is such a good message and a much needed reminder. This post was very uplifting.
love this post:)
Post a Comment