Loving The Skin You're In
As you may have noticed I usually start my blogs with a question. I do this because this blog isn’t just about me, it’s about all of us evolving into the best women that we can become. So the question for this week is, when you look in the mirror what do you see? Not only with your natural eyes but your spiritual eyes as well.
Of course we are always growing, so there is always an area in our lives that can be better. But even with the inevitable growth that has to take place, do you love or even like yourself? It’s important that we ask ourselves this question. Because we can’t begin to give from the best of who we are when have a toxic inner dialogue. This reminds me of the old saying treat others like you want to be treated .But how can we treat others with love and respect when it is missing within us. I wrote a few weeks ago about Intrinsic Value (shameless plug: read it if you haven’t). Knowing your value is the first step but accepting it into your heart is the next step.
You can be in a place where everyone can see the value in you but if you can’t see it, it really does not matter. It’s up to us to believe that what’s inside of us has purpose in the world. We have to believe that our talents and gifts matter even if we don’t receive outside validation. Undoubtedly, if our insides provide light our external will follow. I believe we often look how we feel. Feeling good about oursleves does not start with a cute outfit, it starts from a whole heart. I definitely don’t have a one size fits all solution for what it takes to begin the journey of self-love. It is definitely an uphill climb, but in the end it is worth it. Prayer and time with God is always the best idea. But if it takes going a step further like going to counseling take it, because the world definitely needs the best version of you. And you deserve it as well. I enjoy waking up daily to a sound mind and heart.
My journey to wholeness/self-love was not simple. It took digging deep and rooting out pathologies that began even before I was born. I had to get to the why and then start taking responsibility for the decisions I was making. Even when others cause us hurt or pain it is up to us to make the decision to forgive and move on. We make the ultimate choice in how we choose to see life.
I love being able to look in the mirror and not only like my character but also what I see, even my flaws, because it all tells the story of Cree. It makes me feel complete that every mark, every stretch helped me to become the best possible me in this moment. I had already decided to write about this topic prior to our new church series. But it’s so God to make the topic today about facing and embracing our past as the gateway to a better future. The series is called Chain Breaker it sounds pretty self-explanatory. But sometimes we need to hear it said aloud that Jesus is the chain breaker. Our Pastor has been giving us awesome truths about how we begin to break negative cycles in our lives (follow Passion City Church on YouTube to get the weekly messages). Not only do we have to understand our value but we have to embrace our past in order to overcome it. A lot of our failure to love ourselves comes from the inability to resolve within our hearts events of the past. Like I stated before, it is not easy work but it’s necessary.
As you’re getting ready for work in the morning, just take a second to look in the mirror and ask yourself what do I see? I pray that it is not a cracked reflection, but if it is, that you do the work to allow God to mend it.
With Love,
Cree
