Wisdom

I am grateful for women, insight, and knowledge of an identity that transcends mortal purposes.

Earlier this week I read an article about plastic surgery, saying that a lot of women in Utah (as compared to other states) have some sort of procedure done. That surprised me. It was also timely, because the Mr. and I had actually had a conversation about cosmetic surgery that morning.

I've been thinking a lot the past few months about my identity, feelings of self worth, etc., and trying to find a way to improve the way I feel about myself. The article, along with my recent musings, caused me to post the following on Facebook:

"At some point in my life I unconsciously decided that my value lies in exterior factors. Physique, for example, or my ability to keep the house clean. Others' opinions of me, the clothes I wear...it's quite an extensive list. Do I realize that is is a false belief? Absolutely. Do I know how to discard it? Absolutely not. Discuss."

I was surprised by how many people responded, and I appreciated the insight offered by many of my friends. I thought I would share some bits and pieces of what was said:

"I think our culture trains us to feel the way you have described. From birth we are praised for being pretty, for an amazing piano performance, or for getting good grades, so of course those are the things we aspire to and place value on. I'm not saying our parents and teachers were superficial, its just natural, but as we raise the next generation, I think we should look carefully at how we praise children. Notice hard work, kind acts, good attitudes, effort, character and praise and reward those things every bit as much as the easier to notice but more superficial things. I wonder if that could make a difference."

All of those are our ego, what we perceive to define ourselves ourselves, but those things are not us. We have to realize we are not the pounds on the scale, the sad past, the cute hair, the funny laugh...etc....we just are. We have to find that inner self, our divine nature, I call it, and worry less about the ego and more about the divine.

"I think that it goes back to our motivation--or WHY we do things. Keeping a clean house can be a very good thing ( a house of order is a house of God). Having a healthy body is important too. We just need to make sure that our motivation comes from having our thoughts and desires be one with God's."

"I've come to the conclusion recently that the only one who can help me with it is Christ, so I have to put more trust in him to help me see the good in me and help perfect me as well."

"I've started to realize all that matters is how I remember others and serve in the ways Heavenly Father asks of me and that I'm kind to others regardless of how I think they view me. I think Elder Uchtdorf put it best when he said: "Just think of it: You are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious Being in the universe! You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time!"

"I've found that the way to overcome it is to study the scriptures consistently. That is where the source if True self esteem lies. The more we familiarize ourselves with the word of God, the more we familiarize ourselves with what is truly important and the more innate positive feelings of self worth are...When we're familiar with the scriptures our default feeling of self worth is positive, without having to give ourselves pep talks to love ourselves. We just already do. The scriptures are powerful."

Thank you for the reminders!

SBB

A Week's Worth

Today I am grateful for an awesome long weekend.

I've been fighting off some baby/cold weather/daily grind blues lately, and it was just what I needed.

Saturday morning the boys and I got to watch Ed do a triathlon. He did great! Second place in his age group, fourth place for the men, and fifth place overall. We were so proud! His brother raced, too, and did awesome! Later that day we went to a family birthday party, and topped the night off with a BYU win. It was a good day at the P. household.


I'm thankful for an ambitious and fit husband and for family.
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Church was particularly uplifting on Sunday, there was a great turnout for choir, and we had delicious stew with our upstairs neighbor-friends.

I'm thankful for the Gospel, people who sustain me in my calling, good food that I don't have to prepare, and friends.
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Monday the Mr. took a day off work and we all played. It was wonderful. He let me sleep in, and we had omelets for breakfast. We took the Bug to a little kid center called Jungle Jim's with a playground and a bunch of rides. It was great because 1. He could ride the rides as often as he wanted. 2. Parents were free, and they let us ride all the rides with him. 3. The employees were super nice and accommodating. 4. It was fun to let him dictate his own activities for once. I feel like I'm always telling him what not to do, and cutting off his play time. There weren't even any screaming fits when we had to leave.

"Momma, you ride Maximus"

"I gonna get you"

It was nice to fall in love with my kid again. Does that sound weird? Some days I forget to slow down and enjoy him, and he is such a fun, sweet, amazing little person.





I'm grateful for rest and relaxation, a happy Bug, cheap, family-friendly entertainment, and especially for a husband who is considerate and mindful of my needs.

Happy living!

SBB

Fall is in the air! I celebrated today by wearing a scarf and long sleeves, putting the Bug in a sweater, and making soup.

I love this picture.

This week I am thankful for:

Adam's happy screeches.

The Bug. That kid is killing me. He's got more personality than any one person should be allowed. It seems like he has grown up a ton just in the last week.


Repentance.

Cooler days that are still warm and sunny.

General Conference. It didn't disappoint--now I have to go back and re-read all the talks fifteen times.

Fall. I think I love Fall. I'm just always so preoccupied with winter's looming imminence that I forget to enjoy it. Seriously, how is it October? Didn't Christmas just happen?

Our umbrella stroller. So, crazy story: two weeks ago I accidentally left a stroller outside a friend's apartment a few blocks away. I didn't even remember until a few days later. I called my friend, but she hadn't seen it. I walked the grounds of the apartment complex and it was gone. I was disappointed, but it's just a stroller--there are worse things to lose. Today I was walking home from another friend's house, and saw a stroller that looked an awful lot like the one I had lost. The owners of the house were outside, and I asked them about it. They didn't speak english, but their son interpreted (I don't know how to say stroller in spanish), and one of the ladies walked over, picked up the stroller, and handed it to me. I could not believe we had found it, especially nowhere near where it had been lost! So I'm really not so grateful for my stroller as I am for answers to prayer. I feel like I list that one a lot, but I am. In the scheme of things it wasn't a big deal--we had the money to replace it, and it wasn't very expensive to begin with. We had other strollers we could use. That's what is so cool to me. It may sound silly, but I know that I was led to find the stroller; it wasn't just dumb luck. It's a testimony to me that God cares about us--big things and little, too.

So we're coming up on Thanksgiving, which usually means I bring out the old Thankful Tree. I'm not exactly feeling the urge to drive down to Payson, pull it out of storage, smash it into my car, and find a place for it here. But believe me, we WILL have a thankful tree. So start feeling grateful. Any comments left about what you're thankful for will go on the tree and I'll send you a dollar for your contribution.

Okay, that last part isn't true. Come on, people! It's a thankful tree, not a money tree! Isn't being grateful enough?

SBB

This Weekend

Today I am Grateful for...

General Conference!

Watch it. You will be so glad you did.