You ARE Good Enough, and So Am I. :-)

Having an "aha" kind of day, as cliche as all this is going to sound.  Life is too freaking short to allow people to steal your joy, especially if that person is YOU!  Learning that lesson.  I feel like a bird - moulting off the old and taking on the new.  Every time the bird shakes off the old feathers, the beauty underneath is revealed in all its glory and fabulousness.  

We are all FABULOUS!  Any age ... any size!  Learn it, know it, walk in it.  Hold your head high and enjoy living your life in the creation which is YOU.  Smile, laugh, love, hug,   God made you and HE doesn't make mistakes.  We all make mistakes, but that's part of being human.  

I've had a lifetime of people (men and women) implying or saying outright that I'm not good enough - in every area you can think of.  Too fat, too shy, too bold, too quiet, too loud, job not good enough, not spiritual enough, too spiritual, too serious, not serious enough, that clothes doesn't suit you, your hair looks better THIS way ... you should do this, you should do that, don't post that picture, you look like crap, don't write that book, you're not good enough ... it goes on and on and ON. 

The worst offender?  Me.

Of the external detractors, none of these people are on my Facebook friends' list!!  So I'm saying this more for me than for them:  Hear this - I'm DONE!  I'm also done with beating myself up for every perceived wrong that I do or think.  I'm human and therefore fraught with flaws, as are we all.  It says in Scripture to "glory in our imperfection."  I'm understanding this more and more.  #1.  We can never be perfect.  Let it go.  #2.  God is perfection and when we are weak and allow Him to be strong, His Glory shines, even on the darkest days.  

Be yourself, in love.  I've strived to be someone else - in condemnation, of myself and others.  We are all so much kinder to other people than we are to ourselves, aren't we?  Try to remember that when someone is unkind.  Imagine how they're beating themselves up on the inside, if they're being this hard on you?  We all do it. 

Reality is this:  I have one person to please - me.  God already loves me.  I'm learning to love me - the rest comes naturally after that.  Human relationships are all work, but if you love yourself first and truly love your life, that puts relationships with others into a much better perspective.  

I've internalized the BS from other people and society in general.  Holy smokes, why has it taken me 50 years to learn that I'm already good enough?  All these snippets of positivity that I post all the time?  They're just as much, or more, for me than anyone else.  Good thing because it's finally taking root.  FINALLY!  I get it now.  

Don't let anyone steal your joy ... not a catty individual, not an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend, and avoid wolves in sheep's clothing.  Holding things in will do nothing good, but will sooner or later, make you sick.  Say what you mean and mean what you say.  Just do it in kindness.  

We all do and say stupid things.  Me included.  When we're unhappy, we sometimes lash out at other people.  If people have been catty or mean with us, our human instinct is to be mean or catty back.  The cycle goes on.

Well - breaking it now.  If I've ever said (or even thought) anything mean to anyone, I apologize.  And I apologize to me for the negative internal dialogue which has been playing inside my head on a continual loop for most of my lifetime.  It's bad for the mind, bad for the body, bad for the spirit.

Let's get 'er done, b'ys!!  A round of optimism, love, and acceptance to everyone!  Raise that glass high and let it overflow - Cheers!

Thank you to my beautiful friend, Bridgit, for posting this photo a while back.  It's so true.  

All this stuff that we read every day?  Starting to actually feel it.  

You ARE good enough.  And so am I.  Believe it.  I finally am.  

Happy Friday!  Go make someone happy, starting with you!  Dare you!!

:-) 

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Whoever came up with the marketing campaign (the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS Research) is freaking brilliant. $41.8 million, compared to $2.1 million last year during the same timeframe.

... and counting

Everyone who participates, donates. Some donate thousands. All we had to do was get their attention. Simple. Effective.  WOW!

Personally, I'd run naked, smeared with peanut butter, through a thousand squirrels, if I thought someone would donate enough research funds to make this horrible, fatal neurological disease go away.  Pure pointless suffering.  

Hopefully this challenge will be responsible for people being able to call themselves ALS Survivors - for the first time in history.

That would be something for us all to be proud of.

Please do the challenge and donate.  Nominate three friends.  With every donation, we are closer to making ALS a thing of the past.  


http://www.alsa.org/news/media/press-releases/ice-bucket-challenge-082114.html

Servant Leadership - Not an Oxymoron

Aristotle said, "He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander."

Folks, I think this explains many things.  The people who don't learn to obey go the opposite route and feel entitled. This attitude, uncorrected, produces bad supervisors at work, uncooperative workers, arrogant  politicians, unhappy marriages/relationships, and unruly children.  We live in an an exceptionally entitled world where people don't feel they ever need to obey anything.  Then they get out there and run the show - and torture the rest of us.  I'm not sure when it happened, but there has been a distinct shift during my 50 years on this planet.  Nothing was ever perfect, but it was different than today. Entitlement and the arrogance that goes with it creates an ugly vibe and a spirit of retaliation in others, who often also feel entitled. This is the kind of non-cooperative atmosphere where we wind up barking at each other and chasing our tails, accomplishing nothing.

Here is the flipside:  A humble and obedient spirit equates with a person who gets along with people even in difficult situations.  They bend, they do not break.  They cooperate and compromise instead of ranting and raving for their own way.  This is the type of leader we need, in our homes, in our workplaces, and in our nations.

In a society that has become so entitled, how do we get back to this, is the question.  The sensible people get so turned off by the idiots, particularly in politics, that they just walk away, leaving the entitled children in charge.  We need maturity, not childishness, in our homes, workplaces, and on all political levels.

We particularly need maturity in our media, whose influence is frighteningly powerful.  Most journalists and reporters prepare opinion pieces, not news.  Entitlement and ego drives this.  A humble spirit would drive a very different type of reporter/journalist, the sort who wishes to inform and enlighten the public, not guide their opinions like a dog herds sheep.

This weekend celebrates Jesus Christ. He died a brutal, sacrificial death for those he loves and who love him, and even for those who don't love him.  If we (individually and collectively) could tap into the source of that humility and servanthood, realizing that it's a privilege to serve our fellow human beings, that is key to keeping the humanity in the human race and to keeping the civil in "civilization." This is how to capture the cooperation of individuals and the masses.

We don't resent cooperating with someone who has proven they will give their all for us.  It cultivates a spirit of cooperation and community, and in the home, it cultivates love.  This is why Christ's example is used when talking about the home and how a husband is to "give up his life for her, as Christ gave himself up for the church."  Now that's the kind of love any woman can appreciate. This is an attitude much more likely to create a cooperative, loving marriage, rather than the "everyone out for themselves" attitude that is prevalent in most relationships.

Servant leadership is the only successful leadership, in any aspect of life, because true success isn't about money or influence or a picture perfect family, but these things flow from true success. True success is knowing that someone in this world is happier or better off because of you. This Easter weekend is a good time to reflect on the example set by Christ, the ultimate servant leader. He is the perfect role model for all, whatever faith group one chooses, Christian or otherwise.

Happy Easter.