I've always struggled with the idea of loving myself. For some reason it always sounded so conceited to say that I love who I am and to be overly confident in myself. I know that sounds silly, but for some reason I've just never really been able to understand how people can like themselves so much and have a sense of pride in themselves and their accomplishments. It's not that I'm overly humble. I just genuinely have never been able to fully 100% be able to say, "Yes, I like myself."
I know that sounds really sad. And it is! As you can imagine, this negative thinking about myself has often led me to be really down and depressed. But no longer! I've finally decided enough is enough and it's time to start loving ME.
For the next little while I will be going back in time to my teen years and will be re-doing the Personal Progress experiences and project for the value Individual Worth! I loved doing Personal Progress while in Young Women and sometimes I really wish they had something like this for Relief Society. You don't stop being a daughter of God when you turn 18! I'll be posting all about this little journey, starting today. So here is Individual Worth value experience one:
Value Experience One
You are a daughter of Heavenly Father, who knows you and loves you.
Read Psalm 8:4-6; Jeremiah 1:5; John 13:34; Doctrine & Covenants 18:10;
Abraham 3:22-23; and Joseph Smith--History 1:1-20.
Write in your journal how these scriptures teach you that Heavenly Father
knows you, loves you, and is mindful of you.
Since this blog is basically my journal these days, I thought I'd just go ahead and share what I've learned here! All of these scriptures were great reminders that God knows specifically who I am and that He loves me and has a plan for me. One verse that particularly stood out to me was John 13:34. I've heard the words "love one another; as I have loved you" probably a thousand times throughout my life. In this scripture, Christ explains that He loves us all so perfectly and unconditionally. So we should strive to love others that way too. But we all know that it can be difficult to love others when we don't know how to love ourselves.
I recently realized that one thing I really struggle with is envy. In this social media world that we live in, it's so easy to only see the good that people post about themselves and wish you were more like them. There have been many times throughout my life that I've done this and I feel like my feelings of jealousy have only increased in recent years. And what's really sad is that when I become jealous of another person, I eventually begin to not like them very much. It's as though I resent them for being so "perfect." When I realized I had this problem with envy I decided to do some reading on the subject. What I found out is that when you struggle with envy, the real problem is that you do not understand your own individual worth. This is a huge reason why I've decided to do this individual worth project. I hope to learn to see myself the way Christ sees me so that I will learn to love myself and, in turn, learn to love others better.
It's so obvious to me as I read the scriptures how much our Heavenly Father loves us. He cares about each and every single one of us. Now that I'm a mother I understand that so much more. I love Finley so much it's crazy! And I know that I will love the other children I have someday just as much. No matter what my children do, I will always, always love them and care about them. They will always be so important to me. And I know that's how Heavenly Father feels about all of us.
And I know that's how He feels about me.
So if I'm so important to an all powerful God who has billions and billions of other children to worry and care about at the same time, why don't I see myself in that way? Why do I continue to tear myself down and think that I'm worthless? I would never, ever in a million years want Finley to think that of herself. It would make me so sad. And I'm sure it makes Heavenly Father sad when we choose to ignore our own divine potential and fail to see how special we are.
It's not easy for me to see myself the way God sees me. But I know that I can with the help of my Savior and through continued prayer and scripture study. I know that I am a daughter of God who loves me. And I love Him.
Stay tuned for Value Experience Two!
I recently realized that one thing I really struggle with is envy. In this social media world that we live in, it's so easy to only see the good that people post about themselves and wish you were more like them. There have been many times throughout my life that I've done this and I feel like my feelings of jealousy have only increased in recent years. And what's really sad is that when I become jealous of another person, I eventually begin to not like them very much. It's as though I resent them for being so "perfect." When I realized I had this problem with envy I decided to do some reading on the subject. What I found out is that when you struggle with envy, the real problem is that you do not understand your own individual worth. This is a huge reason why I've decided to do this individual worth project. I hope to learn to see myself the way Christ sees me so that I will learn to love myself and, in turn, learn to love others better.
It's so obvious to me as I read the scriptures how much our Heavenly Father loves us. He cares about each and every single one of us. Now that I'm a mother I understand that so much more. I love Finley so much it's crazy! And I know that I will love the other children I have someday just as much. No matter what my children do, I will always, always love them and care about them. They will always be so important to me. And I know that's how Heavenly Father feels about all of us.
And I know that's how He feels about me.
So if I'm so important to an all powerful God who has billions and billions of other children to worry and care about at the same time, why don't I see myself in that way? Why do I continue to tear myself down and think that I'm worthless? I would never, ever in a million years want Finley to think that of herself. It would make me so sad. And I'm sure it makes Heavenly Father sad when we choose to ignore our own divine potential and fail to see how special we are.
It's not easy for me to see myself the way God sees me. But I know that I can with the help of my Savior and through continued prayer and scripture study. I know that I am a daughter of God who loves me. And I love Him.
Stay tuned for Value Experience Two!
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