But, this conversation made me remember something my grandmother told me when I was younger. She said, "Do not let anyone determine your success or failure; the only one who can do that is you." Of course when Gaga (that's what we called her) said this to me, I smiled, took the advice, and didn't think too much more about it. But now, as a working woman, these words ring so true.
We let the world tell us that we are too loud, too big, too dumb, too weak, too small, not good enough, too smart, etc. We allow others to determine our worth and our lot in life. My grandmother was right, the only person that can tell you that, is you. How you feel about yourself can determine many things. The "face" that we put out to the world is the only one we have...why not love it!? Why not wake up today and succeed? Why not take the risk and reap great rewards? Why not look in the mirror and believe that you are worth so much more?
For so much of my life I let others thoughts of me determine how I felt about myself. I let the world tell me I wasn't pretty enough or smart enough, when in my heart I knew that God created me the way I was for a reason.
1 Samuel 16:7 says:
But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
Although this verse is talking more about our outward appearance, it rings true for every part of our self worth. The world judges you by your appearance; but that can be how you appear to work, how you appear to think, how you dress, how you act in certain situations. God loves you, no matter what, he sees your heart.
When I was talking with the student I mentioned above, I made sure that they knew that their heart was in the right place. They were majoring in something that changed lives and they loved it. The only person who could tell them they couldn't do it, was them. Just like for me, the only person who needed to know I had self worth, was the person staring back at me in the mirror. Once I accepted this truth, I was a much happier person.
Now this doesn't mean that you can't have days of self doubt...believe me, I do. But what it means is God is there with you. He is walking beside you and knows your heart, he sees your potential.
I'm going to leave you with the words of one of my favorite Contemporary Christian songs. It has helped me when I doubted myself and when I doubted that I could pick up and carry on, I hope you can use it as an anthem too!
In the Eye of the Storm
In the eye of the storm, You remain in control
And in the middle of the war, You guard my soul
You alone are the anchor, when my sails are torn
Your love surrounds me in the eye of the storm
When the solid ground is falling out from underneath my feet
Between the black skies, and my red eyes, I can barely see
When I realize I've been sold out by my friends and my family
I can feel the rain reminding me
In the eye of the storm, You remain in control
In the middle of the war, You guard my soul
You alone are the anchor, when my sails are torn
Your love surrounds me in the eye of the storm
Mmm, when my hopes and dreams are far from me, and I'm runnin' out of faith
I see the future I picture slowly fade away
And when the tears of pain and heartache are pouring down my face
I find my peace in Jesus' name
In the eye of the storm (yeah, yeah)
You remain in control (yes you do, Lord)
In the middle of the war, You guard my soul
You alone are the anchor, when my sails are torn
Your love surrounds me (Your love surrounds me)
In the eye of the storm (in the eye of the storm)
When the test comes in and the doctor says I've only got a few months left
It's like a bitter pill I'm swallowing; I can barely take a breath
And when addiction steals my baby girl, and there's nothing I can do
My only hope is to trust You
I trust You, Lord
In the eye of the storm (yeah, yeah) You remain in control
In the middle of the war (middle of the war), You guard my soul (yeah!)
You alone are the anchor (ooh), when my sails are torn
Your love surrounds me (yeah!)
In the eye of the storm, You remain in control (yes you do, Lord)
In the middle of the war (in the middle of the war), You guard my soul
You alone are the anchor (ooh), when my sails are torn
Your love surrounds me in the eye of the storm, oooh
Oh in the eye of the storm
More posts are coming, and I promise, they won't all be this sappy or sweet! :)
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