Standing in our Majesty; A Challenge

I have been having a rough day. I know we all have them, and if you don't, well then I want to be you when I grow up. It's been the kind of day where you just feel very less than. Like nothing you do seems to matter. You don't feel right in your skin. You don't like yourself. I haven't been seeing myself the way my Father in Heaven does. As a friend puts it, I haven't been Standing in my Majesty.

Just as I was feeling really down I was reading on a friends blog. Today she issued a challenge. I was brought to tears. How did she know?

I am going to take her challenge and hope you will too.

(copied and pasted from her blog)

Why are we so unhappy with ourselves?

I am so guilty of this. Often I have found myself very unhappy with who I am or what I look like. I allow my insecurities to slowly drift in, and like the oil in the Gulf, once it comes ashore it is almost impossible to clean up.

It is when I hear other women speak of themselves in such hurtful ways or admit that they never feel good enough that I realize how I must sound or look to other people as well. When I hear this from another woman, my first thought is, "But you are a daughter of God and you are so beautiful and you are so funny and you are so..." Then I wonder why I cannot say these things, or better yet BELIEVE these things about myself.

So why are we so hard on ourselves? Why do we have to hate ourselves because we are in a size range of 12 to 16?(or even, gasp a 20) Not being skinny isn't a good enough reason to illicit self hatred, yet we find ourselves loathing our bodies. Why can't we be a sexy size 14? Marylin Monroe would fluctuate between those same sizes, even reaching a *gasp* 16 in size and was still considered a national sex symbol. Can you or I not be a sexy woman at a size 16? Who made the rule? And we can't blame it on society, we ARE society. We dictate what is sexy. If I feel sexy, and act sexy, then am I not sexy?

I guess at the end of the day we have to really stop self-hating. Saying that is much easier than doing that. But why spend the rest of your life putting yourself down, feeling like you don't fit in or you lack something/anything?

My advice, and trust me, I'm going to practice this as well:

Every single day, when you go to bed, take 5 minutes of your life to write what you liked about yourself that day. Perhaps you had a great hair day, maybe you always have a great hairday because you were blessed with great hair. Or maybe the "girls" looked particularly elevated and firm in that new bra you purchased. Who knew moving to a 3 hooker bra was the trick! *long story, but actually happened* So in that case write in your notepad "I had a nice rack today!"

Then when you wake up in the morning, open your notepad and read it. Appreciate yourself for helping a neighbor with her trash cans the day before, for not yelling at your child when he once again spilled grape juice on your cushions, and for a very nice rack! Start every day off with thankfulness for all that is good about you, and end every day with all that is good about you!

When we busy ourselves with reasons why we rock, we leave little time for all that we are lacking. Try it, and please let me know how you're doing and little secrets you might have!

Love yourself!