Category: love your neighbor

Spread Love and Confidence

Last week during my Thursday Facebook live I talked about having the confidence to do just one step toward your goal. When I was talking it about it I think that I made it sound like you find this confidence just laying around. But we don’t find confidence. We have to drag it up out of the belief in ourselves and the knowledge that God has put us here for a purpose.

It is scary to take a step out of what is comfortable into something new. Change is always hard and scary, especially when it is something that is important to you. But it doesn’t change anything if you hold onto the fear instead of confidence. Let the fear go through you then take the strength left and step forward.

You may have to gather your confidence every step of the way. You may feel that your little steps aren’t moving you forward but they are. It doesn’t matter how long it takes you, any step forward is a win. You may feel like you don’t have enough to offer but you do. Everyone of us has something to offer this world.

I may never be known by more than 50 people but if I have made those 50 people feel important and loved I have fulfilled my purpose here in life. It doesn’t matter how big or small my life purpose is. Fulfilling it with love is all that matters. As I do that more people feel confident in their journey. And they are able to reach out and help others.

So your little piece of confidence leads someone else to using their little piece of confidence. As we gather all of the little pieces together we can change the world.

Let’s spread love and confidence.

Gratitude

Thanksgiving is next week! I know that Thanksgiving can get overlooked for Christmas, which I am often guilty of doing. (I just love Christmas stuff.) But Thanksgiving is a special time to stop and feel gratitude for all that I have in my life.

Gratitude is an emotion that can change your life and the way you look at it. There was a time in my life that I lived in darkness and fear and I let anxiety rule my life. I never thought that this would be a time that I would be grateful for. But now that I have worked to change, that period of my life means so much to me.

Gratitude matters for each of us. Not only can it change your own life but it can change other’s lives too. Have you ever met someone that has a problem for every solution? They need to hear the gratitude of others. They need to know that there is good in the world. (Even if they find the bad in what you’re telling them!) Eventually they will hear the gratitude.

Gratitude helps to change the way we think. As we continue to look for the good things in our lives our thinking changes. We are hardwired to focus on the negative because that is what kept us alive. However, we can change that, as we focus on gratitude we are able to see more of the positive aspects of life.

Being grateful strengths your immune system, it helps with your communication and helps you become more empathetic. Gratitude increases your mood and how you think about yourself. It is amazing what gratitude can do to change your life. So I would encourage you to focus on gratitude all year long not just during this time.

An attitude of gratitude really does change your life!

 

What is a good day?

Hey everybody!

I am sorry that I missed posting on Friday. I am starting over today with posting every Tuesday and Friday. Please keep checking in for new content. I appreciate each and everyone of you for visiting.

I love doing craft projects. I love to look through Pinterest and check out all of the fun projects people are working on. I am pretty good at crochet projects. A few years ago I decided to crochet a mermaid tail for my sister. I couldn’t find a pattern that I really liked and I was having a hard time reworking the pattern I did find. One night while I was looking for a pattern my son saw a pattern for a crocheted shark tail.

So, of course, I had to start that project for him. It is so cute and when it is all finished it looks like the shark is eating you when you are in the blanket. I started working on that one while I was still trying to decide what to do for my sister’s mermaid tail. I had purchased some yarn for the tail for my sister. But it just didn’t work for the tail so I started working on a blanket with that yarn.

Both the shark tail and the blanket are still sitting in my closet waiting to be finished. I do this a lot. I get super excited about a project, I go out and purchase all of the materials I need to complete the project, I start the project then I get bored and it is stored in my closet. I don’t even want to tell you all of the projects I have partly finished in my closet.  But trust me when I say there are more projects in my closet than shoes.

Why do I tell you all of this? Because sometimes I think we link what we accomplish to how good of a person we are. I know that I do. Oftentimes at night I go through everything I did that day. If I accomplished all I set out to do then it was a good day. If not then I need to work harder the next day.

But I don’t always or really ever take into consideration all of the things that I did that weren’t on my list for the day. Was I able to help a hurting heart? A short conversation that took up the time I was going to use to make that doctor’s appointment was an accomplishment.  Taking time to help someone else finish a project was an accomplishment. Even when that means I wasn’t able to finish my project that day.

There is a gentleman that comes into the library. He always has a wonderful story for me and spends a few minutes talking. (Sometimes more than a few minutes but he has the best stories!) Oftentimes when he leaves he says “I smiled again today. Thank you.” I don’t tell you this to brag but as an example that a few minutes to me means a lot to someone else.

How about we change the way we judge a good day? Instead of looking at what we were able to check off our lists we look at the connections we were able to make. Instead of thinking we need to accomplish more to be important. We remember that we are important now, just as we are. Instead of feeling bad because we aren’t as successful as the next person; we remember we are all working hard for what we have. Life is so much more than lists. You matter so much more than any accomplishment you could check off of a list.

P.S. Yes that picture is my closet with my piles of projects!

Building a Tribe

tyler-nix-525388-unsplashI have been struggling to decide what to share with you today. So many different things have been running through my head; a book review, how to handle anxiety at work, anxiety vs. the spirit (this one has been on my mind for a long time but I can’t seem to get it right), and how to find and/or deal with a doctor.

But then yesterday we watched Bohemian Rhapsody. To tell you the truth I was not interested at all in watching the movie. I know who Queen is but I am barely a fan and wasn’t sure why a movie was made about them. Then the movie started and I was enthralled from the start.

The life and family that Freddie Mercury built was inspiring. He had parents and a sister that loved him. I am not sure his dad understood or supported him in the beginning. Then Freddie joined a band and began to build his tribe of supporters. The band became his family. He met a woman that stayed with him throughout his life. He went through a time when fame and money become more important to him. But he came back to his family.

He came back to his band and mended those relationships. He came back to his family and received the love his family had for him. I have had this experience on my mind all night. I can’t get it out of my mind because of the bonds he built with others. He knew who actually cared about him and he worked to strengthen those relationships.

These type of bonds are vital to each one of us. It doesn’t matter how many friends or family we have around us but the type of bond we have with them. Are we being authentic and honest with them? Or are we showing them just what we want them to see? This is something that I struggle with every day. I want so much for people to love me that I try to be what they want instead of who I am.

As I have become more secure in myself my relationships with others have become stronger. It has given me a stronger support system for when I am struggling. It also gives me the opportunity to help and support them.

Today take a few minutes to do just one thing to strength the bonds you have with family and friends. You will be grateful you did.

Flood of Love

I am still obsessed with The Greatest Showman. I cannot get over the music This is Me is one of my favorite songs from the movie. (Of course I would say that every song is one of my favorites.) I have been thinking so much about the lyrics to This is Me.

The first verse starts out “I am not a stranger to the dark, Hide away they say, Cause we don’t want your broken parts, I’ve learned to be ashamed of all my scars”

Every time I listen to this song this first part hits me in the gut. How many of us have been told to hide, to not show a part of them because it is scarred, we believe that no one wants to know about our broken parts?

The ironic part is that each and everyone of us has broken parts. We aren’t perfect. I saw this quote on Instagram from Hannah Marbach “Literally every person is messed up, so pick your favorite train wreck and roll with it.” I giggle every time I read this, because it is so true. We all have problems. So why do we shame each other for those broken parts? Why can’t we treat ourselves and others with more love?

This morning I was reading in Isaiah during my Bible study. In chapter 61:1-2 Isaiah is speaking of Christ and says “he (God) hath sent me (Christ) to bind up the brokenhearted”.  I don’t know how to stop the shame for our broken parts but I do know where to go to be comforted and loved. I love the picture this part of the verse gives me. The picture of Christ sitting with my broken heart. Binding it up and loving it and fixing it. The feeling and knowledge that Christ has experienced all of the pain I have felt. I know that I can go to Him with that pain and he will heal it.

The chorus of This is Me says, “When the sharpest words wanna cut me down, I’m gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out, I am brave, I am bruised, I am who I’m meant to be, this is me”.

This is Me so I am going to send a flood of love, acceptance and peace into the world. I am going to send a flood of God’s love into the world. Because This is Me.

Service breeds Confidence

“When we build, when we lift the burden of others, it blesses our lives in ways our trials cannot take away.”  Sharon Eubank

“And as long as I am busy worrying abut their needs, I completely forget to worry abut how they might be perceiving me.” Ruth Soukup

Service, reaching out to others, helping, lifting, giving these are all ways to build confidence.  We have so many ways to connect virtually sometimes I forget that I need to connect in real life also.

When I give of myself, when I let down the barriers I have erected, I feel more confident.  I am happier because I am helping to lift someone else that is struggling.

What are your favorite things to do to serve others?  What are the best ways you have found to connect with family and friends?  What needs do you know of that I could serve right now?

Day 10 – Help me find ways to give service. (Yep today is all about me!)

I choose to stand

Like everyone else the last few days some part of my brain has been focused on the tragedy in Las Vegas.

As I was listening to a news broadcast yesterday.  One of the people talking said that the feeling of being safe in your world has been taken away.  That for his children they no longer felt safe.  My kids have not grown up with the feeling of safety other kids do.  Most kids grow up believing that bad things don’t happen. Tragedy and sadness and hurt is something that belongs to other people.

Not my kids.  They know bad things happen.  They know that kids are hurt everyday.  They know that people die everyday.  Now let me be clear my kids live a very protected and sheltered life in most ways.  They have a safe place to live and they know we will do everything to protect them.  They don’t have to worry about where their next meal will come from or if they will have a place to sleep tonight.

However,  my husband is a police officer and a SWAT team member.  They know bad things happen.  They know that when those bad things happen their daddy will go running into the fray to protect everyone he can.  They know that this world is not safe.  Sometimes I feel bad for them because they have not grown up with a feeling of safety that most people take for granted.

But in other ways I am so grateful for the lives they lead.  I am grateful that they know what a true hero is.  They don’t care what sports players, actors or politicians do or don’t do because those aren’t their heroes.  They know police officers, EMTs, paramedics and firefighters.  They know soldiers current and veterans.  They know teachers that give everything to help them succeed.  They know that even when scary things happen there are people that will stand up for what is right.  Those people will stand up and save those that they can, often with their last breath.

Bad things happen and it hurts.  But good things and good people are all around us.  They are their standing up and helping each other.  They are their standing up and saving each other.  They are there standing up and fighting to make this world safe, to make this world fair.  They are there standing up and doing all they can to take care of each other.

I choose to stand.

Really?! That is self care!!!

Only 1 more Self-Care Thursday!  I have had a ball sharing ideas with you about ways that you can take care of yourself.  I hope that you have enjoyed it!

Today I am going to share an idea that may not really sound like a form of self care.  But stick with me all will be clear in the end. (Said with a magical hand wave.)

Service yep service is a great way to take care of yourself and help others at the same time.  Now I know what you are thinking – Really I have to think about helping others when I am barely keeping my head above water in my own life. They just need to take care of their own problems.

I know, I get it!  I got so consumed with anxiety during my life that I couldn’t look around.  I was just trying to survive.  I closed myself and my life off to a very small group of people.  But then I started feeling better and I realized that there is life outside of myself.  As I began to realize that I also realized that my problems seemed smaller when I would reach out to others. (I am also sharing this because I need the reminder to start reaching out again!)

Now I am not going to tell you that someone has it worse than you, so you should be grateful for what you have.  Because I REALLY HATE that saying.  It is true that life is hard for everyone but saying that other people have it harder discounts your struggles.  It is like saying your problems don’t matter.  And they DO!

Ok so why service?  Because it is awesome!  Just thinking about what you can do to help someone else makes you feel better. Have you ever noticed that?  Even when I was in the middle of the worst of the anxiety I could distract myself thinking about other people.  I was lucky enough to have been asked to help with the young woman group in my church during this time.  I say lucky because they were AWESOME and I miss them very much.  But also because during this time I would not have looked outside of myself for others to serve.  I was “forced” to do service.

Whenever I started to get stressed or overwhelmed in my own life I was able to ask myself. “What do the young women need?  What can I do to help them?”  I may not get an answer and I may not have done anything right that second but just the thought of what I could do moved my brain enough that I didn’t have an anxiety attack.

Now you are asking what can I do?  My life is busy enough how can I add one more thing into it?  The answer is you don’t have to!

You can do random acts of kindness.  Maybe just tape a dollar to a vending machine with a note saying the treat is on you.  Do you have some extra money? Pay for the car behind you in the drive thru. (Disclaimer: I have never done this and yes it does make me nervous because what-if they have a huge order!? Maybe ask for their total first.)  You can always go on Pinterest and search Random Acts of Kindness.  You can find great ideas and cute notes that go with them.  (But don’t let the extra work dissuade you from doing the service!  Just do it without the cute note.  That is how I roll!)

If you are ready for a little bit bigger project you can always go to Volunteermatch.org.  This is a great website that has a ton of volunteer opportunities.  They even have some that are online only.  So you don’t have to leave your house.  YAY!!!

If you know how to run a sewing machine you can help out at Days for Girls. This is a great nonprofit that makes reusable feminine hygiene kits for girls in developing countries.  Girls miss school during their periods because they don’t have any feminine hygiene products.  I love projects like these.  You can fit them into your schedule and you are lifting an entire community because you are educating their women.  “You educate a man you educate a man.  You educate a woman you educate a generation.” Brigham Young

These are just a couple of ideas that you can use to begin venturing out into the world of service.  I know that at times is seems overwhelming to even think about reaching out in service.  I promise you, though, that as you do you will be blessed!  Will you join me in doing one act of service this week?

Photo credit: SHTTEFAN on Unsplash

It’s my party!

Tomorrow is my birthday! I have now reached the age that when I am asked what I want for more birthday I can’t answer.  Five years ago I would never have believed that I would reach an age where I couldn’t answer with a thing that I wanted for my birthday.

Now when I think about my birthday I want things that can’t be bought in a store or ordered from Amazon.

First, I want health for all of my friends and family.  Too many people that I love are suffering.  They are having to learn hard lessons and they are hurting.  It makes me sad because there isn’t a thing I can do. Expect love them. I wish you health and healing.

I want peace for those suffering from grief, personal and family problems and mental health problems.  I have been through all of these and they hurt!  If you haven’t yet experienced one of these problems you will.  And I wish you peace.  If you are now in the middle of one of these circumstances I wish for you to feel the love I have for you.  But more importantly I wish you to feel the love of Jesus Christ.  He is there listening and reaching out to you.  Turn to Him He is there and will lift and carry you.

Life is hard.  So many people around the world exist in circumstance that I can’t imagine.  I wish for the world to change.  I wish for war to end and poverty to be eradicated.  I wish I could hold every baby without a mother.  I wish I could save every child that is being hurt.  I wish life wasn’t so hard.

So for my birthday gift this year I ask you to “lift where you are”. (Dieter F. Uchtdorf)  Change your corner of the world.  It won’t solve the world’s problems but it will change one person’s life.  And really what better way to change the world than helping one person?

Annie Spratt photo credit