JUST AS I AM

There are a lot of funny and unique things about me...I talk with a lisp, I have only partial hearing in my right ear, my left eye opens wider than my right, I have an open bite, I smell everything, I am always cold, my pinky finger sticks up whenever I take a drink, I lose my phone at least five times a day, I can't live without my Burt's Bees chapstick,  and I love David Archuleta!

These things are part of what makes me special, and different.  I have been self conscious about many of them, until I just decided to embrace all of the things about me and love them.  I also laugh at myself a lot, and it's a good thing because taking myself too seriously would be no fun!  My family laughs at me a lot too, mostly because of my poor hearing, and my responses to what I think they say that makes no sense!  It used to bother me, but now I think its funny too!

Wouldn't it be boring if we were all the same?  Our unique differences are a beautiful thing that allow us to add variety and richness to the world!  Why in the heck then, would we compare ourselves to someone else?  But we do, often without even realizing it!  I am definitely guilty of this.

I love this analogy..."A flower does not think to compete with the flower next to it, it just blooms!"~Anonymous  What if we just all gave each other the opportunity to bloom, and love and accept each other just as we are?  Wouldn't that feel so good?  What a beautiful flower garden we could create!

And thinking about ourselves less, because we are confident in who we are, allows us to focus on others and show up in a more authentic way.  Here is a great way to think about it..."Confidence isn't thinking you are better than anyone else, it is realizing that you have no reason to compare yourself to anyone else" ~ Maryann Hasnaa.

So let's start with loving ourselves, just as we are, and then doing the same for others, and see the beauty we can create...it's all in the eye of the beholder!