On self-image...

This week has been good, I'm really glad for it :]

I was reflecting back today on the past day and the past week. Usually what happens on the walk home is that I'll think back on the things that I've said and people I've met and what I've done. Most times, I'll be repenting and stressing about changing and being more loving, patient, wise, etc. but today, as these thoughts started running their normal course, I just felt a peace that overtook this anxiety and God just came and told me that hey... it's ok, you just need to start from where you're at and who you are now. This is a mindset that I really need to put on daily!

Often times we have a vision of the person we want to become. The burden and frustration only comes when we look at where we are, and where we want to be but don't know how to bridge the gap between those 2 realities. So we end up trying to be who we want to be, whilst leaving behind the person we are, and we end up putting on a show. But our vision has to grow together with us, and I really believe this is part of loving ourselves too - learning how to give ourselves a break when it's due and thanking God for being who you are no matter what circumstances or facts or people tell you.

I read this really cute story online today that was so relevant to this issue of self-image:

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.
At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.
But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.
After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream.
“I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.”
The old woman smiled, “Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.”

Each of us has our own unique flaw…
But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.
You’ve just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them. Learn to smell the flowers on your side of the path!

Just like how we have to be broken, I believe our tests and trials are really what makes our lives living testimonies for the goodness of God in our lives.

Of course, balance is the key. As we grow and change everyday to become who we were ultimately made to be, we can take the time to enjoy today and have the assurance and hope that what God has started in us, He will finish if we just keep to the path and continue letting Him work in our lives :]