My Journey: Blurred Lines

So often we wrap ourselves up in thinking about "what we do" vs "who we are." The lines get so blurred that we don't even know the difference sometimes and who we are eventually becomes defined only by what we do!

On the surface this seems like its a good, accurate analysis of oneself. After all if someone DOES kind things in their life, they are probably a kind person. If they constantly do selfish thing, they are likely a selfish person. But when you look deeper you see this concept is flawed.

My Journey: Damaged Goods

A conversation I recently had with my hubby on the long drive to my doctor brought on some thoughts (and a lot of emotion with it) and I wanted to share!

Each one of us is on our own unique journey. Nobody is walking the same exact path or experiencing the same trials; hence nobody comes out with the same "wounds." But one thing we DO have in COMMON….we all have them - Wounds! We all have ups and downs, we all have good and bad, we all have love and hate, we all have baggage and gifts!

NOBODY gets through the journey of life undamaged. The Yin and the Yang. You gotta have the lows to have the highs. Some may only have bruises while others are left with large gaping wounds but we are all damaged on some level. Its a part of this thing we call life. Sometimes, despite the many wonderful blessing that life brings, our damage can hold us back from living the life we want; the life we deserve.

Have you ever found yourself in that place? Many of us have, including myself. I realized through this journey something that has had a profound impact on me. It was an "Ah-hah Moment" that brought me to tears. I realized that when you look at your damaged self, raw and unedited…its not finding others who love the damaged you that is most difficult, but rather finding the strength within to love your damaged SELF!

It is NOT an easy road to be on, but a path WELL WORTH TAKING! Sometimes we feel so broken, or damaged, that we feel unloveable. We may even put that perspective on those closest to us. We FEEL unloveable so we ASSUME nobody would love us. Most times no matter how much those close to you assure you of their love - spouse, children, parents, friends, whomever it is - until YOU can learn to truly LOVE YOURSELF and feel WORTHY of others love, you will never be able to fully embrace the love others give you!

My circumstances, including my illness, have lead to many changes in my personality and who I generally am as a person. Althought I cannot say that they ALL are bad, I can't help but focus on the few I feel are less than desirable. Just like I mentioned when I talked about Choosing Happiness and not focusing on the negative in life, you cannot focus on the negative in yourself. Negativity is toxic - don't allow it to poison your life or your self worth!

I have realized in recent years that life truly is all about perspective. We are all Damaged Goods, this is true. But its how you look at this, or anything in life, that makes your daily life what it is. You can CHOOSE to see it as "I AM Damage!" and feel beaten down, defeated, unloved, without purpose. Or, you can look at it as say "I AM the Good!" You can focus on your self worth, your value, what makes you special, your talents, the things that draw your loved ones to you, the strengths you have, the joy you bring - and put that YOU, "The Goods" out there for the world to see.

Here's to Finding Fabulous - One Day at a Time!!!