When I was younger - elementary school aged - I was very, very academic. I’m talking like, school was my everything, and all I wanted to do was get great grades and be in all the clubs and collect all the awards at the end of the year. SCHOOL WAS LIFE.
One day, I did terribly on a spelling test. It was a very big deal to me because I did well in EVERYTHING - how was I going to grow up to get a great job if someone found out I got below a 95 on this one test?!
When I got home from school that day, I had a major meltdown. It got so bad that I had to have an intervention with my 4th grade teacher, who proceeded to tell me that I needed a hobby. “Beyond books?” I remember asking. She nodded her heard and I melted down all over again.
Thank goodness for that teacher, because I got very into sports in the following years and found the greatest happiness playing basketball…but thinking back to that time made me wonder, Why are we so hard on ourselves?
Why can’t I give myself a break after I mess up? Even after I’m forgiven, why is it so hard to let go? When I give my best, and it falls short, why can’t I accept my limitations and move on?
If I can’t live up to this world’s exceptions of what success looks like, what a wife acts like, or what a friend should be like, does that make me any less of a person? Even though I know the answer is ’no,’ why is that so difficult to accept?
Friends, can we please stop placing our worth in how other’s see us? WE ARE BETTER THAN THAT. We are better than the mistakes we make. We are valuable human beings, and just because we’re not perfect doesn’t mean we’re not worthy. Worthy of love, worth of forgiveness…especially when it comes to forgiving ourselves.
I’m fully aware that as a people pleaser, I hate to disappoint anyone - whether that be a family member, a friend, or someone I work with. I hate it when I fall short. But I’m not alone. We all fall short. For those who believe in what the Bible teaches, I found a verse that set my heart on fire and gave me a renewed hope: Romans 3:23-24, paraphrased by me, says that we’ve all fall en short. We’ve all messed up. But - there’s hope because God’s grace saves us and makes us whole again. God doesn’t expect us to wallow in our not-good-enough’ness. Through Him and to Him, we are enough, just as we are. Do I always want to keep improving myself? Of course. Does God want that for me? Of course. But we are loved regardless.
Can we take that truth and let that be enough? Enough to take a deep breath (as I wrote about in this post) and let our unrealistic expectations of ourselves go?
What are you waiting for?
Wearing Re/Done tee (almost identical), white Everlane pants, H&M sandals, Sophie Blake bracelet, Givenchi lipstick
