Hello friends,

I want to apologize for not being here for you guys these past few weeks. I have been dealing with a lot, as I am sure you all have as well. I have been learning a lot of lessons over the past few weeks that I want to share with you guys.

Lesson 1: Be/Know yourself

This is a hard one to explain but I am going to try anyway.

The Bible talks about loving your neighbor as much as yourself; a person once told me that even though the bible says that, we have to keep in mind that we cannot love our neighbor, if we do not love ourselves as well. I am not talking about the narcissistic love that people seem to attempt to indulge in these days. I mean a kind of loving yourself so much that you get to the point were you’re comfortable with your “shortcomings” or “differences” as people like to call them. The way you might laugh too loud. The way you might be scared of spiders. The way you expect trust and faith in a friendship. The way you put your families needs over your own. The way you would work so hard to make everyone else happy that you forget about yourself. The way you dress. The way you act. The list goes on and on, the questions is… Do you even know yourself enough to love yourself.

So many people, especially young people are spending so much time hating on themselves or hating the things that make them “them”. Doesn’t it feel like your chasing your tail sometimes? In this mad circle for power or leverage over people, making it where the kind, innocent & loving people who might be insecure get walked all over. Notice that the ones who get walked all over are the people who are still trying to figure themselves out or they do not know how to stand up for themselves yet because they are to busy trying to make you happy.

I wish young people would spend the time to find out what they actually like and do not like. I wish they would spend time building their character instead of their instagram profile. How much time do we spend trying to be what we are not? Some of you may be thinking, but it is who I am. No, it is who you have made yourself to be. Put down the distractions, learn your values, what is important to you, what you want in your friends, where you might want to be in a few years. People have been spending so much time compromising who they are to be liked by people that everyone is just an internet profile walking around trying to get as many likes as possible. If you think about it, what we are really doing is just lying to everyone around us about who we are. I am not here for an argument, I am here to state facts, what I have learned, what I have gone through as a person. So many people stereotype and assume things that we actually are not only hurting those around us but we are hurting ourselves as well. It is just a vicious cycle that keeps on taking and never giving back.

For those who want to spend their early years on dating all the time, for those who change themselves to fit in the crowds or klicks of people who do not deserve to have you around, and anyone else who doesn’t spend time building themselves as a person and a character or who just doesn’t understand, I have some advice for you from some supposedly great people. I think their advice is pretty legit, so I am going to do my best to quote them.

My sister told me about this quote she found, I thought it was from Churchill but I couldn’t find it so I will sum up.

“If you look up at your circle of friends and are not inspired by them, then you need to get yourself new friends.”

There was of a father who gave his son his great grandfathers watch, he told the son that before he could keep it he needed to take it to an antique shop, a pawn shop, and an antique museum to see what they would all pay for the watch. The antique shop said they would pay $150 because it had a dent in it, the pawn shop said $10 because it was so old and the Museum offered over $5,000 saying they would love to have it in their collection of war antiques. When the son went back and told the father this the father said, stay with people who value you for what you’re worth like the museum that valued at $5,000 the watch even though it was old.

Know that you are worth it, your value is so much greater than you even give yourself credit for. God loves us so much that he has the hairs on our head numbered and he got to know us before our mothers even met us. How wonderful, to know that someone has loved me from the start. Even if you are alone in your opinion, you will never be alone or without love for the Father never leaves us. If you truly believe that your value is not that great, then do something to change that. Learn how much our Father loves us by reading his word, do things outside of your comfort zone in faith that God is with us when we are scared, learn to enjoy your own company, learn what is important to you. You cannot love anyone if you do not love yourself. You cannot love your family, your friends, your spouses, your children, no one; because you yourself do not know what it means to love. No one should love you more than you, aside from God (he knew you first) 😉 .

I hope this helps you guys, I can talk further about it but I do not want to bore you anymore. I pray that you are all safe and well during this interesting time. May the Father “God” have the glory for everything, Amen.

Sincerely,

*This Girl*

P.S. I want to give credit to the artist for this wonderful art, her name is Jessi Ford. You can see more of her art on instagram, she does not post often but you can find her under the name rangerjessi!