Overwhelming self doubt can be paralyzing to the mind and to our relationships. To me it feels like suffocating in my own thoughts of unworthiness, paranoia and self doubt.
The Lies We Tell Ourselves All of us have a God-given purpose. We must muddle through all the lies, stories, and BS in our heads to truly understand, conclude, and implement our purpose in this world as our best selves. What makes the process so difficult is that we must sit quietly and wholeheartedly with our struggles, weaknesses, and habits and work through them… not cover them up, avoid them, or drown them out with the world’s noise. Today is particularly tough, and I want to run from my thoughts and push them aside instead of asking where these weak thoughts are coming from. We all have vulnerabilities, doubts, and worries that we need to talk to, process, and then give up to God. We are worth so much more than what the anxiety says in our heads. Everyone, but especially moms, deal with a lot of self-doubt around parenting, working, and our relationships with our spouse, co-workers, and friends. There are so many stories out there in social media and heck, even at the PTA meeting that we are not enough, and we can do more and be richer, smarter, craftier, prettier, and just not ourselves..because that is just not good enough. We have to remind ourselves.. We got this! Through the Lord’s Grace, we can do hard things. It’s ok to not be perfect, it’s ok to doubt ourselves just don’t let it prevent you from taking action on your goals. It’s ok to have a day where you rest, and not doing anything remotely productive by society’s standards. I’m here reminding myself that it is ok to not have a perfect job, perfect body, and perfect family who does exactly what I say (my family is full of opinionated, smart, witty beautiful people). It’s ok to sit with my sadness for a day, work through it (ask for help when I need it –Betterhelp is a great tool I have used while dealing with grief), and learn how to be strong in who I am and my purpose. We can as a society rise above self doubt and lift each other up in strength and love. Much love to all of you living, loving, and learning. God Bless you.
My Temptations to Overcome Through The Grace of God
All of us have some vice or temptation that we struggle with daily. Some of our vices are more detrimental to our health than others. I advise anyone needing counseling or addiction recovery to seek the proper help. I am not a licensed therapist or certified addiction counselor. I’m simply here to share my experiences with my struggles. I am a sugaraholic! I crave sweets, and sugary things that I shouldn’t. My habit over the years has been to reach for sweets when I felt stressed or overwhelmed with work and even my relationships with family. Mindless Eating Mindless eating habits do not serve us well, but what does it hurt to eat a cookie here and there or a “fun-size” candy bar…it’s fun-sized for a reason right? If I was able to stop and think for even a second to break the cycle, I would realize I am thirsty not hungry. I also just want to eat sugar to avoid the stress of whatever is bothering me at the time. So many times we mistake thirst for hunger, and just eat something really because we are thirsty. The hypothalamus controls both hunger and thirst, so it is easy to confuse the two. Water is Life Have you ever had a day where you think back and realize you maybe had one glass of water all day? Maybe you had some sodas, teas, or other sugary drinks, but no water without any type of sugar in it. Then at night I am super thirsty for water.. Dehydration cycle continues. The odd thing is I like water, and I like fruit and vegetables even more than the junk I choose to eat instead when I’m stressed out. Sugar and chemicals in snack foods are very addictive, and create this cycle of crashes, dehydration, and a slew of other health concerns if not controlled. I was talking to my son about this concern the other day because he struggles a bit with snacks and junk food as well. He responded to my concerns with the truth and a simple answer. “Then don’t bring the junk food into the house.” That’s when I realized I played a huge part in creating temptation in my household because I was bringing unhealthy options into our home, and simultaneously saying we need to eat better. I wouldn’t want a recovering alcoholic to bring alcohol into their house just in case someone may want alcohol at a party or an event, but I would expect them not to touch it themselves. Why am I bringing junk food into my house and expecting us to limit it to one portion-controlled snack? It’s a recipe for disaster. We need to eliminate all temptations related to that vice from our homes. Numerous temptations cause distress to our souls and can lead to health issues. Each of us must consciously decide to remove access to our vices from our living spaces. I pray that God gives us the strength to fight our temptations with common sense, the grace of God, and a sense of worthiness so strong that we can avoid and ultimately overcome temptations. “God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it..” Corinthians 10:13