So, we had a wonderful lesson in Relief Society (the women’s organization in our church) today. Thanks Wendy! I just wanted share a few thoughts, especially with my wonderful friends who serve in Primary and Young Women’s (organizations for the youth of our church) who didn’t get to hear the wonderful lesson. The lesson was about dealing with feelings of inadequacy. As women, we tend to beat ourselves up about how much we are not perfect. We compare our worse to everyone else’s best. We see the “Mary Poppins” of our friends who always seems to have her act together, doing a million different things, and magically getting her kids to do exactly what she wants. Well, Mary Poppins is fictional! Even though we may think we see this magical woman in our friends, she has imperfections and weaknesses too and chances are she sees someone else as a “Mary Poppins” rather than herself. These feelings of inadequacy are what Satan wants us to feel. He wants us to feel horrible and give up on ourselves and yell at our kids when
they aren’t being obedient. That is not what our Heavenly Father wants for us. He made us and loves us the way we are. He gave us weaknesses to learn to overcome them and to rely on our Savior. During the lesson Jami made the comment that we do not have to be without flaws or weaknesses. Being perfect means being whole or complete. We can do that by taking our flaws and weaknesses to Jesus Christ and he will complete us. He will strengthen that which is weak and he makes up the difference when we trust in him. I also liked the story that Wendi shared that she had heard of a women trying to run a race with her friend. They were running together most of the race, but at one point the woman began to struggle to keep up the same pace as her friend. At that point she received the inspiration “Run your own race.” She let her 
friend pull ahead and finished at her own pace. She was then able celebrate in the fact that she had finished her own race, rather than comparing to herself to her friend’s achievement. From that she learned that you don’t have to be in the same place as everyone else nor do you have to keep the same pace as everyone else. You have to run your own race, do your best, and not get caught up in what everyone else is doing. What great advice! Run your own race! I think I’m going to put that up somewhere in our house to remind me daily. I included some pictures of myself because I’m usually the person behind the camera not in front of it. Also, sometimes we find it hard to display pictures of ourselves because we focus only on the negative. So I share these pictures with you as therapy, this is me flaws and all. I will be the first to admit that I am not perfect. But I am thankful for who I am. I am kind, resourceful, and creative. I love to make things. I have a wonderful family. So, dear sisters, be thankful for who you are, don’t let Satan discourage you, and run your own race. :)
*Check out these great books about loving who you are:
- My Dear Sisters by Gordon B. Hinckley
- No One Can Take Your Place by Sheri Dew
- Being the Mom: 10 Coping Strategies I Learned by Accident Because I had Children on Purpose by Emily Watts
