A couple weeks ago Elizabeth said something that really struck me. The two of us were talking about our plans for the future, as well as some of our strengths as people. I made some half-joking comment about myself that may have been negative. Elizabeth looked at me for a few seconds and then she said, "I don't think you see yourself the way other people see you." She then went on to say the things she's noticed about me. Elizabeth has a special gift of cracking people's shells open and seeing the best parts of them, the little spark of divine that lies within each of us. She can see the potential lying within people, as well as the core essence of the best person they are, the person Heavenly Father wants them to always be. The part that sometimes is hidden out of sight. Not only does she see that spark of divine, Elizabeth tells people what she sees and it changes their perception of themselves. People realize she's right, and it makes them want to develop that spark so it will grow into a flame.
I haven't been able to stop thinking about that simple sentence since talking to Elizabeth. "I don't think you see yourself the way other people see you." Why is it so easy to lose sight of who we are? I am comfortable with being me, I like me and I think I'm pretty fabulous. But I sometimes get caught up in comparing myself with what I think I should be, whether it's realistic or not. I stopped comparing myself with other people quite some time ago, but I have this yard stick which I tend to measure myself against and when I fall short of the impossible, I get upset with myself. I can see my weaknesses better than anyone else, and sometimes they seem much larger than my strengths. Sometimes my weaknesses become monsters that affect the way that I think about myself. I can see that the most in dating. Sometimes I meet someone really great who I might get along well with in dating, but I don't give it a chance because I don't think they'll ever see anything in me. So then I retreat into my shell and never allow them to see who I really am inside. Or maybe I just don't think they see who I really am, and so I cut off any possibilities of something happening.
Maybe we tend to be a little bit like Amaryllises. We see ourselves as a big, cracked, brown sphere shoved underneath some soil and we're embarrassed about ourselves. But what we don't know is that others see the big, spectacularly colored blossoms that make the Amaryllis truly beautiful.
Let's see ourselves more like God sees us!
Nat - I believe it is so true that people don't see us as we see ourselves. Just a quick point -- you have that amazing gift as well. You brake open peoples shells and you see the best in them. You did it me with me and I will be eternaly grateful for it.
ReplyDeleteI think that we should all be a little bit more like Natalie!
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