stop picking yourself apart

As girls and women we tend to pick ourselves apart and choose parts of our appearance that we think are wrong. For me two of the things that I decided were wrong with my appearance were the bump on my nose, and my wavy, curly, and sometimes frizzy hair. I thought I should have a cute little straight nose like my friends had. I hated seeing pictures of myself from the side because I thought the bump on my nose was ugly. I looked at girls I went to school with who had straight hair that was smooth as silk and looked at mine and thought, my hair is all wrong, why can't it be like theirs? I damaged my hair with a flat iron almost every morning and still wasn't satisfied when it was still puffy and not perfectly straight. I dreaded rainy days walking to and from class knowing my hair would get larger and larger as the day went on
But you know what? There is nothing wrong with my hair or my nose, they make me unique they make me, me. I may not look perfect, but that doesn't mean I'm not beautiful because of my bumpy nose and frizzy hair. Sure I still lament that I missed out on the 80's, but that's okay I can still have huge hair in 2014. I don't think there is anything wrong with straitening my hair, but I'm no longer at the point where I dread letting it go natural or I decline dancing in the rain because I don't want to mess up my hair. I'm at the point where I even like my huge hair. And as for my nose, it's just that my nose and I'm okay with it. I have a bump on my nose and you know how significant that is? Really it's not significant at all.

Insert awkward selfies here.

my thoughts lately

"We just need to do our best, that's all the Lord asks of us."

"It's ok not to be perfect, it's ok to take things day by day."

"For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee."
-3rd Nephi 22:10

HOW CAN I CENTER MY LIFE AROUND CHRIST?
I've been thinking about this question lately. How can I think about Christ more throughout my day? How can I be more like him? How can I feel his presence in my life? I've been trying to study my scriptures everyday, to pray in the morning, to cut out some of the time wasters I tend to so easily distract myself with everyday, but I'm still pondering this question, how can I center my life around Christ?  I beat myself up about not being perfect all the time I feel like I should be perfect, and the fact that I'm not just makes me feel like a failure. But we have a loving Savior because we're not perfect because we make mistakes, because we feel pain and sorrow. He is there for us through every trial, every sadness, every mistake, he is there through it all. I guess with my feeling the need to be perfect sometimes I forget that Jesus Christ is there for me because I'm not perfect and that he loves me. He loves me even with all my imperfections so much so that he want's to help me overcome them. He knows exactly how I feel and is reaching his hand out to me just waiting for me to take it. And so many times I don't even think about his outstretched hand, I've decided that I want to reach toward his hand more than I have in the past. I want to feel his love and strength guide me through my life because he is there. He has always been there.

oh, hello lovely

So I found this song yesterday and I love it. I wish I would have known it so I could have posted it on my last post, but this song is lovely nonetheless and everyone should listen to it. 

I've been thinking about this quote a lot lately, I found it on pinterest over the summer and I love it. I'm amazed by the love that our Heavenly Father has for us, his imperfect children. I fail him everyday, but he helps me back up and loves me despite everything, and to me that is a beautiful and lovely thought. This quote also reminds me of President Monson's quote from the relief society conference;  "..your Heavenly Father loves you—each of you. That love never changes. It is not influenced by your appearance, by your possessions, or by the amount of money you have in your bank account. It is not changed by your talents and abilities. It is simply there. It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there."

sticks and stones

In the past year I've had two different guys try to tell me why I'm not good enough. I'm not outgoing enough. I'm not social enough. I'm negative. I'm self critical. I'm not athletic enough. They both made me feel like I'm not good enough to be loved and it really hurt me. But you know what I realized? That what they're saying isn't true. I'm not perfect, but they both tried to paint me out to be a person that I'm not. They honestly both didn't know me that well, they don't know what's going on in my life or why I react the way that I do. They don't know, and they didn't spend enough time with me to make these judgements about me as a person, so why did I even take their unwanted criticism and let it hurt me long after they were out of my life? I honestly don't know. 

But one thing I do know is that one day I want to find a guy that treats me with the love and respect that my dad does. He is such a great example to me of the type of guy that I want to date and marry, and until recently I didn't fully realize that. It occurred to me one day when my dad sent me a text message telling me that he thinks that I'm great and told me how much he loves me. I realized that his unconditional love for me no matter what is what I want to find one day in a future spouse. I want someone who accepts me for who I am, I am highly imperfect. But you know what? I deserve to be loved and told that I matter to someone. I deserve to be lifted up instead of having all of my insecurities rubbed in my face making me feel worse about myself. Just something I've been thinking about lately. 

"The moment you feel like you have to prove your worth to someone is the moment to absolutely and utterly walk away." -Alysia Harris 

 This quote is perfect <3