“A beautiful woman uses her lips for truth, her voice for kindness, her ears for compassion, her hands for charity, and her heart for love.” ~Unknown Throughout these past few weeks, I have experienced this little tugging on my heart. I can’t say for sure what this tugging means, but I can only guess it’s God telling me to slow down. Lately, I’ve been so wrapped up in my schoolwork and my social life that I’ve forgotten to take time for myself.
For someone who has spent months learning to love myself, time spent to myself each day is crucial. Not only is this alone time essential for my mental health, but it's also important for me to have healthy relationships with others. When I don't take time for myself, I feel worn out, and I become a lesser version of the woman I know I am. When I neglect myself, I find that instead of kind and fun I turn bitter and short. My sarcastic eye roll becomes a little more serious. My voice is no longer as kind. My ears listen without compassion. My hands fall short when it comes to charity work. However, the thing that saddens me the most is the change that takes place in my heart. Each day I strive to be someone who overflows with love for others, but when I fail to take proper care of myself, I find myself slipping up. For those of you that know me personally, you know I am not a bitter person. I speak fluent sarcasm, but I’m not bitter. I try to refrain from gossip and speak kind words. Each person was created in a beautiful and unique way providing them with different abilities. I can often be heard giving pep talks to others because I don’t like to see them doubting themselves. When I listen, I strive to listen to others with compassion. In a noisy world, it can be hard to listen sometimes. Whether we are having a conversation with a family member, a friend, or a significant other listening is difficult. Often when we try to listen, we only listen to respond. We forget that not everything requires a response; sometimes an ear to listen is all that is needed. My hands strive to do charity work. I am someone who has always loved to volunteer and help others out. Need me to play with puppies, do craft projects with kids, or clean out horse stalls? Okay, count me in! (Yes, I have cleaned out horse stalls before as a service project. No, it wasn't fun, but the owners of the stables greatly appreciated it, so I did it with a smile.) Lastly, I strive to use my heart to love. Now, this doesn't mean I fall in love with everyone I see. In fact, I don't. However, I hope to show the love of Christ to others. Just as God loved everyone; I want to do the same. Love is the most basic human need of all so don't be afraid to give it freely. When people look at me, I hope they see the woman I know that I am capable of being. I desire to be the one that builds others up instead of tearing them down. I want others to be able to come to me. Many of you may feel the same way I do. You want others to see you as a woman that holds compassion for others, that speaks truth and kindness, serves and loves others. However, being a woman is hard, and we don't always live up to the expectations we set for ourselves. Why? It's not because we don't want to, most often it's because we work so hard at being that woman, we forget for us to be that woman we need to take care of ourselves in the process. Being a woman is hard. Don't make it more difficult by not taking care of yourself. You have so much to offer, but you can’t give without first giving to yourself.
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AuthorHello everyone, I'm Bri! Here you can find me writing about life in order to help provide you with encouragement and hope. Want to find out more about me? Go visit my "About Me" page! Happy reading! Archives
April 2017
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