Category : Articles

Sub Category : Miscellaneous

I look at the world around me.... is it perfect? Of course not. I look at myself.... am I perfect? Of course not. But it still remains that there is good in all of it. 

A rose may have a little discoloration on it, yet it doesn't prevent it from being beautiful. I may have my faults, but it still doesn't mean that I am not worth more than I can imagine. 

I've made it another day, through another hour and another minute. A year ago, I wasn't so sure that I could. I know how heavy it can feel to carry burdens, some of which have been of my own making. But what I've learned is the distance feels much shorter as I lighten the load upon myself. And as I continue to learn about myself and grow into a more true understanding of who I am, all that I am worth, and all I am capable of accomplishing, I began to let the heaviness that has been weighing upon me fall from my heart.  

I accept that my mistakes couldn't have always been prevented. I recognize that my failures are often laying the foundation for my success in the future, and rising and falling with life experiences is merely a part of the grand refining process to smooth out my edges that is often painful but necessary. I wasn't born to be perfect, or to manage to make it to the end without getting things wrong at times. But it doesn't mean that it's somehow helpful to devalue myself along the way as I slip up. 

I have come to realize that learning to appreciate myself isn't selfish. In fact, it's quite beneficial and necessary in learning to be the best example for others. If I despise myself, or refuse to forgive myself for mistakes I have done, or if I were to harbor an interminable sense of guilt for my own mistakes and display all of the above, would I be setting a good example to others? Of course not. That is the reason why I will not allow such ideas into my heart with regards to how I treat myself. 

This journey of life can be long and difficult, but it's even harder if I insist on carrying dead weight. That is another lesson I have learned. Self-deprecation, guilt, anger, hate, or any other heavy feelings, whether toward myself or towards others, will have to be dropped because they are the dead weight. They simply won't help me forward; they'll only consistently pull me down. 

I noticed how much ground I have covered with less to weigh me down. And so, I choose to get up, move forward, and leave any unnecessarily heavy things by the wayside where they belong, because I was born to stand tall to challenges. 

I know that I deserve my own forgiveness for mistakes I have done, I have been patient with myself in my struggles, and now I can respect myself for how far I've already come. Each step, no matter how hard or painful, is bringing me closer to my hopes and dreams, and I get to cover more distance when I lighten the load.