Becoming who you were born to be

I Peter 3:11 – To enjoy your life, you must be at peace with yourself.

Wow, what a thought! Being at peace with yourself is sometimes one of the hardest things to accomplish in life. So many of us have things we want to change about ourselves, we don't like who we are. I can name about 5 things off the top of my head that I want to change about myself. For many years I have allowed issues, such as my weight, to hold me in bondage. Depression, anxiety, paranoia and low self-esteem *amongst other things* felt like 50 lb weights, keeping me from living the good life God intended me to live. I can remember coming home and just crying because I hated myself soooo much.

Apparently, I had absolutely NO peace with myself. It wasn't until this year that I started to get down to the heart of the problem, and give it to God. The following verse REALLY hit home for me during my struggle:

Galatians 5:14 "Loving yourself is the foundation for all good relationships"

I've had so many bad relationships in my life and the reason for that is this simple truth:

You CANNOT give away what you don't have.

I had no love for myself, how then could I love others in return?

How was I to be a successful Nurse if I couldn't love others??

Inspired by a wonderful book by Joyce Meyer, 'How to Succeed at Being Yourself', I made a list of the things I DID like about myself. In doing so, I got to see my strengths. It was hard at first to think if things I actually liked about myself, but it gradually got easier. The next thing I did was make a list of things I DID NOT like about myself. Making this list actually helped me visualize the things in my life I was letting hold me back from living my life.

The thing that encouraged me, and still does to this day is II Corinthians 3:18, "His word changes us little by little, from glory to glory."

Now, I embrace change...I even look forward to it! Because of God, I now have a new, positive outlook on life. I know I'm not where I need to be, but thank God, I'm not where I use to be!!