The Me I Want to Be
There are days I honestly want to have the excuse that “so and so” made me behave the way I did! It can be exhausting to fight to be the woman I want to be when I feel stretched thin, tired, fearful, insecure or just flat out grumpy.
On these same days, if I will give myself a chance to catch my breath, I also don’t want to give my power away to someone else. You see, I have this strong conviction that nobody else gets to decide how I behave! Not my husband, kids, extended family, friends, co-workers, nobody!
I haven’t always felt this way or lived by this principle; however, the more I do, the stronger and freer I feel.
As a follower of Jesus, I remember one particular day I was complaining to Him about how unfair it was that I “always” had to be the mature one. Letting him know how sick I was of being the first to apologize, the first to try and work on my behavior when, clearly, “their behavior was worse!” I was angry and sitting in the middle of resentment. I remember like it was yesterday, a couple startling questions came to mind, “Who do you want to be?” “What kind of woman do you want to be, no matter how they behave?”
Honestly, I wasn’t sure! I really had to wrestle through these questions. Much like we are doing in the Monthly ACT in the Impact huddles. One of the most helpful things I did then, which still guides me to this day, was to make a list of the kind of woman I wanted to be, no matter how anyone else around me behaved. Then asked for help to become that woman!
I choose to embrace this truth (most) every day......I get to decide the kind of woman I want to be and how I behave, not my parents, not my partner, not my kids, or anybody else in my life, ME, I get to decide!
AND YOU CAN TOO! TAKE A MINUTE, BREATHE, PRAY, WRITE IT OUT….
Do you want to be kind, loving, calm, trustworthy, witty, silly, playful, fierce-hearted, bold, passionate??
FILL IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
What is the first step you can take to become the Me You Want to Be?
Another thing I do is, connect regularly with some trusted ladies to be real about the struggles and wins around this area of my life. It has helped to have others to ask how I am doing in being the Me I want to be, especially when life and relationships get challenging.
WE CAN ALL BENEFIT FROM SUPPORT, ENCOURAGEMENT, CHEERLEADING AND SOMETIMES A GOOD “WHAT THE HECK” THIS IS NOT THE WOMEN YOU WANT TO BE!
Can you imagine what impact we could have as we step into being the woman we described above?? Share with someone what actions you have decided to take.
Lots of Love, Tammy Claughton