Shine Instead of Compare!

I've been hard on myself lately, and there is no reason for that! I am a chronic comparer (like a lot of women), and I need to stop.

So what if my house isn't as clean as so-and-so's?
So what if I'm not as tall as, skinny as, blond as, brunette as, well dressed as, etc etc whoever?
So what if I'm not as creative as this person?
So what if I didn't think of something cool before someone else

...the list goes on and on and is pretty automatic...I think it without meaning to.

Not good.

It's funny, because right now thinking back on it, I don't really care about all those things. It's only when I start to compare that I start forgetting my worth. I know I have talents that make me unique and special and I'm good at many things. I'm truly blessed, actually, to have the talents and gifts that I do have.

For the person I am, I have it all! I'm who I'm supposed to be!

Why is it so hard to stop comparing?

My neighbor and friend (shout-out to Brittany!) gave the lesson in Relief Society yesterday (for more info on what Relief Society is, click here), and she gave an object lesson that really stuck with me. She held up a vase filled with beautiful flowers. Each one was different: big, small, vibrant, more subdued, colorful, white, etc. The bouquet was beautiful! She said that the world tells women they need to be a certain way: we all need to be a red rose! The ideal flower! The most romantic and beautiful and perfect flower out there. This is what the world tells us...and many of us are tricked into believing it! We dye our petals red, we try our best to be shaped like a rose, we try to grow thorns just to impress others... We want to be roses! But we are not roses. No matter how hard we try, we are who we are. Trying to be something we are not is depressing. 

And why try?! If we are a daisy, be a daisy! If we are a tulip, be a tulip! Each flower is beautiful in its own way, and all combined together they make a beautiful bouquet! 

Wouldn't the world be a boring place if all the flowers were red roses?

I'm going to remember that today. I am going to just be happy to be me!

Please, whoever you are, be happy to be you too! You're beautiful and special and important and needed and loved and unique and inspiring and talented and I'm honored to belong to the bouquet of womanhood with you!