Counterfeit Coin

Saturday I had the, well, let's call it opportunity to speak to a group of neighborhood women about "Learning to Love Yourself." 

I can hear your incredulous laughter on the other side of this screen. It is a bit funny, I agree. This is one of those age-old advantageous moments where the "teacher" was the one who needed to learn. And then gets to share it. win-win, y'all

Since Saturday, I have had thousands and thousands of at least four people wanting to hear the nuggets of wisdom that were imparted. And since four is practically half of those who read this blog, that is pretty good ROI. Wouldn't you say?

This might turn into a mini series. Because I can say a lot more in thirty minutes than I should ever type into one blog post. As you can imagine, I also didn't even get to share all of my new-found expertise. There is a lot to be said about learning to love yourself.


Counterfeit Coin 

A psychologist named Maxwell Martz suggested that superiority and inferiority complexes are opposite sides of the same counterfeit coin. When I compare myself to somebody else, regardless if it makes me feel better or worse than them, it is false. Fake. Counterfeit gets you nothing. No, counterfeit is worse than nothing, it gets you in trouble. If your soul is starving and craving positive affirmation of self love, comparison is negative calories.

Guess what? There will always be someone
smarter than you
thinner than you
richer than you
funnier than you
more successful than you
more creative than you 

Just as there will always be someone
dumber than you
fatter than you
poorer than you
and so on 

I am assuming that you don't feel any better about yourself at this point. Why would you? I feel worse about myself by writing those things. 

Comparison is the thief of joy.

If God wanted us all to be 5'10", blond, thin, volleyball players... we would be. All of us.

Get over it. You were made in the image of a loving Father. You are quirky. You are unique. You are beautiful. Look at your hands. Look at the way they bend and clap and scratch and hold things. Think of your ears and how miraculously they hear things, decipher sounds, and warn you. Your nose. Your eyes. Your mouth: that thing is crazy useful. Your body is simply incredible and cannot be replicated. Your personality and your mind work in a way only you can truly understand. Put all of those things together and you have something to offer this world that nobody else can. 

Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is NO ONE alive that is youer than you!

Why would you want to be anything else? Feed your soul with affirmations of what you truly are. If you need to, take away those things that feed the counterfeit comparisons. Stop getting "health" body magazines. Don't tour the Dream Homes. Take a break from blogs that tend to leave you feeling less than. Chill out on Pinterest (especially the pictures of 17 year-olds with six-pack abs and words of diet inspiration written next to them). Pray that you can stop comparing yourself to your friends, sisters, co-workers.

You--your body, your soul, your mind, your personality--are amazing. Think of all of the things that you are. Fill your mind so full with what you are, that there will be no space to compare yourself to what other people are.


You are important. 

a