Just because they sparkle....

I had the most interesting thought while I was driving home yesterday.

But first. This week has been one of great enjoyment for me. I spent a few days out of town (which is why I haven't been posting. I wasn't at home) The days that I was at home I met my goals. Monday I did a full load of laundry, from washing to putting away. Tuesday I spent over an hour folding over four loads that had been washed but not folded or put away. Because of that, packing for our trip was easy. Then we went to Cedar for the Thanksgiving holiday. When we got back I got those loads put away. It's Sunday, now, and I'm glad that we're coming up on a new week. I love Sunday. It's like an emotional reboot for my heart. I always feel like I can accomplish anything during the week as long as I have my Sunday to heal my spirit, first. Simply because I want to have fourteen consecutive days of good habits, I'm rebooting my new habit count starting tomorrow. I'm excited for the next few weeks.

I've been really good with keeping my spending under control, thanks be to God. I couldn't do it without his help. And I'm starting to really feel like I'll be able to find the me that I'm looking for.

In that vein, Sunday! I love Sunday. I'd forgotten how much I love Sunday in the last few years. I've been so sick that Sunday had become just another day to lie around and feel like I wasn't good enough or strong enough. For the first time in almost a year, Mike and I have both made it to all of our Sunday church meetings. It feels so good. I've also spent quite a bit of time over the last three weeks reading my scriptures. I can't remember the last time I spent this much time reading them. It's making a large difference in my life. The positive change in my emotions and heart as I struggle to elevate my style of life, I believe, is due in large part to the fact that I've brought my faith to the front of my life again. When you spend enough time opening yourself to the words of God and his prophets, you find yourself being struck by positive thoughts more often, and feeling more love for yourself because you can feel the love that God has for you filtering down upon the tender places in your soul.

And you are struck by such interesting thoughts, at the most interesting moments. I was driving home last night, and I was coming into my neighborhood and noticing the houses that had Christmas lights up on their roofs. And as I did so I was feeling that they were so beautiful, and at the same time feeling a little guilt that I hadn't ever gotten lights up on our house, and also (at the same moment) worrying that my neighbors were upset that I never decorated my house to add to the beauty of the neighborhood, and also in the same thought trying to tell myself to relax about it, the time will eventually come that I'm at a place where I feel able to handle decorating for the holidays. (Funny how so many things can go though one's mind, all at the same exact moment....)

And suddenly I was looking at the houses on the streets, and I realized that I wasn't looking at the houses that didn't have lights up. I didn't even notice them. What I noticed were the houses that sparkled. I noticed the houses that were decorated. And looking at the whole picture, those houses stand out so much because the houses next to them aren't lit up. But when you drive down a street and look at the Christmas lights, you don't see the houses that aren't lit and think "man, they're so lazy" or "goodness they're bad homeowners, they don't do anything". What you see is the houses that are decorated. You don't even notice the ones that aren't because you're too busy looking at the ones that are.

And so, keep this in mind. Just because they sparkle or shine, doesn't make you less. Your flaws aren't more noticeable to others simply because someone near you happens to seem more perfect to you. Truth is, take comparing yourself to others out of the equation completely, people are most likely not noticing your flaws at all, because they're too busy noticing the things about you that do sparkle.

So love yourself more. The sparkly parts of your life out shine the parts that haven't been lit up, yet.