Have you ever wondered why you matter? Why should you care about things? Why should anyone care about you? Do you recognize yourself when looking in a mirror?
I believe we all at times ask ourselves these questions. It’s part of our journey to become an individual with likes and dislikes. But most importantly I believe the answers to these questions give us our self worth. They tell us just how much we value ourselves, and in turn how much we will value those around us.
Think About It!
Why do you matter? Because you’re a person. A living breathing person, you absolutely matter. Maybe you’re a mom – you sure matter to your kids, even if they don’t always acknowledge or appreciate it. Perhaps you are a teacher – those kids you teach need you. They’re practically like your very own kids. Father, daughter, nephew, grandparent – someone in this world thinks you matter to them.
From a religious standpoint – you matter to God. You might think no one in this world cares about you, but I know He does. We are all His children, and He cares for each of us individually in the struggles we go through. Just as mothers and fathers on earth, He can’t/won’t fix everything and make it all better, because He wants us to learn. Some lessons are hard to learn, others are easy. But also as parents on earth, He feels our pains and our sorrows our joys and excitements. He cares about you.
Gaining Self Worth
I didn’t use to care. That is, I didn’t use to care about how I looked, what I wore, or what others thought of me. At least that’s the outward show I gave. In truth I cared deeply what others thought, but brushed them off as not worth my time. Looking back, a big problem I had was that I didn’t feel great about me inside, so why should I care about my outward appearance? I was a nice person, that’s all that should have mattered.
It took someone outside my family to show me just how much self worth I had, and help me gain more. Mark was and is my rock in self worth. He truly didn’t care what I looked like on the outside, but looked at my heart instead. He still doesn’t care really – shaved legs or not – but he wants me to care. Do you know why? Because when I started caring, I only became a better person. When I found that looking nice, and feeling good on the inside could change more than just me, I cared. I know Mark will love me through any stage I go through, and that was what stuck. It’s taken some time to grow into this new found self worth, and it’s still growing. What I want most though, is for Mark to have a nice wife, that loves herself enough to take care of herself. Sure he wouldn’t care if I went out in a stained t-shirt, knots in my hair, and hairy legs – but now I do. I do because he cares about me.
Does any of that make sense?
Think About It.
Has someone changed your life, just by simply loving you for you?
I got a shower yesterday morning. I put Princess V in charge of the younger kids, and then allowed my trust in her to over ride any worries that someone was going to get severely hurt while I took care of me. Do you know what happened?
No one got hurt. Everyone was happy, and so was I. I took the time to show myself a little love, and our day went so much better than most. In fact, the day went so well, that even the lack of Internet didn’t get my spirits down. I did some major cleaning in the spare room, got laundry done, fed kids, played with kids, fixed the curtains Mark didn’t like, and kept up with potty training Princess R. All with a smile on my face, a calm voice, and love radiating out from me. All because I loved myself first. The kids spoke kindly to one another, homework and chores were done without complaint, and we all felt the sun shining in our home.
I still may not have a great sense of fashion, and I’ll definitely still wear my worn thin flip flops out in public. But my hair will be combed, and I will care if there are huge stains on my shirt. Because I matter to someone – I matter to me. I have a husband who showed me that, and I am so grateful for his forever love.
