It’s 3:00 AM now, and I came to the computer an hour ago after checking on the kids. It was going to be quick, but instead I’m grateful for the article I just found.  It’s called:

The Choice is Yours.

This article outlines an actual process of HOW to be my best self, HOW to stop doing the things that stand in my way that make me feel lousy, like I’m a bad mom, or an unworthy daughter of God.  I love reading scriptures and sermons promoting faith, yet sometimes I don’t know HOW to put it into action. I know we all come from different walks of life and different faiths which fill us and help us in life.  Yet, I’m guessing that regardless of our differing views, we all likely struggle with HOW to put what we know into action.  As for me, I am a Christian.  I read about Christ’s sacrifice for me and the power of repentance, but still find myself repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

I appreciate the practice suggested in this article. It outlines a strategy to actually help overcome self-defeating behaviors that get in the way of us being our best selves. This applies to all things in our lives, not just the serious sins he suggests in the article. It applies to controlling our anger, speech, thoughts; it applies to taking care of our selves physically, controlling our appetites and exercise habits; it simply applies to any habit that we are wanting to change in exchange for being our best selves. I’m glad I read this tonight, at 3:00 AM. I hope that it will help me to be a little kinder, to stand a little taller, to be a little better. Hopefully this will help me have a better day tomorrow, that I can consciously make the choices to be true to who I really am.

• Outlines a strategy of how to stop our self-defeating behaviors, our habits or sins that interfere with being our best selves.
• Encourages responsibility of our choices
• Brings to light the choices we make seemingly automatically
• We have the power within to stop and change and take charge of who we are choosing to be–the type of person, wife, daughter, mom

We all have bad habits we wish weren’t a part of our lives. I’m not talking about biting your fingernails or cracking your knuckles. All sins and bad habits are defeating to the true self–the person you were created to be. And who is that, who are you created to be?

My confidence is that you were created for greatness. So many of you readers have touched my life or my sisters’ lives in a very poignant way, and our lives would not be the same if it weren’t for your influence, example, and encouragement. We each have a very specific duty we agreed to accomplish while here on earth, and now it is up to us to rise to the occasion and do it. We don’t have time anymore for self pity. We don’t have energy to waste on negativity. It’s time to stand firm and cheerfully get to work.

I love this quote by Marjorie Pay Hinckley, a woman I admire, and want to adopt her cheerful perspective:

“I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk’s lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone’s garden. I want to be there with children’s sticky kisses on my cheeks and tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.”

And no motivating post would be complete without the words of Nelson Mandela:

Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some; it is in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

I believe what Nelson Mandela said, that we are powerful beyond measure, simply because we are children of God. When we grasp that reality, we see our greatness, and now self-defeating behavior can stop us from achieving our highest potential.

Another quote I like to remind myself of the need to rise to be my best self is this one:

“One of the greatest challenges is to overcome the feeling that we are unimportant, that we are not special and unique. Do you think for a moment that Heavenly Father would have sent one of His children to this earth by accident, without the possibility of a significant work to perform? My dear friends, you are a royal generation. You were preserved to come to the earth in this time for a special purpose. Not just a few of you, but all of you. There are things for each of you to do that no one else can do as well as you. If you do not prepare to do them, they will not be done. Your mission is unique and distinctive for you. Please don’t make another have to take your place. She can’t do it as well as you can. If you will let Him, I testify that our Father in Heaven will walk with you through the journey of life and inspire you to know your special purpose here.”–Bishop H. Burke Peterson

No one can be a better Mom for your children than you can. No one can fill the role of being a friend as well as you can. No one can be a better wife than you were chosen to be. No one can replace you. Your part in the lives of others is like being part of an orchestra, made up of several different instruments; it is not the same without each instrument playing its individual part. Without you, a great composition would only be a simple melody. But together, we can achieve a marvelous work.

I don’t usually aim to be so profound at 3 AM, and can use that as an excuse if this all came out wrong…we’ll see in the morning with a fresh pair of eyes. But in the meantime, Welcome to Tuesday, February 22nd. The beginning of a new day, a day where you and I are committed to be our best self. If even only for today.

If you read the article, share with me your thoughts. If you have favorite quotes, share those with me, too. If not either, just keep sharing your love, friendship, *forgiveness*, and support. We can not move forward without the strength of each other.