Story Time!

Story time! So today\’s post is going to be short, or maybe not, but I hope it is helpful to someone out there.

I met up with a friend today for lunch, and while we were waiting for a table at the restaurant, this friend looks at me and says,(and I paraphrase) \”yo, your skin is popping, what are you using?\”. This question legit made me want to do a happy dance. :p Why? Well, for the last few months I\’ve bee trying to take care of my skin. I\’ve never really had bad skin, so I have never felt the need to pay too much attention to it. But over the last couple of months, I have been trying to care of my skin. Not doing the full works, LOL, but just paying more attention to my skin.

Anyways, that  wasn\’t why I got all excited by my friends comment though, I got excited because for the last week and a half, I have been breaking out for no apparent reason and to say it has been bothering me is an understatement. I don\’t consider myself a vain girl, but everyone has his/her vanity and having spots all over your face just doesn\’t do a lot for ones pride. So as you can now probably guess, I was glad because whereas I had been thinking my face was a mess, someone saw my face and thought my skin was great. Now, in hind sight, I don\’t think I was breaking out as much as I thought I was, but oh well…

This little incident got me thinking on the bus home, and I came to the re-realisation, that simply because you cannot see something, doesn\’t mean it\’s not there.

A lot of the time, when we are doing things, we get so involved with it that all we can see are the ways it isn\’t working. All we can see are the errors and flaws. The down sides to the whole thing. The way it hasn\’t worked the way we wanted and at the speed we wanted. But then, when an outsider is given a chance to evaluate what we are doing and the progress we have made, it\’s a different story. Often times they think we are doing great, or at least better than we think.

This is applicable in our personal lives as well, when it comes to growth and things of that nature. A lot of the time we can\’t see the progress we make when we grow and mature. All we can see are those moments where we constantly slip up, or the times when we walk into disasters with our eyes wide open. But you know what? It doesn\’t have to be that way. It\’s okay to look back at your life and actually see the good in it. Actually see the growth and progress you have made.

It\’s not necessarily an easy thing to do, but it is one that should be done, because constantly beating yourself  up isn\’t the best way to encourage yourself, and looking only at your flaws often times has the effect of making you feel like you cant do it anymore…that you cant achieve that goal, dream or vision.

At the same time, it\’s also okay to give yourself grace, in everything you do. You are human and you are bound to make mistakes.It\’s life, it usually never goes the way we plan it, so give yourself grace. For the times you will make mistakes, for the times you wont make progress as fast as you want. Because at the end of the day, as long as you are trying, and as long s you are making an effort, then you are making progress. Because someone who wasn\’t ready to make progress would have given up.

So, what is the essence of all this? Well, one, that you can\’t see the progress you are making, doesn\’t mean you aren\’t making it. Sometimes you just need to take a step back to get a clearer picture. And two, give yourself  a little grace. You are human and bound to make mistakes, plus life isn\’t a bed of roses, so things may not always go the way you want, and that\’s perfectly okay. Give yourself some grace for those times, because the act of showing grace even to ones self is often enough to propel us to do more,  to do better.

It is the 17th of December 2016, and today, I am thankful for peace in the midst of the storm.

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