Day 12/31 of Self Love

Read this post for an explanation!

My Definition of Self Love - Learning not to hate yourself; being okay with past mistakes, but not repeating them; refusing to use current failures as fuel for self-hate and instead using them as opportunities to improve; and reminding yourself, "You are loved, you are valuable, and you are God's child."

11. What things make you feel happy to be alive?

• Helping others - one of the best feelings in the world is the moment when people open up to me after I've spent a long time building a relationship with them
• When my hubby says something especially sweet or loving to me
• Eating chocolate
• When I'm playing a game against my very competitive husband and I actually win!
• When my friends truly want to hang out with me
• Finding a really good deal at a thrift store
• Cuddling my family's dog 
• When I play a hard song on the piano without making too many mistakes
• When someone compliments my singing voice

Ultimately, however, life is not about happiness. For me, the opposite of depression is not happiness - after all, Christians are not called to be happy. We are called to a life of self-sacrifice, hardship, and joy, but not happiness. You'll notice that many of my bullet points are about feelings because that's what happiness is - a feeling. While I don't think the giddiness of loving life is a negative quality, it's also not something I should be chasing. I can enjoy it when it comes, but really should be searching for joy - learning how to be content with my circumstances and trusting in the Lord, even if life isn't exactly the way I would have chosen.

J's Thoughts:

My wife summarized my thoughts and beliefs perfectly and succinctly.