To Be Me and Be Okay with Me

 The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are 

It is a privilege to be you~to be me. There is way too much time comparing ourselves to others rather than appreciating who we are. Long ago I prayed to be gentle and kind. I truly believed that my too big personality prevented me from being loving and kind. In my mind those soft spoken people were the truly caring ones. What I didn’t recognize was that even quiet people can be harsh and boisterous ones can be gentle and care about others. Thank God there are so many varieties of personalities in the world. Thank God that we don’t all look alike or sound alike or even love alike. 

I am grateful to those who can give the best bear hugs or light up a room with their fun loving conversations. But it is also good that there are those who quietly listen and have the right follow up question to draw out another person. My gift is to be random, generous and accepting.  The other day a friend admired my purse so I gave it to her. She tried to refuse the gift because she knew I loved the purse. What she needed to know is I needed to share it with her. It is in me to give even something I cherish to others. 

My mother-in-love taught me this when she gave me a mother and child statue that she loved. Her words were that she could enjoy it more in my home knowing we both cherished it than having it remain in her house. That just made sense to me. Does that mean that you need to live that way? Absolutely not. You need to be you as much as I need to be me. My own mom needed to keep things for herself. She had fears that she would not have enough or would not be able to replace an item. That is why she had thirty pounds of butter in her freezer purchased with double coupons on sale. Mom also had enough razors and bars of soap to last a lifetime. I think my sister filled her hummingbird feeders for a decade with all the sugar mom had stored. Neither of these moms of mine were doing it better or worse than the other. They were both being who they are. That is beautiful. 

We need people who give and people who receive. We need people who are the life of the party and those who have a quiet conversation in the corner of the room. Each of us has so many sides to who we are. Like a diamond that has many faces, so we have many aspects to our personality. It is important to embrace who we are and celebrate how we are like others but also how we are different. 

What a privilege it is for me to write and for you to read my heart. I appreciate you taking the time to peek into the window of my life. But also I hope I would write even if nobody commented on my thoughts. Writing is part of who I am. I am a keyboard writer where my daughter is a pen to paper writer. I love that she has notebooks of her thoughts and dreams. It also means the world to me that we both write. But it is just as important that my grandkids use their voices in song. Another shares a love of running. Still another is always up for an adventure. Ronnie B loves to get off alone and chase archeology. Whatever our passion or personality it is good to be true to ourselves. Others will embrace us better when we are our genuine selves. 

This can also change over time and evolve with life circumstances. Ron used to be the introvert and I was the social one. That has shifted over our almost forty-eight years of marriage. He is the one who encourages me to get out and mingle. Rather than feeling bad that I am more isolating than I used to be, I need to appreciate who I am today. So I say again…….It is a privilege of a lifetime to be who you are even as that grows during our life. Here’s to being who we are and celebrating us one season at a time. 

In Him,

Joyful

4-24-25