{"id":5327,"date":"2014-12-21T12:32:34","date_gmt":"2014-12-21T18:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lovingonme.com\/?p=5327"},"modified":"2017-04-06T12:41:56","modified_gmt":"2017-04-06T17:41:56","slug":"judging-you-harshly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/2014\/12\/21\/judging-you-harshly\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Judging You Too Harshly?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Thumbs<\/a>My end-of-year reflections are in full swing, and lately I\u2019ve been experiencing this weird mix of happiness and profound disappointment. I find myself all at once pleased, and then moments later, ready to cry. Which, given all I\u2019ve been blessed to accomplish in the last 12 months is really silly. Trouble is, I wanted so much more.<\/p>\n

When we start the year we always have such grandiose plans. We set our intentions, make resolutions, and begin down the path to achieving our goals. Then a funny thing happens a few steps in \u2013 Life. It knocks us in a whole new direction, derailing our beautiful plans and squelching our enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

Suddenly what seemed so doable \u2013 losing weight, finding a new job, getting out of debt, starting a business, or my own personal demon \u2013 finishing a book \u2013 get farther and farther away on the horizon. Many times what\u2019s thrown us off track is so all-consuming that we forget all about what we intended to do. Until the end of the year that is, when we pick up our measuring stick, and judge our selves to be behind.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been trying to figure out how we can eliminate this whole drama-filled scene by really embracing the concept that I am enough. That what we\u2019ve done is enough, and that where we are is exactly where we\u2019re supposed to be right now. Not sometimes, but all of the time. Because at moments like this, I realize that even I don\u2019t quite have it yet. With all of my powerful affirmations and positive thinking, I still come back to this.<\/p>\n

Which I must tell you is a little frustrating. I mean, honestly, I\u2019d rather have graduated from this struggle and gone on to a new one. But since I haven\u2019t, I\u2019ve decided to muster up the courage to feel what I feel, and go on anyhow. To not let that voice inside my head that\u2019s fighting to weigh me down with negativity, win. Instead, I will continue to persevere, knowing that ultimately God is in control.<\/p>\n

And there it is \u2013 my lifeline, my anchor, and my hope for a new day. It\u2019s not about my plan, which was fallible from the start. It\u2019s not about my timeline, which could never have accounted for the unexpected twists and turns of my journey. It\u2019s about His, and only He knows it.<\/p>\n

So why do I worry when I fall short? Why do any of us put our selves through the unnecessary angst and disappointment when things don\u2019t go as we plan? Honestly, I think it\u2019s because we forget who we are, and who God is. We experience a measure of success and start trying to do His job, thinking that everything in our world is under our control. Then when life snaps us back to reality, reminding us that it\u2019s not, we spend countless hours wondering what we did wrong or what we should have done different, instead of accepting the correction of God\u2019s guiding hand.<\/p>\n

Am I saying that everything we set out to do didn\u2019t happen because God said go a different direction? Absolutely not! For example, I know for sure I didn\u2019t lose any weight this year because I stopped exercising and started eating chocolate. It was delightful enjoying my yummy treats, but as my too tight clothes remind me, it sadly must come to an end. You see that\u2019s something that IS under my control. I just have to make up my mind to do it.<\/p>\n

Conversely, there are things where I gave it my best, and I still didn\u2019t make it over the finish line. I tried. God knows I did. And you did too. But it wasn\u2019t the time for completion, or in some cases, we were working on the wrong thing. Whatever the case, there\u2019s no benefit to beating our selves up about it. All we can do is be fully present in this moment, accept where we are, and courageously keep moving forward as God allows.<\/p>\n

At least that\u2019s what I plan to do. I mean, clearly I\u2019m no expert. I\u2019m in the struggle right with you. But I keep asking God for wisdom, and bye and bye, He\u2019s illuminating more of the steps down the path. I\u2019m learning that even though the struggle continues, so too, does the grace, compassion and love. I guess I don\u2019t have to be perfect, to be perfectly used by Him.<\/p>\n

I pray that as you assess your accomplishments for the year, that you look through that same lens of grace. Don\u2019t judge yourself as\u00a0lacking because God sent you in another direction. Don\u2019t condemn you if you fell short of giving it your all. Instead, feel that moment of disappointment, and then have the courage to move beyond it.<\/p>\n

How we end the year is how we\u2019ll start the new one. Let\u2019s release our disappointments, and embrace our Divine destiny once more. No matter where you are ending the year \u2013 You are mighty, you are strong, and you are enough. Believe it!<\/p>\n

Loving on Me as I Love You! Hugs and Love \u2764<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My end-of-year reflections are in full swing, and lately I\u2019ve been experiencing this weird mix of happiness and profound disappointment. I find myself all at once pleased, and then moments later, ready to cry. Which, given all I\u2019ve been blessed to accomplish in the last 12 months is really silly. Trouble is, I wanted so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sharing_disabled":false,"switch_like_status":false,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[114917237],"tags":[204997786,204997737,204997687,204997597,122792808],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Thumbs-Down.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4eAxC-1nV","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5327"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5327"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9352,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5327\/revisions\/9352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}