I'm in a men's group every Thursday night where "talking about your feelings" is the whole reason why we're there. In a culture where that is not the norm, especially for men, I'm finding it almost impossible to go through life anymore bottling all of my feelings up, never letting them have air to breathe and live and just be..... It's okay to feel - angry, sad, shame, fear, gladness, etc. God made us to feel but somewhere down the road of growing up, we were told not to. Okay.... that's not even what my blog is supposed to be about.....

During my "group", one of the guys was in the middle of sharing when I got hit, for the millionth time, with the truth of how dangerous comparisons can be... You know, when you think you aren't good enough, or at least not as good as the next guy or girl... You're not as pretty or handsome as.... You don't keep your house up as good as.... You don't parent as good as.... You're not as talented as.... It's all a hellish distraction from loving who God has made you to be. That's right... it's okay to love yourself. I seem to remember one VERY wise rabbi saying "love your neighbor as yourself." If you don't love YOU, how can you love anyone else? If we're constantly comparing ourselves to others, how can we ever be satisfied with who we are?

I leave you with a quote from what one of the greatest kings on earth once said - "I am fearfully and wonderfully made."