Your Best Moments

I truly believe that the root of our insecurities and our beliefs about who we are as people stem from some of our worst moments in life. Maybe it was a bad decision you made or maybe someone really important in your life scarred you. Maybe it was a series of bad decisions that not only negatively affected your life but the lives of others. Maybe it was an abortion, an abusive relationship, a lie, neglect, an addiction, betrayal...We all have stories that make us unique. We have experienced things that have shaped us into the people that we are.

Quite often, not only do our mistakes or poor choices influence our perspective of ourselves, but they also affect the way others view us. I think a lot of times people are defined by their worst moment. Honestly I think it's a part of human nature to remember more bad than good. I mean even in pop culture and Hollywood, celebrities are constantly defined by their worst moments. Bill Clinton will forever be an adulterer, Lindsay Lohan will forever be an addict, Mike Tyson will forever be abusive, Jon Gosselin will forever be a dead beat dad. Despite all of the great things that these people may have done, their mess-ups far outshine their successes and good choices. And more often than not, how they recover from these downfalls is not publicized.

But of course this doesn't just happen in Hollywood, but in our own families, in our schools, our churches, our communities. No matter how wonderful a person's past may be, if by some chance they happen to make a "big" mistake and others happen to find out about this mistake, all of their wonderfulness is forgotten. Unfortunately, not only do others forget their wonderfulness but often they forget it as well.

I know this may sound a bit "glass half full" but I think that we should be defined and known by our best moments. We should be defined by how we overcome adversity and bad decision making, instead of how hard we fall when we do mess up. We should be known by our ability to look past our faults and flaws and notice all of the amazing things about who we are. We should be celebrated by how we move past being hurt, being jaded, being mistreated so that we are able to love and be loved again.

We all make mistakes, some go unnoticed while others don't, but deep down we all know the truth. It's easy to not only look at others and be more aware of their ugly parts than the beautiful but it's also sometimes easier to focus on the not so pretty parts of ourselves. And undoubtedly this breeds insecurities, inabilities to connect and love others, and the inability to appreciate the good in someone. We all have scars, some bigger than others, some more painful than others. But...we all deserve to be acknowledged for the best in us, not the worst. We owe it to ourselves to appreciate our "shining moments." :-)

Remember the fabulous aspects about who you are as a person. Focus on how you've overcome all of the mess that life brings. And if by some chance some areas of your life need cleaning up or cleaning out, clean them...so that you can look back and know that you are most certainly not the product of just your mistakes or disappointments, but of how you have handled and persevered despite them.