BigAl

Great read, Jonathan! "View full article" hyperlink is broken but "Continue reading..." works fine. I had been a victim of comparison for many years and I always came up short in the comparison. When I realized and accepted that I am a child of God, and God makes no junk (in spite of my own self-perceptions), acceptance of myself began to get easier. It's really quite simple... if I compare myself to others as a means of self-deprecation, I am judging God's handy work and therefore think I know better than God. Quite the recipe for perpetual misery. That is different than comparing oneself to another in the interest of self-improvement. For example I could compare myself to Pastor Jonathan (ha ha couldn't resist) and say "I wish I had his outlook on people and things". Well golly gee, maybe the lesson is if I want what Pastor Jonathan has, then I need to to what Pastor Jonathan does. Or I might compare myself to another dude who is more athletic. Okay, then eat better and work out at the gym, that's what he did. Envy and jealousy are probably the biggest character defects around and cause a lot of self-made misery. Even today I catch myself upon entering retirement comparing my financial assets to those of others. Instead, I need to be grateful for what the Lord provided for me and learn to work with what I have. So today I still can get caught up in the comparison trap. But the difference is it is relatively short-lived and I don't wallow in self-pity over it. Social media is indeed a big radiating antenna of "gee, look at me" and adolescents in that tough self-awareness phase of their lives are tuned to receive that information. IMO how they use it depends on the foundation they have been given as children by their parents. A path to self-acceptance begins with how we as adults interact with our children or those children around us. A child's self-esteem can be tied directly to how we respond to their need for attention.

Good article. Especially the discussion on becoming emboldened.

This is an example of how I really think my own general serenity is the result of dependence on faith rather than my fellow humans. Human beings are subject to all kinds of failures, including failing to elicit his/her personal expectations as a manager. I had a similar experience at a company in 1996/1997. After I left and went to the company I am now semi-retired with, I found out the whole thing had nothing to do with my own boss but the fact a prima donna in the group didn't like me at all. Here I thought I was a failure because I had been told I was not performing at a senior level. But in reality I was not a failure at all. One major takeaway in the article for me was the following paragraph: "In Matthew 13:54–59, Jesus returns to his hometown to teach people in their place of worship. His words were met with questions and accusations, while his ways were met with negative and offensive reactions. As a result, Jesus continued to preach, but was unable to perform miracles because of their lack of faith in him. Although Jesus had failed to be who they thought he should be, he hadn’t failed in the least, for he continued to be true to who he truly was."

Part of raising a child IMO is to talk about bullying whether they are bullied or not, when the age and time is right. They may have seen it at school. I've talked with Sabrina about this because her brother (1 year younger) has Asperger's and was getting teased. She stuck up for him, which I admired. But we also talked about how she would handle it if she became bullied. When I lived at my prior home there was a checker at Safeway in Atascadero that I used to shop at. She was skinny as a rail but a real sweetheart, always pleasant. Stopped seeing her in the store and after a few months there was an article in the paper that she had died from anorexia. It was really sad to read. So Papa is right. I hope none of you girls fall victim to this condition.