The Gifts of Imperfection

I've been doing a lot of reading lately, but one book that has made a huge impact on my way of thinking is called The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown. The cover also says Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are. I think as people, we tend to change who we are for different people. This book has a lot of great messages that have really changed my life...and I'm not even done reading it yet. In the next couple of posts I want to go over some lines in her book that have meant something to me. They will all be straight from her book. Some of them I might add my own thoughts.

"How much we know and understand ourselves is critically important, but there is something that is even more essential to living a wholehearted life: loving ourselves."

"Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing we'll ever do."

"Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy - the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the power of our light."

--These first three kinda go together, in my mind at least. Loving myself is something I have struggled with since I was a child. Because of things I've had to endure in my past, I didn't think much of myself. I didn't think I deserved to be loved, that I wasn't good enough for love. I now know that I DO deserve love. It's not because of this book, but it helped. We can't always control what happens to us, but we can control how we react to what happens to us. Our story is just that. It shapes us into the person we become, whether that is good or bad.

"Courage has a ripple effect. Every time we choose courage, we make everyone around us a little better and the world a little braver."

"Until we receive with an open heart, we are never really giving with an open heart."

"When we attach judgement to receiving help, we knowingly or unknowingly attach judgement to give help."

"If connection is the energy that surges between people, we have to remember that those surges must travel in both directions."

--I have had a hard time in my life asking for help from people, much less accepting help. I had been working on this before I started reading this book. These statements opened my eyes a little more. I didn't think I judged people for needing help. I'm very open to helping people, I just thought I had to go it alone. I didn't want people have to do anything for me, didn't want to inconvenience anyone. Now I know that people are as willing to help me as I am them. By me denying someone's service, I was denying them blessings. I'm still working on this because I do like to do things on my own, but I'm more willing to ask for help when I really need it instead of drowning in stress.

"A moment of self-compassion can change your entire day. A string of such moments can change the course of your life." - Christopher K Germer

"People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within."

"The dark does not destroy the light; it defines it. It's our fear of the dark that casts our joy into the shadows."

--The first line reminds me of a song I love called Let it Begin. One line in the songs says "mistakes of the past don't define you, they refine you." Just because we have made mistakes doesn't mean we are a bad person. Through the power of the Atonement, we can be made whole again. For me, it has been those mistakes that have opened my eyes and made me into someone better. As for the second line, I think if we keep worrying about darkness, we don't have enough time to enjoy happiness. We have to take life as it comes, make the best of it.