Fearfully and wonderfully made

I ended my previous article with these words: The way you think defines you. You can’t have a successful future if you think you’re average. 

Honestly, you aren’t average at all! You are amazing. There’s no one on earth like you.

You don’t have to keep up any appearances to please anyone. You don’t have to wear a mask or pretend to be someone you’re not. You are who you are, a truly remarkable person. All you have to do is acknowledge this and accept who you are. Love yourself for who you are and raise your value through investing in self-confidence. 

Why is it important to love yourself and have self-confidence? Stephen Chbosky sums it up in the following words, “We accept the love we think we deserve.” 

How much love do you think you deserve? When you step out into the world, you have to market yourself as a worthy person for a worthy job and a worthy relationship. Just like you won’t walk into a cheap shop and buy a useless item that is worth nothing, the world will not believe you – accept you – if you feel you’re worth nothing. Just by feeling worthless, you’re telling yourself you have nothing to offer society and by believing this, you contribute very little to society.

If you don’t place value on yourself, nobody else will.

The world will not raise your price. You will end up having a low paying job and destructive relationships with others. C. Joybell C. said, “Every second that you spend on doubting your worth, every moment that you use to criticise yourself, is a second of your life wasted, is a moment of your life thrown away. It’s not like you have forever, so don’t waste any of your seconds; don’t throw even one of your moments away.” 

No one on earth can make you whole and complete in yourself. Only you can.

Constant doubt and self-criticism prevent you from being whole and complete. You have to know yourself and accept who you are, otherwise, you will never learn to understand others or accept them for who they are.

Until you have accepted yourself – all of your strengths and all of your weaknesses – you will always feel inadequate. You will place very little value on yourself. You’ll transfer your doubts and criticism to others. You will spend more time gossiping about others than focusing time on enhancing yourself. In the process, you’ll harm your relationships with yourself and with them. If you’re constantly feeling insecure and looking for faults, you will never have a whole and complete relationship.

Your opinion of yourself is more important than your opinion, or anyone’s opinion, of anything in life.

The hardest part of your life journey is to accept yourself, place a high value on who you are, and believe that you are worthy to be alive. You have to look at your inner-self and deal with everything that’s going on inside of you. Steve Maraboli said, “Stop trying to ‘fix’ yourself; you’re not broken! You are perfectly imperfect and powerful beyond measure.”

Clean your inner-self of all negativity. If you don’t, you’ll carry an awful burden with you everywhere you go and eventually place that burden on the people who are in your circle of being. If you want to progress, you cannot burden yourself or others with your negativity.  

You need to be useful by contributing when you go out into the world. Your contribution is what you give to society and what you can do for society. Your contribution must be light and refreshing. No matter how small it is, every contribution you make in life is an achievement. Bob Anderson said, “There is nothing so rewarding as to make people realise that they are worthwhile in this world.” Let this then be part of your contribution to others. Make others feel worthy! Help them clean their inner-self from all negativity.

You don’t need to convince God that you are amazing.

To God, you are truly unique. Why, then, do you go around begging yourself and others to recognize your worth through false words and deeds? Just be! Be yourself. Spend lots of time with yourself. Get to know yourself and enjoy being who you are. Through acceptance, you can raise your worth. Through self-development, you can raise your worth. With this confidence, you can live a life of self-fulfilment.

When you take the time to be on your own in the present moment, and you are quiet, you become aware of God in your life. You are never really alone, are you? In Isaiah 41:10 (NLT), you’ll find God’s comforting assurance: “Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”

Remember: He created you in His image, according to His likeness. Why, then, do you feel worthless? Why do you want to be anyone other than you, authentically you?

Awareness of God helps you change your imperfect perspective about the flawed people and situations around you. Instead of judgment, you learn to increase your ability to love and encourage others. He will strengthen you, even when you stumble. Psalm 16:8 (NLT) reads: “I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.”

When you have confidence, you have the courage to live your life as a righteous person. Be careful that you don’t become proud and arrogant. Steer clear of over-confidence. It will lead to your downfall. The Bible makes it clear in Proverbs 16: 18 (ESV): “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”