Impractical Grace

I had an interesting response to the concept of faking it 'til you make it.  Someone pointed out that this approach may not be completely honest.  What I meant was that things may not be good yet, but I hope  they will be, so I'm going to try to  help them along. I don't think being optimistic is being dishonest. I guess I see it more like this--I might not have ever kept a garden alive before, but I really want to this year. I don't have a green thumb yet, but if I try to fake it 'til I make it, and go through the motions, maybe I will. Maybe not one that makes things flourish, but a decent one.

Sometimes things are not going to magically get better.  Sometimes we have to help them along.

And sometimes, we just can't...
...and it's okay.

One piece of wisdom from my wonderful mother which I am finally starting to grasp is this:
Just do your best.  That doesn't mean THE best.  Your 100% today will be different from your 100% tomorrow.  Just do your best TODAY.

I've always seemed to struggle with being "enough."  Oftentimes I confuse it with doing enough.  To quell my feelings of inadequecy sometimes I start making checklists and checkmarks to prove I'm a valuable person.  That I'm enough.  On the contrary, if I have one of those all-too-frequent "camp-at-home" days (no shower, no makeup, grubbies on all day) with literally no motivation, I feel like there's no hope in ever being enough so why even try?!

It turns out that I already am enough.

No matter what I DO my value is the same.  For example, if my sweet Abbey grew up to be a garbage truck driver, I would love her just as much and she would be just as valuable to me as if she grew up to be President of the United States.  That's how it is with us--our Heavenly Father doesn't love people less who do less.

Just by being, I am being "enough."

May I recommend a book? My bishop gave it to me and I think anyone in any situation can find it useful.  He said someone had given it to him when he became a bishop, saying every bishop should read it.  It's called "Impractical Grace" by John Bushman. It was life-changing for me and I hope it is for you.