Become The Woman You Dream To Be

_______________________________________________________________________________
How Can I Become the Woman of Whom I Dream? April 2001 General Young Women Meeting
"For you, my dear friends, the sky is the limit.  You can be excellent in every way.  You can be first class.  There is no need for you to be a scrub.  Respect yourself.  Do not feel sorry for yourself.  Do not dwell on unkind things others say about you.  Particularly, pay no attention to what some boy might say to demean you.  He is no better than you.  In fact, he has already belittled himself by his actions.  Polish and refine whatever talents the Lord has given you.  Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, but with great and strong purpose in your heart.  Love life and look for its opportunities, and forever and always be loyal to the church.
Never forget that you came to earth as a child of the divine Father, with something of divinity in your very makeup.  The Lord did not send you here to fail.  He did not give you life to waste it.  He bestowed upon you the gift of mortality that you might gain experience-positive, wonderful, purposeful experience-that will lead to life eternal.  He has given you this glorious church, His church, to guide you and direct you, to give you opportunity for growth and experience, to teach you and learn you and encourage you, to bless you with eternal marriage, to seal upon you a covenant between you and Him that will make of you His chosen daughter, one upon whom He may look with love and with a desire to help.  May God bless you richly and abundantly, my dear young friends, His wonderful daughters.

Of course there will be some problems along the way.  There will be difficulties to overcome. But they will not last forever.  He will not forsake you.
When upon life's billows you are the tempest-tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done...
So amid the conflict, whether great or small, Do not be discouraged; God is over all. Count your many blessings; angels will attend, Help and comfort give you to your journey's end.
Look to the positive. Know that He is watching over you, that He hears your prayers and will answer them, that He loves you and will make that love manifest.  Let the Holy Spirit guide you in all that you do as you look to become the kind of woman of whom you dream.  You can do it.  You will have friends and loved ones to help.  And God will bless you as you pursue your course.  This, girls, is my humble promise and prayer in your behalf, in the name of the Lord Jesus christ, amen."
- Gordon B. Hinckley _______________________________________________________________________________

I think more times than not, we as women are too hard on ourselves.  We constantly feel like we are coming up short and fall in the trap of comparing ourselves to others.  It's too easy sometimes to get wrapped up in the worries of the world, social media only adding fuel to this fire.  Our thoughts and focus unintentionally turning to materialistic things.  "Everything of hers is always so cute, I could never compare to her." "She literally always seems to have everything together, how does she do it?" "I wish I was as (beautiful, fit, funny, talented, successful etc. etc. etc.) as her."  These statements are completely unnecessary and very dangerous.  I think it's in our nature as women to feel self conscious and always look for our faults and short comings but I wish this wasn't the case.  I wish all of us as a society would help build each other up.  Help us all to feel comfortable with who we are.  We all have faults which gives us no room judge or be critical of others.  No, we don't have to love and be best friends with everyone we meet, that's not realistic, but we do need to be kind and respectful to everyone around us.  I think we all deserve at least that much.  We are all trying our best and you NEVER know what someone may be dealing with behind the scenes.  I have learned the truth of that lesson in my life time and time again.  I think everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt.
Recently I've been trying really hard with being okay in the "now."  Being happy today while still looking forward to where we want to be.  This applies really to all aspects of life.  Financially, learning to live within our means and being extremely grateful we are fortunate enough to have plenty to cover our needs.  Reminding ourselves that wants can wait and that they are just "things" and really shouldn't carry a lot of importance in life.  Physically, trying to be comfortable in our own skin instead of harshly critiquing ourselves before and during the process of working toward our fitness goals and where we want to be.  Taking care of our bodies and being healthy is important but we are often way too harsh on ourselves.  I mean, if I'm real with myself, my body has grown and birthed a child, and has been stuck on an emotional and high stress roller coaster non-stop for the past three years.  Those type of things are going to take a toll on our bodies.  Life happens.  There are going to be times in our life when taking care of ourselves will have to take a back seat for a time.  What's important though, is that we make it a priority to take care of ourselves when we are able to again.  We need to be both comfortable with where we currently are and also where we are going.  If we wait to put on a swimming suit until we feel totally confident with our body, we will most likely never go swimming again, and most importantly, we will miss out on an endless amount of incredible memories and experiences.  Is that a sacrifice you're willing to make?  I know I'm definitely not.  I want to stop giving so much attention to physical and worldly things and move that attention to what matters most, the people we are.  At the end of the day, I want to be kind, serving, and loving person to all those around me.  I want to be a supportive wife, a caring mother, and a thoughtful friend that's there when you need me.  I am well aware that I have many faults but the best part about this world, is that we can keep striving every day to improve ourselves and turn our faults into strengths.  Those are changes that can't take place over night but definitely can over a lifetime.  With self reflection and true effort every day, we can become the women we dream to be.