| Volume 1 #9 | June 2006                         

In the Middle Of It All...

Last time, I talked about the danger of discouragement. I was dealing primarily with external factors that tend to discourage us--people who tell us we'll never make it, etc. But sometimes, our perceptions of things can cause us to be our own worst enemies and set us back. 

Been there, done that myself.

For years I struggled with what I've heard coined as "compare-itonitis." I always measured myself against other people and rated myself as fallen short. One particular incident took me three years to get over. When it happened, I heard this voice in my head say, "You'll never be a blessing to that person...you're just not good enough." I believed that lie for a long time...until the collective power of encouragement came through and proved it false.

But if we aren't careful, we can still stumble into those old thought patterns. Recently I received some attention for something I'd done, and was rather enjoying it all. But then, along came someone who did the same thing and was featured even more prominently than I was. My moment in the sun was over...and I immediately thought "well, I guess that was 10 times better than mine."

So how did I finally get over the first example and deal with the second?

1) I learned to replace the word "better" with "different". Every one of us has unique gifts and talents. No one will ever do or express things quite like you. I suspect I'm not telling you something you haven't already heard...but isn't it odd that it's one of the first things we forget when we start doubting ourselves?

2) I placed myself in the middle. You can have abilities that at any given time may be perceived as either weaker than someone else's--or stronger than someone else's. That puts everyone somewhere in the middle.  You are never going to please everyone. That's an awful lot of people to have to please. Too big a job, wouldn't you agree? 

So celebrate who you are...and welcome those who want to come along on the journey.

---Wendy V

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