So have you watched the new Style Network show called The Ten Things I Hate About Me?

It makes me nuts.

I mean, these women write in with a list of ten things they hate about themselves, stuff they feel powerless to change on their own. Are they huge inabilities? Not usually. Which means, their lists end up sounding like whining.

You know--I hate my hair. I hate my figure. I hate how my living room looks and that I can't cook healthy meals. I hate that I can't write thank-you notes. I hate how my house smells and I hate my clothes. I hate how I never finish anything I start.

Good grief.

You know what I hate? I hate it when women sound so helpless. シ

Complaining is so very easy. Yet complaining wastes time and ruins everything: it certainly ruined things for the ol' Israelites of Bible days:

"Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp." Numbers 11:1

Uh-oh.

So rather than complain about what I don't like or have, I remind myself to be grateful for what's going right. 

For the gone-wrong things? I either discover ways to fix them, pray about what I cannot repair or I ask for help. Or I accept what I can't change or I accept myself, which isn't as hard as it once was now that I know I'm so loved by Jesus. That love truly does change everything.

But I do not allow myself to hate myself. Anymore, never do I go there.

What am I saying? Today I hope you don't hate anything about yourself or your life. But if you do? Well then, fix it. If you hate your living room, rearrange it. Make it unique and different (paint that wall you hate. Ask for help if you need it. Find some ideas online if you need those.). 

Hate your hair? Make an appointment to have it changed, ask a friend for help or learn to change it, yourself. If you hate your body, seriously look into nutrition and exercise (and if you think you can't exercise, recall those tv shows you've seen where the elderly sit in chairs and do toning exercises. I've had some lazy days in my life where I've watched them and thought, "Wow! Pretty strenuous stuff compared to what I've done lately!")

If you hate that you don't have extra money, discover ways to stop spending in some areas so you can start spending in others. If you hate clutter, clear one corner at a time, learn to let go and then deal with the reason why the clutter invaded your home in the first place.

In other words, forget about complaining, blaming and excusing--just do it. Just do what you can, never fall for the "I can't help it" lie. 

But whichever choice you make, please do not hate yourself. You'll go nowhere, well, except to despondency. And who wants to live there?


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Be inventive. Be creative. Be smart. Be open to new ideas. But do not be mad at
yourself.

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I finally got pro-active about decorating the top of our stairway:





How incredible it feels to make changes! To complete tasks, to overcome inertia or a lack of creative ideas.


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