More about the cape…
Where did the cape come from again?One last side to my discussion on fear, etc. As I continue discussing this with people lately, it has become evident that the fear of success also has a lot to do with self-esteem. I am meeting a lot of people who struggle with these things, and it is rooted in their inability to believe in themselves. For whatever reason, and we all have many, the various ‘bullet-holes’ in our self-esteem leaves us weak to believe that we really can achieve or sustain or deserve success. How do we know if this is the case? Well self-esteem rears its head in many areas of life, so we can look around our lives a bit and find out if it is an issue. In our spiritual lives, it makes it hard for us to believe that we can overcome the little things that trip us up. It is hard to trust when we create barriers for ourselves. What if God seems to be leading us beyond those barriers, those places we don’t really believe exist for us?
- originally posted by glenroy
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So I've been reading these postings – from all very insightful minds. Dare I enter some thoughts from a woman's perspective? Warning: Women think like spaghetti, our thoughts are everywhere vs focused minds of men (like waffles). I wonder if our inability to believe in ourselves is something we are born with, the reason I suggest this is because we 'technically' are inadequate and is that a God designed then to make us realize we aren't all that? Not that I have alot of years behind me but from my experience I've grown to realize where my self worth and esteem comes from, but its not a process that is easy. But at the same time we are called to be selfless – so its a battle within to think better of yourself but also to think more of others. Yeah, that probably didn't make sense. But there's alot in my head I want to get out in regards to glen's postings. I want to affirm men and women to cease the victorious life we have. It's a struggle watching people who have the best gift of all live defeated lives. Because it seems like perhaps we are devaluing what he has done for us. And amen to what glen said about realizing that maybe God is bringing us past what we think is the "best" thing for us to something so unfathomable we can't and would have never thought up of for ourselves. Outside of the box thinking… thinking from a perspective that's not of the world and getting your mind around what the "world" is teaching us. I am pretty sure our self esteem "bullet holes" comes from society advertising that we need to be "perfect" – perfect bodies, perfect job, perfect house, perfect life, etc. I feel and know that these comments are all over the board so I will rest – until I can once again FOCUS so I don't hurt your brains.
1. I think you meant \"seize\" not \"cease\", or that would be counter-intelligent. :) 2. I agree with much of what you have commented on, except the suggestion that God would design us with flaws in order to recognize our need for him. We weren\'t designed with any flaws, NONE of creation was designed with flaws. I wouldn\'t break my puppy\'s leg so he couldn\'t run away from home. 3. Your comments on self-esteem are all valid, but perhaps in my experience I would describe the cosmetic over-kill as mere flesh wounds on our self-esteem, compared to much deeper issues of self worth that come from childhood abuse or abandonment, rejections, etc. Those are examples of the deep things that leave us limping through life as adults. 4. Though I\'m not comfortable with dialogue that is \"us\" vs \"the world\", I will acquiesce to the fact that the world we live in is informed by information that often opposes truth from God\'s being, the truth he set out to inform our lives with but has been corrupted with lies. This, I guess, is the heart of this conversation. We can boil it all down to truth vs lies. God is all truth, all good, so if we can\'t seem to stay intact with truth, then we must be believing some lies along the way, and acting on them. I golfed today. Horribly. I am in a bad spot in my game, and I seem to have forgotten one of the most basic rules of golf: let the club do the work for you, just swing good and easy. Instead I would try to kill it, or correct my arms or hips, etc. My point, of course, that I couldn\'t seem to act on what I knew to be the truth about a good golf swing.