Thursday, December 18, 2014

New Year's Resolution

We all know her.  The woman of flawlessness who on her worst day rushes out the door without putting on makeup and still presents herself as absolutely impeccable.  Because she looks amazing without makeup and she seems more beautiful in her cute sweats than you felt on your prom night.  I can go on and on about her gorgeous children or her unbreakable charm, her beautifully manicured fingernails and her unbelievably delicious smelling homemade cookies.  No seriously, I don't believe it.  Even the store-bought bakery ones don't smell that good.  What is her secret?!

They come in all shapes and sizes and they are different to each individual.  But no matter who we are, no one can deny the existence of the "Perfect Patricia."

In comparison, here's how good I am at things...

I remember my P.P. growing up.  She was the mom of one of my best friends.  Her hair was always fabulous and flipped out like she just had it shaped at a salon.  She was my seminary teacher and I remember trying to pay attention to the lesson, but kept finding my mind wondering to her cute shoes and where she must have purchased them.  She was an interior designer, so her home looked like it was featured in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine, but even better than that.  It was too good for BH&G.  The guest bathroom was themed after Book of Mormon heroes with big green ferns and low lighting to make you feel like you were deep in the jungle with the exploring Nephites.
Oh yes, she was my role model.  When I grew up, I wanted to be Sister Perfect Patricia.

We've all heard this story countless times.  How we shouldn't get down on ourselves and compare lives.  And how we shouldn't stress over our worst qualities and liken them to our heroes' best ones.  It's unhealthy!  But it's also really easy to catch yourself doing.

Another time showing me being good at things... Like making collapsing gingerbread houses.

I remember sharing these feelings with my husband once.  I explained to him my Perfect Patricia and asked why I couldn't be just like her, why she made it look so easy to do and here I was feeling helpless.  And I LOVED the advice that Mitchell responded with.

He said, "Baby girl (because that's what he calls me), don't EVER desire to be somebody else.  That's coveting and that's breaking one of the big ten.  You can look at the qualities that you admire about a person and in a healthy way desire to improve those in yourself, but never want to be anyone except for you. If you want to dream of being a better person, dream of a perfect version of yourself to shoot toward."

Isn't he awesome.


Just be your best YOU.  No more comparing yourself to others!  I think that's why I have always loved non-team sports.  Like track.  When I run or jump, I don't have to think about the person competing beside me.  I could get last place in an event one day and be in the best mood because, guess what, I broke my own personal record!  I could take literal measurements and see a new improvement in myself and that was all that mattered.

For the last lesson of the year I am going to give the YW this handout at the beginning of class and have them constantly thinking and recording all of the ways they want to improve themselves.  At the conclusion, I'll hand out color pencils so they can fill in the boxes to label each goal.  Then they can underline and select a time when they want to begin working on them.

Download HERE

I started filling one out as an example to show how I color labeled each category.
Happy New Year everyone!!
Be your best you!!
Forget about the Perfect Patricias!


P.S. We still love you Perfect Patricias.  Thank you for always giving us hope that maybe someday we can all look like we have everything together.

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