Many of us assume when someone mentions steps toward a goal, they mean an outline.
The steps found in this article involve muscles not numbers. Put on your kicks, tennis shoes, sneakers, or whatever you call those shoes you use for walking, go outside, and put one foot in front of the other.
Usually, self-esteem focuses on self. When I focus on me, I improve me. I think about questions like: How do I fit? What am I good at? How do I look?Who am I? Do you see the pattern?
To get out of this trap, leave the house, the office, or wherever you rest, and get to steppin'. For real.
In order to get outside ourselves, we sometimes have to put ourselves outside.
When you get outdoors, take a look around. Search for God's creation, no matter how small. Look at leaves and blades of grass, check out the people with their pets, and go on a beauty hunt.
I don't mean to go out and find some hottie who's walking their puppy. I mean, look for the beauty in anything you see. Whatever God created has beauty. That's the truth. Mountains or pine trees, dirt or dogs, it all has beauty, if we willingly hunt for it.
This takes practice and patience. Being able to see the beauty in something you never really noticed requires a kind of safari mindset.
At first, you may see only one beautiful flower. As you ingest the aroma and allure, remind yourself that God made that flower. Tell yourself you did good, and go indoors. This step process isn't about exercise or getting healthy, it's about looking at life from a different direction.
Make it a daily habit to go on a creation hunt, wherever it takes you. The more you do it, the more you'll begin to notice the different tones of green, the various heights and widths of leaves, and the multiple colors captured within flower petals. Every time, you absorb a new beautiful truth, remind yourself how God made that plant or tree.
Over time, you'll find yourself looking for beauty in people you meet. People who've previously annoyed the snot right out of your nose, take on new found artistic brilliance.
On this journey, it helps to consider God's word. If you write it down or decide to memorize it, the effect is the same. Take it with you and read or say it to yourself as you walk. Here are Bible verses to consider (use only one at a time):
"So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:21
"So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27
"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10"For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving," 1 Timothy 4:4
There are many more verses I could share with you, but for now, this is enough. As you take in the extraordinary beauty of even the smallest thing, you'll begin to see, the same beauty lives in you. You too are a creation of God. You fit into His garden plan, you add beauty and variety, because He designed the details of you.
Paula's writes and speaks to help couples and families grow through her faithful choices approach to life. As a wife, mom, ordained pastor and persistent friend Paula knows the value of the choices we make each day. She longs to help people get where they want to go by helping them see the choices available to them. As the Faithful Choice Advocate Paula writes a daily blog at http://www.FaithfulChoices.com.
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