Note: This post is somewhat religious, so if you don't like religious posts...then you probably shouldn't read this. Also, this post is my epiphany for my life. It doesn't have to apply to yours if you don't want it to.
SOMETIMES I HAVE THE COOLEST EPIPHANIES AND I ASTOUND MYSELF.
I seriously have a love-to-write-in-all-caps-when-I'm-excited problem. Sorry. Not really.
I have a confession to make. Tonight, while Mom was reading out loud and while I was supposed to be listening, I may have been slightly zoning out (like all teenagers do at some point in their lifetime) and I may have been flipping through The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown.
Pause for this announcement: IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THAT BOOK YOU NEED TO.
And as I was aimlessly flipping through the pages, I glanced at a line, did a double-take and got slammed in the face with an epiphany. If it had been a baseball, I'd be dead with a crushed face.
Pause for this moment of guilt: As I'm writing this....I'm wondering if I should feel bad that I was only half-paying attention to Mom....or if I should just be extremely awed at this whole thing... #thestruggleisreal
Why do epiphanies have to come at the most inconvenient times? -_- SORRY MOM.
Now to the important stuff.
The line:
"To feel shame is to be human."
-Brene Brown
The epiphany:
"To be authentic (your true self) is to be god-like."
-Kimberly's slightly zoned-out brain
The random stuff that comes after the initial epiphany:
According to Brene Brown, shame is all about who we are. It's that voice inside our heads telling us that we're too flawed and imperfect and therefore unworthy of love and belonging. Shame is fueled by the fear that we're not good enough and that we'll never be good enough. It's something we all feel and all experience. In her words again, "To feel shame is to be human."
Who wants us to be as human as possible? Who wants us to feel shame? That's right. Satan.
If he can get us to hate ourselves, to feel unworthy of love, peace and belonging, then he has succeeded in chaining us down. He's turned us against ourselves. And when we're at war with ourselves, we aren't capable of progression. Which is exactly what he wants. Ten points to Slytherin.
However, when we are authentic, when we love ourselves and feel worthy of other people's love, we are embracing the divine nature we were born with. Remember, we are children of the Most High God. Heavenly Father created us. To feel shame about ourselves is to feel shame about God's handiwork. When we embrace our true selves, we are embracing the beauty that came from God's hand. When we feel worthy of love, we are able to progress...to become the person we wanted to become when we felt shame. Embracing authenticity actually gives us the ability to progress.
And when we are at peace with ourselves, we can be at peace with others. Once we stop feeling shame and we stop worrying about our poor, miserable selves, our hearts and minds are cleared to be able to recognize and focus on the true worth of others. (Note: Comparing ourselves to other people and believing they are more special than we are is not recognizing their true worth.) And when we truly see, love and accept other people as we do ourselves, we are seeing them like God sees them. We are being god-like.
Isn't that our quest in life? Isn't our goal to become like Him?
We won't be able to do that if we keep acting like humans. We need to start acting like gods.
Let's start by embracing our divine nature, by being at peace with our true selves and by being authentic without shame.
