Yesterday...

was the end of the 10 day Challenge. I learned a lot about myself and I also got this sweet t-shirt:



The challenge was really helpful to me. I have stood in front of the mirror countless times and proceeded to pick myself apart. Now I feel like I can look in the mirror and be quicker to say positive things about my body. I am more grateful for the incredible things my body can do. My body is intricately and beautifully designed by God. It is strong; it can bring life into this world; and it can run and play. I really enjoyed keeping a journal throughout the experience. It was interesting to just write and then see where my thoughts would take me. Here is one journal entry that I feel really helped me understand the purpose of the challenge:

10.18.10
What was your experience today (using positive self talk)? Write for at least 10 minutes.

My experience with paying attention to my thoughts was really good. It was fun to pay attention to my thoughts and when a negative one ever came I would replace it with a positive thought like, “You are so great!” etc. It was really fun. I think I had a really good day because of it. It really is important to watch what you are thinking to yourself, and change those negative thoughts into positive ones. I need to be more aware of my thoughts ALL of the time. I shouldn’t be down on myself. There is enough crazy stuff in the media and in the world in general that can bring me down… I need to work hard to fight the kind of stuff that destroys self confidence and not fight along with it- against myself. It’s crazy how you can get roped into that stuff and become someone who regurgitates the messages the media sends and break yourself down in the process. I think this is where prayer and scripture study come into the picture in this sense. If you are combating the media’s influences with the influence of God we will be able to measure our worth more like God does, and not as the world does. Daily scripture study is important because of many different reasons, and I think one of them really is to combat the sly messages coming at us daily from the various outlets of the world and media. By making scripture study a priority, we are choosing to make God’s opinion and view of us more important then what the world would say. We are reminded of the endless and unconditional love God has for us and we can realize again and again our divine potential. The gospel is so amazing! I am so thankful for its influence. I am going to continue trying to monitor my thoughts and keep them positive- I want to be on the Lord’s side when it comes to building my self confidence and self esteem, not on the world’s side.

I am going to keep the 10 Day Challenge packet close by, so whenever I start to slide back into comparing myself to malnourished models or photo-shopped pictures I can remember where my true beauty lies by doing the challenge again and again. It was a great experience.

"Beauty is simply reality seen with the eyes of love.” Learn to love yourself, it's one of the greatest things you can do for you and the ones you love.