I want to be real for a minute...well, forever, but especially real right now. I went to a really good fireside on Sunday about how the world has made women feel so paranoid about being beautiful enough. I've been thinking about that concept a lot since then, and I am so aware that I fall into that trap. And I'm tired of it! It takes up way too much time and energy, and it is a "thirst" can never be filled. Actually, I've been thinking about how I've had kind of an addictive personality with a few different things. Nothing terrible, but things like blaring music, sugar, and Facebook--things that I always come away from feeling worse. They were thirsts that were never filled, because "you can never get enough of the things you don't need" (Elder Groberg). And I have learned important things from it: like many addictions, I have to 1) stop talking about/thinking about/doing those things, so that the neural pathways in my brain are not being fed as much ("Which wolf will you feed?" sort of mindset), and 2) replace those things with something better. It is a super effective formula. If you're going to pull out weeds, you have to replace them with flowers. I'll give you an example: before, I loved cranking the radio while I drove. After a while though, I recognized that there were a lot of inappropriate songs and messages. I wanted to overcome it, but didn't see how I could. However, I started listening to church music in the car or just singing Primary songs, I filled my iTunes with only church music, I've started listening to Conference talks while I run, and I hardly ever want to listen to worldly music anymore. I LOVE listening to my iTunes--why? I ALWAYS feel better after listening to it. I feel like my desire has literally changed. I hope it lasts forever. The same is true in the case of sugar! My mission president's wife gave up sugar, as did my dad, and that led me to decide that I was going to try it out too. I found out that the more sugar you eat, the more you want sugar. That helped me stop. So, I stopped eating it cold turkey (food puns), and I replaced it with A LOT of fruit. haha. Now, a few months later (when I have occasionally given in to a sugar craving), I recognize how bad it makes me feel, and now it doesn't taste as good to me as fruit does.

So. That was a really long paragraph! But. I want to stop feeding my cravings of trying to be "beautiful enough." And I think I have found something to replace it with! Elder Lynn G. Robbins made the point that we are the most beautiful when we have the Lord's image in our countenances. That comes through actions that I can control, whereas there is only so much I can do to enhance my physical beauty! And it is so true that much about beauty is based on who we truly are. It's amazing how a kind personality and a happy outlook make someone so much more attractive! As Elder Robbins says, "one of the discoveries that our Father in Heaven would have us make is to learn that we have far more control over our happiness than we sometimes think we do."

"Men who saw no beauty in our Savior may also not see your beauty. But men of Christ, acquainted with His grief, will come to love you and say, ‘She is the most beautiful of all.’" (Beauty Tips, Sheralee Bills)

Also, this sounds crazy, but I feel like it was inspiration specifically for me...today I started covering up my mirrors when I'm not using them...and it makes me so happy :D