31 Days {Day 4} Grace for the Good Girl

So yesterday, in seeking peace, we started dealing with our thoughts.  As I gave myself space today and started to examine my thoughts, I had to ask myself,


Why do I think these things?  Why am I so hard on myself?  Why do I sometimes feel that I'm not enough, and at other times that I'm just too much?  Why must I feel I need to be what others want me to be? Why do I feel that I must have all the answers?  That I must be the go-to girl...the fixer?  That I must be responsible and handle it all...no matter what?

Why do I feel that I can never rest? Or enjoy myself? And fear that if I do, things will fall apart?

Phew!  That's a hefty list of whys...and it ain't pretty.  They're also not the types of things you just share in everyday conversation.  And, while I'm being honest, I would say that they aren't the things I even like to examine in myself.  But, since we're Seeking Peace in the Midst of the Mess this month, we're going there and going deep enough to make a difference.

So, I'm confronting these thoughts and clutching onto that truth from Psalm 139 that we grabbed yesterday.
The one about how God loves me and created me with purpose.

And I recognize these as bullying thoughts.

As I went through my day, I remembered a video I had seen recently.  The brave, real women in this video speak those thoughts out loud, those ones that have rolled around in my head bullying me and directing my behavior.
  

People pleasing, performing and striving for perfection were the fruits of those "try-hard" thoughts.  Those relentless, task-master thoughts.

But there's a word that covers those thoughts, those behaviors...

Grace

And I'm receiving it today in heaps.  Won't you receive it too?

Grace for the Good Girl from Jason Windsor on Vimeo.

(this post has a video)
There are over 700 bloggers taking the challenge, along with me, to write about one topic for 31 days. You can check them out here.
I've been checking out as many as I can and would like to share some with you over the next weeks.  Today, check out Emily Freeman's blog, Chatting at the Sky, here and her 31 Days to Change the World. She's the inspiring author of



You can read the 1st chapter here.I plan on picking this book up. 
Blessings and grace!

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