No One Else is Responsible for Your Unhappiness

by Alycia W. Morales
@AlyciaMorales

Life Lessons #3

Nobody likes the Debbie Downers in life. It's no fun when your kid wakes up on the wrong side of the bed and whines until you drop them off at school. Or you call your friend and all they do is complain about this or that, never letting you in on the conversation other than to ask for your pity.

Don't these people ever have a happy day?

Do they enjoy being down all the time?

Do they know there's a solution?

Life Isn't Fair. Get Used To It.

by Alycia W. Morales 
@AlyciaMorales 

Life Lessons #1

I used to hate it when my parents would say, "Life isn't always fair." Now, my kids make angry faces when I tell them the same thing. Just like I did.

Sometimes I buy one child a gift and not the other three.

Or I take one child with me and leave the other three home.

Or someone gets the last piece of chocolate when there isn't enough left to go around.

I try to make things fair more often than not. But sometimes a parent just wants to bless a child out of the blue. Just to let them know they're special ... not because they want to play favorites.

Who Are You?

Beautiful Words for You ...

Please click on the play button.

16 Quotes About You

I can see you rolling your eyes. "Yeah, right. 16 quotes about me. She doesn't even know me."

Ah, but I do understand your desire to be loved unconditionally. So these are for you...

1. Beautiful things don't ask for attention. {The Secret Life of Walter Mitty}

2. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.{Romans 8:1, emphasis mine}

3. I always find beauty in things that are odd and imperfect - they are much more interesting. {Marc Jacobs}

4. Always be a first rate version of yourself and not a second rate version of someone else. {Judy Garland}

5. Why fit in when you were born to stand out! {Dr. Seuss}

 6. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. {Psalm 139:14}

7. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. {C.S. Lewis}

8. To say that I am in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name. {Thomas Merton}

9. Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering. {Nicole Krauss}

10. It just takes one person, believing in you. It just takes one person, loving on you. That's all it takes to change the world. {Emily Wierenga}

11. I want to think again of dangerous and noble things. I want to be light and frolicsome. I want to be improbable, beautiful, and afraid of nothing as though I

had wings. {Mary Oliver}

12. We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. {Thornton Wilder}

13. God didn't give us our gifts to paint over them with someone else's. The unique tendencies in you and me are meant to shine in a hue all their own, and in so doing, bring a little more clarity to the full-color beauty of the God we reveal to the world. {Laurie Wallin}

14. We cannot let the haters of this world define us. Or frighten us into no longer being ourselves. {Mary DeMuth}

15. Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. {Oscar Wilde}

16. If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be. {Maya Angelou}

I hope you've found some inspiration within these quotes. I'd love to know which one touched you the most. Please join the conversation and leave a comment below. And thanks for joining us today!

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that not everyone is going to like me. And even those who love me will be able to point out at least one flaw in me. 

Whether it's the length of my haircut, the extra-long hair on my chin that I missed plucking, or the fact that I like to be alone when others wish I were more snuggly, there will always be something I could improve.

It's so easy to change things these days. Too much cellulite hanging from that tummy? Lipo it. Don't like your hair color? Dye it. Have blue eyes and wish they were green? Tinted contacts.

But what if I don't want to change?

What if I like myself just the way God intended me to be?

What if I like my perfectionist side? I think it's what causes me to strive for excellence in all I do.

Even when I fall short.

What if I like being alone? Need my space? My down time? It allows me the time I need to recharge so I can face tomorrow. And the next day. And the next day.

And the next time the kids fight. And the next time I get a text and have to drop everything to do something for my husband. And the next time the dog pees on the floor and I have to clean it up.

Because God wired me that way. Which is okay, because He said we'd need to rest.

My husband has a short temper. But he's passionate. My oldest son is sensitive. But he's compassionate. My middle son pushes everyone's buttons. But he's a go-getter. My daughter worries too much. But she's protective. My youngest son doesn't like to talk to people much. But he's a deep thinker.

It's easy to find faults in others. It's easy to dislike them because of these faults.

But it's just as easy to find the awesome in them too. If we'll take the time to get to know them for who they truly are. And look at them through God's eyes and not our own.

We are, after all, created in His image and likeness.

And we all know that God doesn't make junk.

But man ... man has a bad habit of making all sorts of junk. Especially in the lives of others. And we love to sit on our couches and watch people and their junk and their worlds collapse. Why?

Do we love to laugh at others in their demise? Do we think ourselves better than them? Do we wish we could do something to help? Or are we simply thankful we aren't dealing with that issue in our own lives?

If we were truly Christian (Christ-like) in our attitudes and thinking, we'd turn off the television and pray for those people we love to watch, asking God to reveal the beauty laying dormant inside of them. Because once the camera's turned off, I'm pretty certain there's deep-rooted shame, bitterness, and a desire to be truly loved for who they are hiding deep in the corners of their hearts.

Because we're all created in the image and likeness of God. Yes. Even them.

Even those people who called us "Muttley" or "Four-eyes" or "not good enough."

Even you.

Even me.

And deep down inside, we long to be loved for who God created us to be.

Short hair. Glasses. Rollie-poly tummy. Overtired. Grumpy. Frumpy. Not-so-perfect perfectionist. Chasing my dreams when others think I should get a job. Me.

These are the people this blog is dedicated to. Those imperfect people who want to be loved for who they are, no matter what.

Because when we look at each other as children of God, created in His image and likeness, we look with love. Not condemnation. Not needing to change each other. Not pushing our idea of who we think someone else should be.