Self Esteem - Another Perspective

I hope everyone enjoyed the talk from last week, and that you have some ideas on how you can incorporate being creative and/or compassionate into your life this month. I had an email from a sister in our ward this week who pointed out the following:

"I followed the link to President Uchtdorf's talk - it's very uplifting, and it occurred to me that the Enrichment we have planned is exactly right for the theme of this talk. As the sisters think about what they can offer, they can't help but be creative. You're thinking about scrapbooks, I'm planning on making cakes, Carolina is going to share her musical talents - and those who are offering more traditional "service" - washing, ironing, shopping etc, will have an opportunity to show compassion as they carry out these tasks lovingly and to the best of their ability. Potentially every sister in the ward will have a chance to feel the satisfaction of being creative and compassionate".

I fully agree with what this sister said and hopefully attending our Enrichment (shameless plug: January 27th, 7.30pm, at the church!) and participating in the Service Auction will enable all of us to fulfil the goal for this month and in turn increase our feelings of self worth.

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For this week's insight on self esteem, I wanted to share another perspective on what we can do to increase it. I was once taught that the most important word in the scriptures is "remember" (did you know the word "remember" is mentioned 136 times in the Book of Mormon alone?!). People were often commanded to remember who they were; we commit to always remembering the Saviour each week when we partake of the Sacrament. There is significance in remembering.

Sheri Dew reminded us of an episode in the movie "The Lion King" in her book, No Doubt ABout It (pg 10) which teaches us (as only Disney can!) about what happens when we do not remember:

"The lion cub Simba forsakes his heritage and turns to riotous living after the death of his father, Mufasa. But when that lifestyle fails to satisfy his inner self, Simba turns to the heavens in a moment of desperation. His father responds by appearing to him, and after listening to Simba's attempts to justfy his rotten behaviour, Mufasa delivers profound parting words: "You have forgotten who you are because you have forgotten me. You have become less than you are".

As we remember that we are daughters of our Heavenly Father, our behaviour and our choices reflect that knowledge. As we remember that He loves us and has a unique plan for us, we are able to feel confident in the direction that we pursue in our lives. As we remember that our worth is great in his sight, we can feel safe and secure. As we remember the sacrifice of His Son for us, we are willing to make smaller sacrifices to live good and righteous lives.

Margaret D Nadauld (former General Young Women President) once shared:

"Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity. Oh, how we pray that every young woman will grow up to be all the wonderful things she is meant to be".

(link to her full talk is here - it's well worth a read)

May we remember this thought as we go about our tasks this week, and may these truths give us confidence to be the women Heavenly Father knows we are....and the women He knows we can be.