Every once in a while I stop and ask myself “Laura, why are you doing what you are doing?”  I made a decision about 6 months ago to stop doing things for the wrong reasons.  I decided that if something is not bringing joy in my life I need to stop doing it. I can’t say that in the last 6 months I have always followed that decision, but I have tried to keep a check on my motives.

Proverbs 16:2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives.

Psalm 139:1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

Jeremiah 12:3  But You know me, O LORD; You see me; And You examine my heart’s attitude toward You.

Jeremiah 17:10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.

“Why are you doing what you are doing?” 

After making some changes, I have had more peace in the last few months than I have had in a long time.  I will continue to ask myself “Why are you doing what you are doing?” and I will also continue to answer myself honestly. Sometimes being honest with ourselves about our motives is one of the hardest parts.

There have been times that social media has been more of a drain on me than an enjoyment, so I have chosen to distance myself from it.  There have been people in my life that have been more of a drain on me emotionally than an enjoyment, so I distanced myself from them. The choice isn’t always permanent, but sometimes a bit of separation gives a chance to get things back into proper perspective.

Instead of letting others determine what we do, what we wear, how we decorate our houses, where we choose to go, we need to make choices for ourselves.  We should only be trying to make right choices for ourselves and the people and things that are truly important to us.

Saying yes all the time won’t make me Wonder Woman. It will make me a worn-out woman.

I am not talking about becoming self-centered, I am talking about becoming secure in yourself and making choices for yourself, not because of what other people want or what “they” will think.**

 

I heard this song the other day and the message of it really made me think.  It is so similar to what I have been pondering the last few months. What really matters is that when I am alone with myself, do I like the person that I am on the inside?!

Try by Colbie Caillat

Put your make-up on
Get your nails done
Curl your hair
Run the extra mile
Keep it slim so they like you, do they like you?

Get your sexy on
Don’t be shy, girl
Take it off
This is what you want, to belong, so they like you
Do you like you?

You don’t have to try so hard
You don’t have to, give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don’t have to change a single thing

You don’t have to try, try, try, try
You don’t have to try, try, try, try
You don’t have to try, try, try, try
You don’t have to try
You don’t have to try

Mm, mm

Get your shopping on, at the mall, max your credit cards
You don’t have to choose, buy it all, so they like you
Do they like you?

Wait a second,
Why, should you care, what they think of you
When you’re all alone, by yourself, do you like you?
Do you like you?

When you’re all alone, by yourself, do you like you?

You don’t have to try so hard
You don’t have to, give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don’t have to change a single thing

You don’t have to try so hard
You don’t have to bend until you break
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don’t have to change a single thing

You don’t have to try, try, try, try
You don’t have to try, try, try, try
You don’t have to try, try, try, try
You don’t have to try

You don’t have to try, try, try, try
You don’t have to try, try, try, try
You don’t have to try, try, try, try
You don’t have to try
You don’t have to try

Mm, mm

You don’t have to try so hard
You don’t have to, give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don’t have to change a single thing

You don’t have to try, try, try, try
You don’t have to try, try, try, try
You don’t have to try
You don’t have to try

Take your make-up off
Let your hair down
Take a breath
Look into the mirror, at yourself
Don’t you like you?
‘Cause I like you

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**A great book with a lot of great information about a similar topic is The Best Yes by Lysa TerKeurst.  She is the president of Proverbs 31 Ministries and the New York Times bestselling author of Uninvited. (Totally not sponsored at all, I just really enjoyed the information in this book.)