Definition of Self

I was absolutely supposed to write this post.  So, here it is.

I wrote a guest post over at Big Mama's Blog on depression a week or so ago.  This was a hard post to write and share with everyone.  I don't talk about this stuff...I don't even think about it most of the time.  So, baring my soul for countless people to see...yeah, it was a little hard.  But I really love what Alise is doing there.  She's reaching out to people that feel otherwise very alone.  Love it!

I was talking to a MOPS mom about my post and I was telling her how hard it was.  I said, "While this stuff is part of who I am, it doesn't define me."  Wow, who know I could spout something like that!  Especially while cleaning up my registration table!  :-)  Anyway, she later sent me a message on FB continuing our conversation.  She said that it's what we do with the bad stuff that defines us.  "How we make our experiences meaningful through the choices that we make.  It's our choices that define us."  Exactly! She also sent me a couple of quotes which I absolutely adored!  Let me share them with you!  "I have had dreams, and I have had nightmares.  I overcame the nightmares because of my dreams."~~Dr. Jonas Salk (developer of the polio vaccine)   The other one is more widely known, said by a lovely blue fish. "Just keep swimming."

Then the other night, my jaw dropped to the floor and I KNEW that I had to write this post.  I was watching CSI...it was about this man who shot and thought he killed his partner and took his name...anyway, at the end of the show, Jorja Fox's character was talking to a co-worker and said, (and I'm paraphrasing here) "All the bad stuff that happens to us does not define us.  It's what we do with it that does."  (Rich thought I had went completely around the bend with my jaw dropped.)

This message is so important to learn.  There are so many bad things that can happen to a person.  They would build nothing but psych hospitals if we let it all get to us.  We have to use this stuff as building blocks and become stronger, not let it be used as cannon balls to tear us down.  Christ made to ultimate sacrifice and used it for good.  I want to be more like Him.