Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I like about myself, as per Denise's suggestion

It was suggested by another TT'er that we (especially we female types) blog about what we like about ourselves. I'm glad. I'd misremembered its being 13 things we're good at. That had me in a cold sweat. I hope I can come up with 13 things I like about myself. Here goes:
1. I like my bizarre sense of humor. I didn't know I had one until Friend Husband was amused by it. Up to that point, no one seemed to think I had one at all, I think.
2. I like my grey hairs. It goes beyond the "I earned them" thing, although I did. I like them because they're shiny and silvery and I remember some of the battles that went into creating them. I think it's important to remember your battles.
3. I like that I changed my life some years back such that I don't have to worry about covering my tracks. I don't think I'd have the energy for that right now. I guess that would be, "I'm glad that I live an honest life."
4. I like about myself that I'll stop and admire flowers, nice smells, small animals, etc. My children think I'm goofy but I think they'll appreciate it when they get older.
5. I like that I keep on trying to garden, even if things don't turn out the way I'd like or the way I'd planned.
6. Ditto the above with regard to quilting.
7. Ditto the above with regard to homeschooling, parenting, being a wife, and just about everything else I do. I used to be a very rigid, very controlled type of person. I miss some of that self-control, but most of the perfectionism was not very good for me. I'm glad I'm more of a roll-with-the-punches type of person.
8. I like that I can cook, cook well, and that I'm somewhat adventurous with my cooking. I've fed a lot people over the years and, as Friend Husband likes to point out, I show love with food.
9. I like that I have intellectual curiosity. This is something that has just developed in the last few years or so. I'll find myself curious about something and I'll immerse myself in that for a while, until I feel that I have a handle on it. It's different than any other sort of intellectual exercise that I've done in past years: delight-driven education.
10. For that matter, I like that I've continued to educate myself past the usual time for education. It's axiomatic, I think, that homeschool parents tend to learn things along with their children, but this education goes beyond even that. It's just for me and I like that.
11. I like that I started exercising and eating better after I got past the worst part of my grief over my mother's passing. I'm not the most successful person at either, unlike my more obsessive friends (cough, cough...GINA), but I think it's been a healthy thing for me beyond the weight loss (which hasn't been permanent for me).
12. I like that I care about people, even people I don't really know in real life. I have a lot of online buddies and it's amazing how much you can care about other people who you probably will never meet. Sometimes I get my knickers in a knot and want to quit but usually I'm just happy to tune in and find out what's going on with everyone and pray for the needs I see.
13. I like that I like who I am, by and large. When I was younger, I hated myself. I'm not sure if it was that I actually disliked who I was, if I was internalizing the messages of those around me, or that I just had a surfeit of hormones (or all three) but I did hate myself and it was miserable to live within my own skin. Sometimes I still go off the rails but it's not necessarily because I hate myself, but because the pain of living sometimes becomes too great to bear...until I can excise the pain with prayer and the love of those around me. And that is something I never had, back when I hated myself.

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