Truth from the Trenches by Melissa Hart 

 

While I write this, the wind is howling around my house, the wind chill has reached the depths of about minus-15 degrees and I’m tired of winter – but that doesn’t matter, because I can’t change the weather.

I’ve just been mulling a few things around in my head this morning about what I need to write. One thing that is foremost in my mind is that we need to use it – our mind, that is. After a brief discussion with a good friend, I decided maybe she and I weren’t the only two people in the world that need a mind overhaul! 

It’s time to quit relying on our feelings to tell us who we are and move toward using our minds to remind us who we are. Feelings will fool you every time. If I depended on what I felt, I’d be one sorry soul, always looking back while listening to the tape of failures that like to replay in my mind and tell me I’m never going to get it right.

If I depended on what I felt, my children would not have lived past the age of seven, I would have had an 18-month marriage and I would weigh 400 pounds, looking for my next chicken nugget and Diet Coke with a package of Oreo cookies for dessert.

You were given a sound mind. It’s time to use it. If there’s no one in your life to encourage you, then let me. You were created with so much to give and to live a life of greatness.

And let’s remember, greatness isn’t measured by Hollywood or by someone else’s beautiful Facebook life. Your greatness is who you are, your generosity, your compassion, your kindness. Your greatness is that you contribute each day to this world and make your little corner on Earth a better place.

Your greatness is in your smile, your willingness, your work ethic. Your life matters. For heaven’s sake, you were created by a big God who says He created you in His image; that’s greatness enough right there.

Get rid of the condemning self-talk, grab the steering wheel of your mind and drive toward a better life. If you want to feel better, remember this: Feelings follow actions. Act confident and guess what? You’re going to feel confident.

Act loving and, yes, you’ll begin to feel loving. Act healthy (i.e., get on the treadmill or do 20 minutes of some kind of exercise), and I guarantee you will feel healthier.

Take hold – and be great!

Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.