Why do I do this?

(Photo cred: Mady Haight)

I remember in university beginning to not like how I reacted or felt in many different situations. This brought on a desire to better understand why I reacted or felt the way I did. The majority of these came from my upbringing, but recently I have found that I was born with some of these natural tendencies as well.

Since then I have desired to be more self-aware. I have had this desire because I want to be better in my relationships. At first it was for me and my own health, which is very true. And if I am healthy then I can also have healthier interactions with others and those interactions do not need to send me down a spiral. Actually if I am healthy mentally, I do not have to give them the power to affect me at all. I began this process by questioning the things I did, why I did them, what I was hoping to gain from them. I questioned the thoughts I had and why I went to that place with that thought instead of another place.

This first came to the surface when I would not give people the benefit of the doubt when they did something wrong. Even deeper than that I would negatively talk to myself about getting my hopes up and thinking this time would be different. I knew when those thoughts came that they were not healthy and I needed to do something about them. I actually started my counseling journey in that moment. Those appointments helped me to better bring my thoughts and actions into the light.

Every time I do not like how I am feeling about something I know that I need to question what I am feeling and why to get to the underlying issue. This is what helps me to better understand it and be able to grow. All of this is done with grace and with the aim of becoming more and more like Jesus. Not simply so that I can be better for this life, and to make my relationships better. It is with the end goal of allowing God to transform me into who I am supposed to me.

If you find yourself not enjoying how you are feeling then start by better understanding who you are and why you do the things you do. Get to the root of the issue. All of the behaviors and the thoughts are symptoms of underlying issues. Get the root and you can start to build a new foundation.

One of my roots was that guys cannot be trusted and I should not expect them to. This stemmed from my past. I had to realize that not every guy is the same and I need to open my heart to trust them, even if they let me down from time to time. Which they will. I find that with Jesus all the time. He loved people unconditionally, he did not care what he received back. I cared too much what I received back, it was always completely selfish.

I want to be better for those around me and I want to be better for me. What about you?

Stay tuned for how I am furthering my journey!!!

Things I am loving

So I thought it was time to let all of you in on a few of the things that I am loving at the moment. Some are products. Some are books or music or what not. Nothing is really off limits. Today is Cosmetics, Clothing, and Podcasts.

Cosmetics

The first thing that I am loving is the ELF HD powder. I have simply been using my concealer under my eyes and nothing else over top. I heard that was a no-no. I heard from a few different people that you must set your concealer. They used expensive, or more expensive than I would care to buy, powder. But one of them said that the e.l.f. brand from Target (and now everywhere) has a finishing/setting powder. I already had a setting powder, but it has a shimmer to it and I do not want shimmer on my face. The e.l.f. brand does not have a shimmer.

Laura Mercier (a little more expensive)             e.l.f brand                                


Elf also has a specific under eye setting powder too.



Also I use The Body Shop eyebrow powder and it is only $12.95 right now! I do not use the little brush that comes with it I use my own. But the brown and black together is a perfect match for my dark eyebrows.

One last thing that I am doing right now with my make up that is helping open my eyes and keep my eyelashes curled all day is heating my eyelash curler before using it on my lashes. Some of you may already be doing this and I am just late to the party. I have a problem with my lashes not staying curled all day, they end up going straight out instead of up. I am too poor to get a lash lift, which keeps them curled for up to 6 weeks, so I have decided to use my hair dryer. I heat the curler for 5 seconds and do it twice each eye and then two coats of mascara waiting a few minutes between coats. It has kept my lashes curled which makes my eyes more open and I look more awake! It is a win, win, win!


The next thing I am loving is the Fab Fit Fun box!!!!

I always saw people posting about it and thought that looks fun but not practical. Boy was I wrong. I have gotten it for two months now and it is like Christmas. I do not buy a lot of stuff for myself right now, I am trying to be on a pretty strict budget, so this is my own area to splurge. It comes seasonally, so  times a year. It is $50, but you can get a code from so many places to get $10 off your first box. Here is my code for $10 off your first box!.  You get full size products, worth up to $200.

Clothing

Swing dresses.

They are super comfortable and flattering. They flow and do not cling which is nice for people that are not stick thin. I buy the majority of mine from the the Loft. Click here to find some.

I also where compression shorts under them and found these  high waisted ones from American Eagle.  find them here!

Podcasts

If you want a podcast where someone is Christian, interviewing Christians about how they live their lives for Christ, the That Sounds Fun Podcast is for you. It is by Annie F. Downs and she has guests that range from Ben Rector to Trey Kennedy and many in between. I have actually heard myself say before, "I cannot find another podcast quite like hers." 

If you would like a podcast that is somewhat ridiculous but you love pop culture, listen to the Popcast Jamie Golden and Knox McCoy are gold (ha) in this podcast. They absolutely crack me up while they discuss popular culture. 

If you want real people to talk about Bible stories please listen to the Bible Binge. Jamie Golden and Knox McCoy started this podcast as well and they are super down to earth while they dive into Bible stories and their characters. It is seriously a breath of fresh air and extremely relateable. (my computer is telling me that relateable is not a word and wants me to hyphenate it, but I do not want to.)

I listen to these with Spotify, so the links to these will send you to Spotify! 

No one told me about this.

Why doesn’t anyone talk about this.

I have only ever heard people talk about the beginning of their relationship with excitement, happiness and joy. As if it was perfect, with no issues.

I cannot imagine I am the only one that is not experiencing this perfect beginning. And I’m not talking about the relationship itself having issues. Because truly he is great. But I am talking about my mind that is far from perfect. Ya see I’ve never heard people talk about what happens in their mind when they begin dating someone and maybe it is more of a girl’s mind thing. But man my mind is for sure not my friend. It brings up things from my past that I thought I dealt with ages ago. But feel as fresh as yesterday. It tries to make me believe things that I put to bed years ago.

It is not my friend.

Thoughts that have gone through my mind have tried to convince me that I cannot be in a relationship. I am far too screwed up. My mind actually says can you do this? Maybe this is why it hasn’t happened for you. Because you overthink too much and get disappointed too easily to the point that it wrecks your mental state. How in the world can you handle this.

And I come to the conclusion that I can’t. I can’t handle it. It is too hard for me. But the great part about it is I am not asked to do it alone. God is truly saying to me. Let me help you.

Listening to a podcast this week with Annie F. Downs and Ally Fallon and Ally says. You have to give up control in order to be in love. This is not just romantic love, but in any relationship. We have to give up control. I am learning that more and more.

The disappointment that I feel in not only the beginning of my dating relationship but also all my relationships. They have to do with me controlling it and thinking that I have the ability to change it if I just_______. But really I don’t. I can only change me.

I recently was discussing these thoughts about my relationship with someone. They said two things that I think were straight from God. Because these are two things I needed to hear more than anything. They pinpoint exactly what I do when relationships get too hard. They said, don’t close yourself off. And it is worth it.

Ya see when things get hard in a relationship I begin to close myself off, in essence sabotaging the relationship, but it is in my terms. It is far easier for me to do this. I do this because I do not see how it is worth the pain and mental strain it is putting on me.

I will not close myself off. And I will continue to tell myself that it is worth it.

Another thing. I have often said about myself is that I am an open book. Whatever you want to know. I’ll tell ya. But with this guy I find myself still having walls up. (Understandably so because of my past). Let me say this. I do desire to be known by him. I want him to know me deeply. But it’s hard to do that if they don’t exactly ask. Ya know. But I’m finding that if I want him to know something. I just need to tell him regardless of his asking the right question or not.

Some of you may be thinking. Wow you are in a relationship. That is so great. You have been waiting for so long for this. Correction I have not been waiting for anything, God brings about what he wills in his own timing. And as I mentioned before, this has not been sunshine and rainbows. It has been difficult for me. But God is gracious and continues to transform my faulty thinking. When I over analyze to the point where it paralyzed me in fear (which is what all this boils down to, fear). I hear God whispering to my heart.  Erica, I am giving you this beautiful thing, just let go and enjoy it.

That is what I am trying to do. Let go of control and enjoy it.