Pinterest and More


October 10, 2017

I have been periodically checking out Pinterest, some of the ideas are awesome, others not so much! One of the things I have noticed is that it is full of do it yourself tips; from baking to party planning, to health, and parenting, and everything in between. 

It becomes so easy to look at what others have posted and think "that's seems easy enough, I could do that." Not so in my case... I have learned that I am totally inept when it comes to crafting! I would love to be able to, and despite even following instructions, most of my projects turn out to be utter disasters! 

Then I got thinking, why do we compare ourselves to others and their abilities? In some ways, I think our "modern technology" does us a disservice. I see all the DIY projects and instead of celebrating the accomplishments of the artist of the beautiful work displayed, I find myself feeling less... See these things that are posted are wonderful, but they also serve as a reminder that I couldn't do a lot of that stuff if my life depended on it. 

So then if Pinterest reminds me about everything I am not, what about everything that I am? Surely that has to count for something...So here is my list:
1. I am a mom to a great kid
2. I am a wife to an awesome husband
3. I am a friend, and lots of other things.

 We all have wonderful qualities and we should focus on those things; not on what Pinterest says or depicts as the perfect Mom, crafter etc.

We live in a very imperfect world. The fact that I can't bake cupcakes like Martha Stewart doesn't make me a terrible parent. It just means I can't bake! When we look at the Pinterest stuff knowing we can't do most of the stuff shown in the pictures, we often have this feeling of "I don't measure up." But I am wondering why we seem to set the standard to perfection? Do we expect our children to be perfect? Maybe the better question is do our children expect US (as parents) to be perfect? Obviously the answer to both of those questions is "NO!"

We need to replace the feelings of  "I don't measure up" with THANKFULNESS- thankfulness for what we have, who we are, and what we can do.

I am thankful for all the things I have and who I am. That thankfulness has a trickle down effect to our children too. When we stop and focus on what really matters, we can show by example that there is no need to try to live up to the world's definition of perfection. The job at hand, (raising our children to be great people) is far MORE IMPORTANT than whether or not my cupcakes look like Martha made them!

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