Ultimate Makeover by Carrie Gress

Author:Carrie Gress [Carrie Gress]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: -
Publisher: Beacon Publishing
Published: 2016-05-17T00:00:00+00:00

Envy

Women have the ability to focus on an abundance of details. When used for the best, this data that we take in on a daily basis helps us to evaluate who needs what and how we can best use our resources. When distorted, these virtues of graciousness or empathy get turned on their head to become envy. Our culture is so saturated with envy, it almost seems natural to compare ourselves ad nauseam with every other woman around us. There are few things that disfigure the soul of a woman like envy and its favorite tool, gossip. Envy is that old habit that tells us we aren’t enough, or that she is too much and therefore makes me look like less. Literature is full of women who have done the darkest of deeds because they wanted what someone else had, spawning all sorts of ugly scenarios of revenge, gossip, calumny, and slander.

Motherhood, on the one hand, can exacerbate envy not only because of the sacrifices involved but also because of the nagging feeling many women have that they aren’t very good mothers. “Look at what she is doing. Should I be doing that?” It is easy to get carried away trying to do everything for our children. And yet, eventually, motherhood can bring us to that point where we say, “Enough. I simply have to do what I’m called to do, while humbly accepting that if I try to do everything, I will drive all of us crazy.”

Motherhood brings a humble spirit into focus: we know that we cannot do anything without God. The challenges are just too great to leave us with the false impression that somehow we are in control of our lives. The very act of conceiving a child and the miracle of birth are reminders enough. Humility tells us that we have a mission only we can execute—and getting ensnared in spite and envy will only divert us from our real goal of becoming holy women and raising faithful children.

As for gossip, it is hard not to be pulled into its orbit. A woman can protect herself from participating in gossip by keeping her conversations candid, sincere, and truthful. It helps to also be mindful that these activities only take away our energy instead of energizing us with joy. As mothers, we have learned to adjust our attitudes to look at the needs of our children with loving concern, to let the virtue of empathy grow. It is this same shift in attitude that can transform our relationships with those beyond our homes.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.