Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Identity”
How Do You Use Awards to Define Yourself? @bethvogt The first award I ever won was for an elementary school spelling bee. I remember standing in a line with my classmates against the chalkboard. Waiting my turn as the teacher called out different words. Silently spelling my classmates words. Concentrating, letter by letter, as I spelled the word I was …
Choosing to Love Someone for Who They Are by @bethvogt Last October, my son Josh remarried. His wife is a beautiful young woman named Meagan. I remember months earlier when my husband and I talked with Josh about his relationship with Meagan – about how we knew he was falling in love with her and yes, her three children. We …
Learning to Value Ourselves More by @bethvogt I didn’t participate in school sports. Oh, sure, I played the required PE activities where you wait to get picked for a team, hoping you’re not last. And I remember the games of kickball and dodgeball during recess in elementary school – back when schools allowed kids to play dodgeball. Kicking a …
Being Brave Enough to Deal with Our Stuff by @bethvogt Last weekend one of my closest friends texted me this question: When does all the baggage stop bubbling to the surface? Her question is a bit of a mixed metaphor, yes, but still it brought to mind a vivid image: a murky lake filled with suitcases bobbing to the the …
How good are you at looking at yourself and liking yourself? Me? For years, I struggled with looking at myself and liking what I saw. I couldn’t see anything positive because it was blocked by a whole lot of negative self-talk. How we see ourselves is often affected by what we’ve heard others say about us. Finding positives about ourselves? …
Life can be hard. Perplexing. Frustrating. Things happen that discourage us. Maybe someone’s words wilts our spirit. Or maybe someone’s actions — their decision to mock us or to ignore us — wounds our hearts. And our belief in ourself — our inner fire — is snuffed out. But then we connect with someone who rekindles our inner spirit because …
I don’t know what a person’s soul looks like, but I do believe there is no one-size-fits-all version. And yet … and yet, there have been times I’ve treated my soul like a ready-to-wear garment found in a store. I like what I have, until I see what someone else has … and I think, “Hmmmm, I like that style …
Be silly. Be honest. Be kind. Which one of those “Be’s” jumped out at you today? There are so many things we want to be — smart, pretty, successful, well-liked, athletic — that sometimes we get lost along the way to being. We have so many “be’s” to choose from, we lose track of the important ones. Or someone tells …
Which would you choose: acceptance achieved by pretense or rejection caused by honesty? Living honestly? It’s risky business. Wear a mask and be well-liked. Conform to the expected behaviors and earn a pat on the back . . . a place at the table . . . a “welcome to the family” — whatever equals acceptance for you. Or replace …
We so often talk about centering ourselves. Finding our inner strength. Searching for, and finding, the person we were meant to be. Well, bravo that. But what about getting out of our own way? How often do we consider that as a path to success, to fulfillment? Not often enough. As a writer, I often plumb my own life …
