Word clouds?

I tried my own word cloud (using words from a recent blog). Thanks to my sister-in-law, Lori, for the idea!  A word cloud takes a bunch of words and creates a picture out of them.  Words that are used more are bigger.  I thought it looked like a "tasty" set of words.

Its at http://www.wordle.net/ if you want to try it  yourself.

Its too bad we don't have word clouds for our thoughts, so we can easily see what we are focusing on, what we are telling ourselves.


In our enrichment meeting last month, a psychologist  in our ward (Bruce) talked about self-esteem.  He said that our self-talk is so important to our self-esteem.

Bruce asked us to write down the attributes we have inherited from our Heavenly parents.  Take a minute to do it!  It is interesting.

Then he said, "Compare our knowledge of our Godly attributes to how the world would evaluate us."  Everything in the world is about COMPARISON.  Such comparisons tend to make us insecure.

He said that in order to deal with insecurity, we should
a. pray and ask to see ourselves as God sees us AND to be able to see others as God sees them.
b. Read our Patriarchical blessings
c. Listen to uplifting music

He talked about the seeds of deity that are in each of us - essential characteristics.  He said, we can't really lose those characteristics.

We should focus on our Godly attributes.

 Lorenzo Snow (1814-1901) -
 I believe that men and women have the image of God given them-are formed after the image of God, and possess deity in their nature and character, and that their spiritual organization possesses the qualities and properties of God, and that there is the principle of God in every individual.


We read Ether 12:27 where it talks of weakness being a gift: I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

And also 2 Corinthians 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Bruce asked the question, "If weakness is a gift, is it a sin?"  He later commented, "We can continue to have weakness and still become perfect in God."

He made an interesting comment.  He said, "We need to learn to nurture ourselves."  As you are criticizing yourself, listen to yourself as a friend would and tell yourself the nurturing words a friend would say.

We end up incorporating things into ourselves that have been said to us.  They may occlude the diamond that is there.  We start on a path of believing in a false self.  Our self-esteem is often on a roller coaster - depending on how  we did at the moment.

Turn your nurturing voice on yourself.  Be willing to give yourself a new day.  Ask yourself, "What did I do well?  What is it about me that allows me to do that thing well?"  There is a difference between boasting and noting things that are true.  The latter gives us the power to use our talents.

Are you being fair with yourself?  When you get caught up with comparisons, listen to the voices inside your head.  Once you hear what you are saying, write them down. Analyze them, "Is it true?"  See yourself in the role of a mother or friend.  Imagine you are talking to someone else - that they are saying the things you are saying. What would you say to them?

Control the ANTs:  Automatic, Negative, Thoughts.

Remember that people who are full of themselves are ALWAYS tortured souls.  Insecurity lies at the base.  Those who are truly self-confident have no need to tell you!