I look back at this post I wrote over four years ago, and it is so much more relevant today.  And, a great reminder.

———

Call Bruno, I finally had my moment, yes, I am amazing.

I watched Oprah for years.  I even read Ekart Tolle’s book “A New Earth” where I learned ways to break through the vanity and pride of the ego. I have heard many well-known social media superstars talk about drawing healthy boundaries. And, I know all the scriptures.

From the beginning, I knew I needed to be diligent and to protect my heart and mind from measuring my self-worth according to my number of followers or likes in this social media driven world.

Tribe building, the beginning.

I was blogging back in 2006 when I had to explain to people what a blog was. Have mercy, there are still times I do, but only once in a while. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and on and on, the pageantry of vanity is detrimental to truth, to the core of who I am.  So, I have guarded myself.

Every once in a while, after I worked hard on something like a conference, have Harry Connick Jr posting my blog on his Facebook, Chelsea Clinton spending the day with my family, or being published on a cover of a magazine, I would get excited for a minute and then stop myself and squelch the celebration. Fear would take hold. Watch out for haughtiness, it is so unbecoming.

I would remind myself: Wait The Park Wife!  -Remember, you can walk in Walmart and not one person knows your social media power, they have no idea of how you have gathered a group of amazing women doing amazing things in this online world, or that the Junk Gypsy’s commented on your Instagram again today.

And, I accepted my self defeat talk.

See, I was trying to be so diligent in not celebrating my successes in fear of the ego becoming a problem, that I went to the other end of the spectrum and always felt it was never good enough. That I had to talk myself down off the social media high horse.

Until the day at the bathroom at the steakhouse in Hattiesburg, MS.

We had just finished an amazing Megaphone Summit conference, I signed a big deal with a huge marketing company to provide social media influencers/talent to help on campaigns, the boys were rocking on their school, hubby and I were in one of our lovey dovey stages, dang, life was good.

We were headed to the beach for a week and had stopped in Hattiesburg to have lunch with two of my brothers who live there. We all hugged, then I went to wash up in the bathroom. And, that is when it happened. KAPOW! BAM! BRUNO!

Bruno Mars song You Are Amazing, Just the Way you are was on.  I listened a minute, and said heck yea man, I am freakin’ amazing. I have a husband I take great care of, I even starch his uniform shirts (not with a happy heart, but I do it), I am a great mother to two healthy, smart children who I have poured into and get to be an active part of their childhood, and then there is the group of amazing women in my life, many I have met through a blog community I founded and built.  And, yes it is AMAZING. All day long sistahs.

I returned to the table, looked at my husband and said ” I am amazing”.

He looked at me with those beautiful blue eyes that spoke truth right through them and said, “well, yes you are honey”.  I finally got what he always tries to tell me.

It has always meant more to me that I am well thought of than well-known in this social media world. I am at heart an encourager of dreams and supporter of women. And, by golly, I think I am doing a pretty good job with that. From now on, I will celebrate it all. Rejoice in the amazing of who I am and the things He has used me to do.

For those of you struggling today about your self-worth, your weight, your inability to do it all, that you are not enough, or whatever it may be, take it from me (with a little help from Bruno), you are amazing just the way you are.

Let’s embrace it.

xoxo-
The Park Wife