From Welfare to Wealth

In order to have a positive impact on the future, we as women must first love who we are.  As we love ourselves, this is a demonstration of our love for God.  When I speak of loving yourself, I'm not speaking of vanity.  Instead, what I am referring to is an acceptance of who you are--your past, who your parents are or were, how you grew up.  Everything about your life has to be accepted by you in order that you are accepted by others.  This is a prerequisite if you want to move your life forward with confidence.  Show me someone who doesn't love themselves, and I will show you a person who is either lonely or surrounded by other people who really don't like that person either.

Right now, there is probably someone sitting with this book right now, saying, "But, Veronica, how can I love myself when I've done some terrible things in my life?"  Or, "How can I love who I am when my mother (or father) is or was a drug addict?"  "How can I love myself when I've never done anything significant in my life?"  And I could go on and on with questions like this, because I'm sure you are thinking of some reasons right now as you read these words.  "How can I love myself when I've been a bad mother neglecting my children?"

I am here to tell you that those reasons don't matter.  None of them matter.  What matters most is this moment right now.  This is the moment that your life will change because now/today you will stop thinking about what you are not, or what you don't have, and all the negative aspects of your life.  Instead, you will focus your energies on that which is positive in your life.  And I don't want to hear that there's nothing positive in your life.  If you are an American or are living in America at this moment, the simple fact that you live in America is a blessing unto itself.  You could be living in other parts of the World, where you don't know whether you are going to live or die tomorrow or in the next minute.

The concept of self-love sounds very easy, but rest assured that, although it should come fairly easy, this is sometimes hard for people to do.  I'll give you some examples of this.  Do you think a woman who prostitutes herself has a genuinely strong sense of self-worth?  I would be willing to go toe to toe with you that she does not.  What about the man who abuses his wife?  Does he have a strong self-image?  More than likely, the answer is no.

You see, the more you love who you are, the more you love God.  God made us in His own image, so as you cherish the person that God made you to be, you are actually demonstrating your appreciation to God for His gift of life to you.  If you have a low self-image or low self-esteem (which are one in the same), you ultimately have a very low level of love for God.  You can't tell me that you love God, but not yourself.  This is pretty much impossible because you are a reflection of God.  God, our source of life, lives inside each and every one of us.  The more we realize and recognize this, the stronger we become as a person.

How is it that you expect others to believe in you despite your past, yet you won't allow yourself to move beyond some events of your past because you consistently still revisit them?  Don't expect others to do things for you that in truth, you won't do for yourself.  For you to be successful, you must first commit to overcoming the challenges that are guaranteed to meet you along the way.  Many of us have a tendency to blame others for our past pitfalls and misfortunes without first taking a step back and seeing how we may have contributed to these events.

Always investigate the past by stepping outside yourself and reviewing the events as if you were watching a movie.  In this way you will most likely have a more objective view of what actually occurred.  Not only can you see it from a different perspective, but you can also remove yourself from the situation, preventing yourself from personalizing any attacks that may have been launched at you.  If you do this, you will probably have a better understanding of the reasons as to why certain events transpired.  How wonderful is that?

We all are stars in movies about our own lives, if we can only see ourselves that way.  Many events will have completely different outcomes once we know that we have the power to re-write the script.

Remember, it is always better to be Victorious than a Victim.  In every challenging situation, I want you to think about this question:  What type of "Vic" are you?  I want you to invariably choose to be a Victor and not a Victim.  Victims are the result of circumstances, while Victors are the winners of change, because with every circumstance comes some form of mutation.  At every opportune moment, choose to be victorious in your own right, by defining what victory means to you.