We all have moments when wonderful things are happening to us and everyone around us is telling us how lucky we are and how awesome we are, right?
We also have moments when everyone it seems but us is having something wonderful happening to them and we are the ones saying congrats and telling them how awesome they are. You know what I mean right? A little jealous probably.
So I just thought that I would write some things that I have observed the last while and tell you all how wonderful I think you are.
I have been so blessed to have my blog grow so fast, to have wonderful experiences like Studio 5 and The Nate Berkus Show put me out there even more. But guess what. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like I deserve it.
I doubt myself.
I have moments where I hear what the experts say about how to decorate your house and its completely opposite of what I am doing.
When you see where others stats and followers are at and you don’t measure up at all.
Or how about when You have worked your little heiney off on a project that you think is amazing and you get 3 comments on it.
We are not all going to have the same journey,
We are not all going to be awesome like Donna and have the chance to write a book. Or be like Miss Mustard Seed and write tutorials for HGTV.
We are not all going to have 100 bajillion followers like Jen, Or get to hangout with Kelly Ripa like Shelley.
We are not all going to be part of a Dream Team like the Crafterminds.
But.
We all can amazing friends like Char that you would do anything they asked cause you love their guts SO MUCH!
We all can find friends to confide our fears in like Joonie
We can make the difference in someones day with a kind comment of support and encouragement.
We can take some time to focus on the sweet kiddos that we have in our life.
We can accept that what we have done today is good enough for today. We can do better tomorrow. Well, as long as tomorrow turns into today.
Time to get spiritual.
We can look at the talents that Heavenly Father has blessed us with and appreciate the fact that WE DON’T HAVE TO DOUBT OURSELVES. He is in control of our journey. He knows what our hearts desire and for what reasons. We just have to trust that he knows what type of experiences we can handle, that we cant have it all all the time.
And that I just need to chill out and enjoy the journey. Be truly happy for those that are doing great things and support those that are just trying to survive.
I often think about what it was like when Courtney was finally sober. In the very beginning. We were so broken, starved for hope and had grown accustomed to the darkness. It was so easy to put aside our pride and realize how much in control of our lives the Lord was. I could feel his protection and his arms around me, healing me from within. Nursing our family back to health. Now we are healthy, we are grateful. We have a great many adventures ahead of us.
So that is what pulls me through my self doubt. Because faith and doubt can not co-exist. I know that I am not alone in this journey and that I am awesome, because He makes me awesome.
The end.
Great post Mandi! I often laugh at the term “expert” because who makes them so? Mostly it is because someone else says that they are. So, I think that you are an expert at what you do!
I got so excited today as I was watching the Nate Berkus show and saw a clip of you for the Tuesday show! How exciting. I will be tuning in for sure.
Thanks for doing such an amazing job at what you do and for sharing with the rest of us.
I’ve been following you for a while now but this is the first time I’ve commented (whenever I get to your posts there’s always like 50 people who have already commented, and I get intimidated and decide that everyone else’s comments sound way cooler than mine would. Fail!) so I just wanted to tell you that you are awesome, and I know that we would all love to be as creative and hilarious as you are! It’s basically my dream to make that faux fireplace one day. Keep doing what you’re doing, and thanks for this inspiring post!
Your honesty and genuine heart make you worth checking on every day, whether I comment or not. Thanks for being who you are. You offer something that none of the other 32 bloggers that I follow everyday do….they all have something good to offer, that’s not what I mean. But they’re not you.
I love your honesty. Love love love. I want to hang out in your kitchen and chat. But not in a creepy, stalker way. 😉
I dig you! What a sweet honest post. I love your projects especially your tea cup lamp and clock! Genius. 🙂
Your words are always so profound, Mandi. And you know what? They ALWAYS come at the right time for ME!! I am amazed at the ways the Lord works through ohters. This isn’t the first time you have lifted me. I appreciate you MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW. THANKS for being YOU!!!! I seriously LOVE your guts, too…and the whole rest of you. <3
Amen, sister. I’m there with you on so many things you say. It is hard not to be jealous (or wishing that I had what other people have) when life is tough and when I am struggling. Sometimes, I feel like not turning on my computer because I see everyone around me growing and experience so much success and I feel like I am drowning. Thanks for your thoughts today. They are making me cry.
Mandi, do not doubt yourself! I’m so excited for you (as I just watched your commercial for the Nate Berkus show–Eeeee!). You really are so very talented and deserve every bit of excitement that is coming your way. We are moving in to our new house in 2 long weeks and I’m so excited to try all your fun projects. Every time you create something I think, how in the world did she come up with that?! Your amazingly talented. Keep it up!
thank you for the encouragement! really touched my heart…. I found your blog thru bloglovin’ and this is actually my first time visiting 🙂 and let me tell you… I’m already hooked! Your work is amazing…as your words are. And God is always faithful, it’s so encouraging to hear what wonderful things he does in other people’s lives! thank you for being so open and sincere. Blesssings!
Well Said! but girl don’t doubt yourself look how much you have experienced and how you have grown in just a few months. You deserve it all too, and I am happy for you. Please tweet, and blog about your airing for Nate Berkus as well as the channel I don’t want to miss it. A girl from St. George UT. (like me)…. all the way to the Nate Berkus show… HELLO! Thanks for your insight tonight. winks- jen
What a timely post! I think we all struggle with feelings of inadequecy from time to time. I know I have been recently!! Thank you for speaking right to me with your post! 🙂 Congrats on all your success!!!
here here, well said… and ditto what Jackie D said… I’d say she copied me but she said it first! I figure with over 40 comments.. noone will want to hear what I say. but I ALWAYS enjoy your uplifting manner. please keep it up, and I hope you have a great calling and inspire all those around you!
Thank you so much Mandi…this post was what I needed to hear and I have been thanking the same thing this week.
I am putting faith in the Lord that I am where I need to be.
Alison
You are MY expert…
You are awesome Mandy!
Hi,
I have only been following you for a few weeks now, but I just wanted to say thanks. This is exactly what I needed to hear today. Exactly! I forget sometimes, especially lately, and I really appreciate you for reading my mind through cyber space and giving me such good advice:) You are great.
You’re great at what you do. I totally know what you mean about the posts. There are ones I’ve done that I thought were off the hook and then I get very little response and it makes me question the creative genius that lives within me.
I have to remind myself that my joy in something that I’ve created isn’t diminished if others don’t see what I see. It’s lovely to get positive feedback for what you do, but it’s also wonderful to trust those instincts that tell you when you’re on the right path for you.
Follow your heart and beat that drum to the rhythm that is you. It’s so fun to see your humor and style, no matter what “rules” you may have to break to get there. To truly be creative, you have to break rules. Otherwise, you’re merely copying.
I understand “doubt”….I doubt myself as a mother, wife, employee, daughter, decorator, etsy shop owner, sister….the list goes on and on.
Rest assured that I have all the faith in the world in you. Your story is amazing/great/inspiring….and your decorating skills are absolutely amazing. I haven’t been following you for very long (a month or two?) but now I check you every single day, always thinking, “What can she teach me/show me today?” and I get so excited to read your latest idea.
Keep up the good work!
Oh My Goodness. I totally feel you. I often start to feel like I am just not doing enough or measuring up. But you are awesome.
Great post. Just what I needed today oddly enough. When ever I’m feeling down I always try to remind myself that everything happens for a reason. Yes, you may hate it and be annoyed/doubting yourself/mad/whatever, but eventually you will find out what that reason is.
Thank you for this post Mandi. I remember on my mission feeling doubt CONSTANTLY!!!! Then coming home, unsure and not really fitting back into my old lifestyle of pure happy shopping bliss…so shallow but it was fun in it’s season. Then becoming a mom and having that slap in you in the face. Talk about hoping you know what you’re doing! I felt like I had finally come to grips with the Lord being in control and knowing what and where we need to be. For the past few years I have been a professional makeup artist and loving what I do…then I moved to Utah where I had NO clients and felt like I had hit a brick wall with how many people WeReN’T calling me with jobs. I started to doubt my skill and felt like in the last three months that I had lost it due to inactivity. Blog readers/followers not growing at my cosmetics sight and I have just felt down. I am SO glad that I read your post. It kicked me in the Jennifer Lopez and made me feel hope and that I CAN do this! I can conquer Utah and get all the thousands of weddings that happen each day here LOL =). Thank you. A lot.
What a great post! Keep hanging on to that faith!
i love that you are able to reach so many people through your blog! your the perfect person for it. your so real and down to earth, keep it up girl! and never doubt yourself!! :O)
I really needed this post tonight….some days just seem to bring all the doubt to the surface, and I have had more than 1 of those days lately. Thank you for reminding me to rely on my faith.
Oh Mandi, I really do love YOUR guts! This is just what I needed to hear today. Thank you..
I absolutely agree with this post and love that you shared it. I am a new follower of yours, and this post really caught my attention. We can get so busy comparing ourselves to others, and I love all those gals you mentioned. 🙂 I was just this very morning asking the Lord to direct my blogging, and that I would seek HIM first, and make it what HE wants not what I think I want it to be.
God Bless You!
Denise
What sweet words of encouragement. I could become a professional at doubting myself and the talents God gave me. It’s too easy to say my work isn’t good enough & to pick out all the flaws/mistakes (with myself as well). It is hard to remember that I am “fearfully and wonderfully made”. Talents, abilities and all – God created each of us as we are, and we shouldn’t knitpick about His work and doubt ourselves.
I really needed this post today. Thank you.
Mandi,
I think you are great and honestly, I thought that you were an “expert”.
I live far far away, on a small island in Greece and I am a follower for not long time. However, i love the things you do and I am thankful you share with us and I always try to make them my own-you don’t want to see the results.
Do not doubt yourself. OK, it is inevitable to do so, but you need to recover. If YOU are doubting, how can we keep crafting?
Greetings from Greece,
Katerina.
Love your encouragement like usual. And I have no doubts in you, you are a rising star. And it’s wonderful to know you have faith in God and acknowledge his blessings in your life. I know I would be lost without my faith in Christ.
This is such great advice and so perfect for where I’m at right now. Accepting that we’re not in the driver’s seat is the hardest thing we can do – I think because it can feel safer in the moment to pretend we’re in total control. But that’s where doubt comes from, I think.
Thank you for sharing your heart with the world, you are an inspiration in so many ways. Xo!
Love this. LOVE. Needed this today. And especially yesterday, and the day before, and all last week.
Seriously. Thanks.
Wow, really didn’t want a religious sermon this morning. think I’ll be “unsubscribing” . . .
Mandi – you are awesome! Listen to back home by jj heller. Many of your words from todays post are in it. I love jj. 🙂
God loves you and So do i!
Beautiful and so true. You are an amazing person and I’m lucky to follow your blog and get a taste of your life. 🙂
Thanks for this – I really needed it today and didn’t even realize it! You’re such a blessing just by being you!! <3 =)
Of course we are all jealous of you, it IS Nate Burkus after all 🙂 Like you said, we all have high times and low times. We all have successes and failures and we should never compare ourselves with others. I am so happy for you! What a WONDERFUL experience. I have my DVR set to tape!!!
Mandi, you are amazing and talented and creative! I love how genuine you are — and how sweet and gracious you are. Thank you for this lovely post.
~Amanda
Thanks for this Mandi. I love the way you worded everything.
I’ve been dealing with these exact thoughts. I’m getting ready to go to Creative Estates and I’ve been worrying myself to pieces about meeting everyone and feeling like I’m not as cool or whatever. (Sheesh. That sounded terribly neurotic.) 🙂
But I appreciate the reminder that in the big scheme of things we’re all the same. All blessed. All talented, just in different ways. And thank goodness for that.
Thanks so much for putting yourself out there and sharing your doubts. I love your blog and am so excited for all your success!!! I’ll be watching when you have your own nationally syndicated craft show. 🙂
Mandy-How funny that you wrote this post today (well, yesterday.) Because yesterday I wrote half of a personal post about how insecure I get in the craft blogging world but didn’t have time to finish writing it. And what’s funnier is that you are one of those people who I sometimes envy–because of all the amazing success you’ve had and how quickly your blog has grown. You know how hard it was to be up against you in Crafting with the Stars?! But you totally deserve everything you’ve worked for! You seriously have some of the most impressive projects I’ve seen. And you also deserve to have this amazing time because of all the hard times you’ve had to go through before.
Everyone has good times and bad and they are not always at the same time as everyone else. (And sometimes people have little good times and little bad times, more like me….just an average life.)
I’m sure you are doubting yourself because what girl doesn’t do that? But just know that you are obviously succeeding for a reason! We love you and your amazing creativity! Thanks for your honest post.
My dear Mandi-pants. This is beautiful. And my entire family has their DVR’s set for Tuesday. They’ve all asked when you are going to air!
You are fantastically talented. That’s undeniable. You are beautiful. And amazing. And one of the STRONGEST people ever.
Everyone has their story. Everyone has their stuff. And it’s true that sometimes we think we want other people’s stuff. Instead of our own. But I’m a firm believer in the sentiment that other people’s stuff just won’t fit in my “house”. You know?
I pretend I don’t think about the spiritual side of life….’cause I like to act tough like that. But I do, sometimes. And it’s amazing, isn’t it?
It’s like God is the master architect. Only sometimes I wish he’d give me the blueprint. It’s hard to know how this is all gonna turn out without it!
Oh well.
Hopefully I’m building me a mansion, and not a double-wide. But who knows. Even if it’s a double-wide, at least I’ll decorate it cute. 🙂
Love you! And can’t wait for your debut!!
Love this post! I KNOW we all feel this way. Why can’t we ever feel like what we do is enough? Why do we always want to be the person who is “perfect”? Um, no one is perfect! Can I just remember that, please? 🙂
Amen and amen!!!
I am SOOOO thankful That i read this today….I love your enthusiasm. You have a zest for life! So well written. I have a blog and a small Jewelry business that I run from home with my 3 small children. I too struggle with self doubt even when others say how talented I am…Do I really Believe it? I think If i did I would turn into someone Who even I wouldnt like. who knows. But as i got a little teary Eyed I felt what you were talking about I love my Savior and HE loves me too unconditionally.
Thanks again Mandi! loved you on studio 5 and looking forward to tuesday DVR ready:)
chickhardware.blogspot.com
Seriously you are way too awesome! I love reading your blog and keeping up with your life through it. Sometimes it’s sad that you moved just around the corner but it may have been another city cause I never see you. Anyway thanks for the inspiration.
Thank you for your post today…been a little down because I am blogging and no one is reading…not even my own family and friends. Makes me wonder why I bother.
Also struggling with my son who is a recovering addict and the feelings, as a mom, that go along with that. Finally catch a break in our lives, and the opportunity leads to a choice between leaving my 13-year-old daughter with her dad, or giving up the opportunity. Struggling with the message my Heavenly Father is trying to send…and there’s the doubt.
So thanks, again, for the reminder… I needed it today. 🙂
~alicia
proof-of-love.blogspot.com
I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and I just love your creativity, humor, and honesty. Thanks for this post. I totally needed it! I think all of us creative souls out there are loving that blogging gives us a chance to share what we do… so when you’re really proud of something and only get a few comments it can be pretty discouraging. I ask myself why I keep going to the effort, but than I see others, like you, who are finding joy and success doing what they do best, and I want to keep trying! Congrats on the Nate show! I can’t wait to watch!! You’ll be fabulous;)
lynleyj.blogspot.com
Thank you so much for this post. I’m going through a really hard time right now. On paper my life seems like it should be good, but I’m having lots of feelings of being inadequate. I’m LDS too and I truly appreciate your testimony. I love your site and your guts. ;o) Thanks.
~Megan at mykindofmakeover.blogspot.com
Stumbled upon this today and I so needed to hear it. Thanks
Jaime