Being In the "In Crowd"

It doesn't take long in a child's life for them to learn about the "in crowd." We all start out appreciating all people, including peers. However, whether it is from parents or society, we learn that people are going to be in specific groups. The simplest one is whether or not you are in the "in crowd."

As you continue into adulthood, there is another type of "in crowd" but many people will simply join whoever they have in common. There will be various groups. It is interesting to see those who were not in the "in crowd" in high school, but rather they became more "in" with adults.

With adulthood you can belong to a great group depending on how you operate in life. With some people you will try to keep them as friends; whereas other people you will either not care or simply not want to be friends with them. What is likely is that people will determine who you are by your friends. This brings us to this week's quote...

A man is known by the company he keeps, and also by the company from which he is kept out. ~ Grover Cleveland

Who is in your life? Have you ever noticed that people have determined who you are based on the friends you have? Of course, the friends you don't have have been determined in part, at least, by you also.

We all have circles of which we belong. Those circles are going to be categorized by others. Your circle has a category. I don't know what yours would be categorized as, but it does have a name.

Take into account those whom you allow into your close circle and those who you have not allowed into your circle. By either way, you will be categorized.

Now it's your turn...When have you been falsely categorized? When have you categorized someone else?

Believe in YOU

It seems that our society is filled with people that do not believe in themselves. Whether it is that they've been teased, are overweight, have a blemish-filled face, not part of the in-crowd, not a sports' star, are told they are 'no good' at home (from parents, spouse, siblings, etc.), and the list can go on, they do not have belief in themself.

As I've grown up I've learned that those who are in the opposite side of these categories generally have difficulty in believing in themselves, also. It is hard if you in one of the categories above to believe that someone who is a model or a sports' star could have any difficulty believing in themself, but they do.

I've gone through times in my life, sometimes feeling like eons, where I didn't believe in myself. I had a few of the categories in common. Life appeared to be h-e-double-hockey-sticks. Have you been there??? However, once you move past different situations, life really wasn't that bad.

When does one's life tend to turn around...that brings us to this week's quote...

Every achiever that I have ever met says, "My life turned around when I began to
believe in me." ~Dr. Robert Schuller

I cringe when I hear of people committing suicide! They tend to have stopped believing in themself. In my line of work I've had people tell me they've thought about suicide. They need to know that they are unique and God cares about them, even if they feel the opposite. I've been there for people who have tried to do suicide. Neither is something I look forward to.

You are not only unique and that God cares for you, but you mean so much to many people - be it a friend, parent, sibling, child, or a relative. People don't want you to 'go'. People care about you!

Believing in yourself takes effort. I had to do an exercise when I was in college to think of ten things you liked about yourself. I don't remember if it was overly difficult, but it was an exercise I've used on other people. Maybe you need to do it yourself. Sometimes we need a reminder of how many good things we have about ourself so that we can keep going in life.

Believe in yourself. You are able to do things when you put your mind to it. Get up, turn your life around and see yourself in a totally different light. Believe in yourself!