Discernment: Attitudes towards Yourself

In order to discern God’s will, it is important to know yourself. I suggest that you begin by looking at your attitudes towards yourself. Do you think well of yourself?  Identify those attitudes that deplete you of energy, that is, attitudes by which you might be degrading yourself.   Those attitudes are an insult to God, who created you in His image.  You are God’s work of art.  You are made in God’s image and there is nothing ugly in God.  It is also important to identify those attitudes that energize you, that reflect God's goodness, God's beauty, the “glow” within you that reflects the glory of God at the core of your being.

I suggest that you take a few minutes to examine how  you look upon yourself and give those parts that need to be touched up by the hand of the Divine Artist to His Design for wholeness. For those parts of you which radiate the image of God  that you  truly are,  give thanks to the Lord.

The following questions might help you:

1.       What image do you have of yourself, that is, how do you see yourself? What are your  

        qualities, your limitations, your possibilities, your personal characteristics?

2.     How do you feel regarding your possibilities and limitations?

3.     Ask God how He/She images you.   What qualities does God see in you?  How would God characterize you? What  possibilities does God see in you? Start writing with your non-dominant hand. Do not think.  Just write!  See what God says to you!

 Adapted from Pathways: A Vocation Discernment Program, Sisters of the Company of Mary, Our Lady, 1990.