Faith. Family. Friends. Food. I chose the name of this blog very carefully, listing what is most important to me, in order of priority. I've always intended to share more than recipes. Food is, after all, fourth on the list. However, in recent years a number of people have come forward as outspoken critics of me and every word out of my mouth was ammunition for them to try to shoot me down.
(I love definitions of words! Dictionary.com defines critic as "a person who judges, evaluates, or criticizes; a person who tends too readily to make captious, trivial, or harsh judgments; faultfinder." To further elaborate, captious means "apt to notice and make much of trivial faults or defects; faultfinding; difficult to please.")
As I was saying. The critics. I felt like my world was knocked off its axis with a baseball bat; like I was entirely wrong about everything I knew about who I was. I literally felt like I was going insane. And sadly, I did allow them to silence me for a period of time. I've been able to get my feet on solid ground once again and I can see that I wasn't, in fact, mistaken about the type of person I was.
This spring, someone I respect greatly told me that people will say what they'll say and people will think what they'll think. I can't stop them. Where does that leave me? It gives me freedom to do what I need to do and say what I need to say, regardless of what people will be saying about me. It also gives me freedom because I know who I am and when the critics speak, it tells me who they are, it does not tell me who I am.
I look at the name of my blog. Faith, Family, Friends, and Food. Very significant to me at the time I started this blog. Even more significant to me now. I've condensed what means most to me into four words. When I consider that someone earlier this week told me that I wasn't living my life with those as my priorities, I don't even need to be defensive or even question myself. I KNOW that I am doing my best to live my life with my priorities in that order.
(I love definitions of words! Dictionary.com defines critic as "a person who judges, evaluates, or criticizes; a person who tends too readily to make captious, trivial, or harsh judgments; faultfinder." To further elaborate, captious means "apt to notice and make much of trivial faults or defects; faultfinding; difficult to please.")
As I was saying. The critics. I felt like my world was knocked off its axis with a baseball bat; like I was entirely wrong about everything I knew about who I was. I literally felt like I was going insane. And sadly, I did allow them to silence me for a period of time. I've been able to get my feet on solid ground once again and I can see that I wasn't, in fact, mistaken about the type of person I was.
This spring, someone I respect greatly told me that people will say what they'll say and people will think what they'll think. I can't stop them. Where does that leave me? It gives me freedom to do what I need to do and say what I need to say, regardless of what people will be saying about me. It also gives me freedom because I know who I am and when the critics speak, it tells me who they are, it does not tell me who I am.
I look at the name of my blog. Faith, Family, Friends, and Food. Very significant to me at the time I started this blog. Even more significant to me now. I've condensed what means most to me into four words. When I consider that someone earlier this week told me that I wasn't living my life with those as my priorities, I don't even need to be defensive or even question myself. I KNOW that I am doing my best to live my life with my priorities in that order.
Way to go Leanne! People who really know you can hear what your heart is saying. You are an awesome woman of God's creation.
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