Welcome to a new edition on This Serendipity! Wordy Wednesday. I have always been a lover of words and quotes so I thought what better day to start sharing some of my favorites and words that are inspiring me.

This quote has always spoken to me. I feel like too often we, women especially, get into a place where we want to tear down others so we can feel better. We’ll nitpick and judge and squint, looking for things that will make us feel better about ourselves.

Her house is messier than mine … Look what she’s wearing … Her kids are so misbehaved …

And on and on we’ll go, not because we truly think those things, but because it makes us feel slightly better about our messy home or wardrobe or child’s behavior.

Living in that space sucks. It makes you feel bad. It makes others feel bad. It does nothing but tear down and defeat.

I was (and still am sometimes) guilty of this. I let my insecurities and doubts cloud my vision of other women. I felt like I had to “beat” them in some invisible competition. But I learned, that’s a lonely place to be and such a hard headspace to live in.

So I decided that I was going to look for the beauty in other women. I stopped comparing and started complimenting. And, y’all, the change was unbelievable. Not just in my relationships but in me as well.

I now always try to strive to hand out as many genuine and thoughtful compliments as I can. Looking for the beauty in others, when we’re all struggling is such a Jesus thing to do (in my eyes). I’m an introvert, hardcore introvert, but when I notice the lady walking beside me in the grocery store has killer hair, I tell her. When I see someone crushing the mom game at the Chic fil A playground, I tell her. Yea it takes me a second to push down the social anxiety, but I always feel so uplifted after they smile.

I encourage all of you, this week, to starting speaking the beauty around you. Seek it out, look for it, and then say it out loud. Let’s take a small step away from judgements and competition and move towards building each other up.

All the love,

Kristina