Make this your common practice:I don't know where the notion came from, and I'm sure I was unaware of it until I'd unearthed it and held it in my lap:
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.
If I don't say it out loud, if it doesn't seem like part of my character, whatever takes up residence in my thoughts is mine and mine alone. If I judge, compare, or get frustrated only in my head, it's ok.
Long story short, I figured it out.
It's not ok.
Somehow, "figuring it out" didn't fix it all for me.
I still see something on Facebook that makes me feel left-out, less than, or just sad.
I still have moments when my skin gets uncomfortable on me, and I'd like to try on someone else's.
These moments, they can plague and taunt me.
The small frustration or bitterness or even self-loathing can bury itself somewhere deep and dark, and I carry it with me.
These thoughts can sneak up so quickly and bite so venomously that once I figured out they were hurting me, I had to make a game plan.
My solution: Blurt it out.
...to the closest person possible.
99.9% of the time, this happens to be my husband.
I tell him what's going on because I already know it's not ok.
No judgment, no shame.
It's become such a normal practice for us, he can just look at me and know when I'm comparing or feeling icky in my spirit.
It's not simple, it's not fun, it's not something I look forward to.
It's like throwing up... the acidic, bad-for-you stuff leaving the body... It's gross.
But the more I practice, the moment the words leave my mouth,
so does the guilt and shame, the frustration, the comparison, and the burden of the sin.
My shoulders feel lighter and I can sit up straighter and live in the light.
No hiding, no fear.