Self - Family Connections Experiment

How would I describe myself? Physically, mentally, spiritually, personality?

The story goes that when I was born and my parents chose my name my dad said, "Sarah Elizabeth, a plain name for a plain girl." So yeah, I'm kind of plain and about as average as it gets physically. Not stunningly gorgeous and not unfortunate looking either, just somewhere in the middle. I'm five feet five inches tall, so just an inch above the average for American women. I have straight brown hair that usually is somewhere around shoulder length. My eyes are blue, my skin is fair, and I have freckles like the daughter of a redhead that I am. Jared thinks my feet are huge, but I looked it up and size 8.5-9 is actually average for American women as well so I'm totally normal. If there's anything that's not average about me, it's probably the size of my hips? I am pretty curvy, or as Abby says, slim thicc.

Mentally I think that average feeling carries over, or that I see myself as average. I'm not super confident (but I'm pretty great at pretending to be!) and often catch myself worrying too much about what people think of me. Basically, I'm a little bit of an anxious worrier and a people pleaser. I try to counteract that tendency to worry about things with lots of planning and possibly too much need to be in control and also to know everything. If I can just know what to expect, it makes it easier for me emotionally when things aren't perfect. The people-pleasing is a difficult habit to break and saying no has never been easy for me. I'm super nice and I will do basically anything for people because I don't want to be rejected or feel like I've failed. I'm working on it but it's a tricky balance to strike. It's good to help other people but not if it leaves me feeling taken advantage of or stressed out. 

Over the last six or seven years, I feel as if I've really grown spiritually. For a long time, too long, I was just checking the gospel boxes without really doing to work to develop a relationship with Christ and Heavenly Father or truly deepen my faith. That's not to say that now I'm there because I've learned that it takes consistent effort over a lifetime and I had to really switch from that checklist mentality and remember that enduring to the end is part of the process too. I know I've made progress because I've changed. There are things that I used to be okay with - like language or violence in movies - that really bother me now. I love studying the scriptures and other gospel teachings. It's a lot easier to see the good in people. I'm more comfortable sharing my beliefs with the people around me. Mostly, I see a difference in my ability to hear the Spirit. My kids have learned that when I say "I had a thought" I'm about to tell them something that the Spirit put into my heart and mind. 

As far as my personality goes, I'm conscientious and hard working and it's important to me to get along with the people around me and to fulfill my responsibilities. My favorite character trait to develop has been diligence. I'm a peacemaker in a sort of inactive way because I avoid conflict and very often go along to get along. I'm more introverted than extroverted and I don't have a ton of friends, but I love the friends I do have dearly. I'm a concrete thinker and pretty practical so while I'll ultimately make decisions based on what feels right, I also spend a lot of time researching and considering all the angles first. Structure and order and plans are important to me and a cluttered space affects my emotions in a bad way.  

And that's me! Plain, slightly crazy, working hard to come closer to Christ, and kinda quiet.