Confidence or Pompousness?

Yesterday, I was reading one of my friends' blog, and I really enjoyed it. I usually don't duplicate what others write about, but I thought her topic would be a great one to share with everyone. She asked her readers to share with her top 10 things they like about themselves. Then, she proceeded by sharing her top 10 that she likes about herself, which were right on the dot of what I like about her. She also shared what her children wrote about themselves. After reading her post, I continued reading the comments, because it's just fun to read what others say about themselves. And then, I felt the urge to share my top 10 as well. At that time I felt that it was a good list, funny, but honest, and that it showed a lot of confidence. Without delay, here it is:

Top 10 things I like about myself
1. I love life.
2. I love learning about everything.
3. I'm brilliant (this sounded honest, but it's sounding more and more pompous).
4. I'm pretty.
5. I'm pure and loving.
6. I'm an overachiever.
7. I read more than anyone I know.
8. I take a genuine interest in people.
9. I'm Humble (this was a joke; after realizing how silly my list sounded, I had to add humility in it.)
10. I love myself. (Really; I wouldn't have guessed.)

I didn't think much after I wrote this list, but today when I asked my children what are some things that they like about themselves, their answers put me to shame. Instead of feeling that my list showed confidence, I felt it showed pompousness. The following answers of my children are their exact words, and the only urging I did was to change direction from talking about mom to talking about themselves. Here are the lists:

Gillian
1. I'm obedient to my parents.
2. I'm good at taking care of my brothers.
3. I like that I want to help people be happy.
4. I like that I'm neat; I want to have a clean house.
5. I'm happy about my decision of getting baptized.
6. I like the way I look.
7. I like having a lot of friends.
8. I like it that I'm grateful for my mother and father. I like it that that gives me a check on my good list in Heaven.
9. I like it that I read a lot of books.
10. I'm thankful that I have a lot of talents like running fast, writing good stories, reading well, loving my family, sharing with others.

Jefferson
1. I like it that I have a nice mom and dad.
2. That I can run fast
3. Climb well
4. I'm good at gymnastics.
5. I'm reading a lot of books on my own.
6. I'm thoughtful and pick flowers for my mother every day.
7. I'm good at games. (I can beat dad at monopoly, and Abel at chess.)
8. I like it that I can do experiments.
9. I like that I'm smart.
10. I like that I have a Heavenly Father and Jesus that love and protect me.

James
1. I'm good at running and climbing.
2. I love it that I have a mom who takes me everywhere.
3. I love that I have a mom who reads to me, plays with me, and takes me to the Zoo, and sometimes lets me watch T.V.
4. I'm very, very good at exercising.
5. I'm very good at learning how to read.
6. I'm very good at playing with my brothers and sister, and friends.
7. I'm very good at the math that Gillian teaches me.
8. I like about myself that I do what my mother says right away, always.
9. I'm good at making my bed everyday.
10. I like my blond hair and the color of my eyes. I like myself.

Now, friends, it's your turn to share what you like about yourself. It can be one or ten qualities, funny or serious, it doesn't matter. Just share.

I've been thinking of ways of how to connect with all of you through my blog, and one idea came to me the other day. I would like to do a post like this one each Friday, calling it Friday Forum, where I come up with an idea to discuss or items to share, like your top 10 movies/books/songs etc, and we can all share with each other. This will all depend on your participation. Don't be shy or reserved. It can be a lot of fun. And if you have any other ideas of what we can discuss on the Friday Forum, help yourself and write on the comments, or shoot me an email. Cheers to great Fridays.