But Wait, There’s More!
Reese Witherspoon is currently one of Hollywood’s hottest actors. Her turn as June Carter Cash in the movie Walk the Line earned her a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
She has lived what seems to be a charmed life. (I have a feeling she’d agree.) Her father is a physician, and her mother teaches pediatric nursing at Vanderbilt University. Before her acting career, she went to a prestigious all-girls school in Nashville. (See? On top of everything else, she’s a Tennessean. What else could a person want?)
It might be tempting to think that Reese Witherspoon never struggles with self-doubt. She must be impervious to criticism and incapable of turning an unfairly critical eye toward herself. Yet look at what she had to say in a recent interview:
I don't watch any movie I'm in. It's horrifying. I'll just focus on something stupid like, "I hate my laugh. Why did I smile?" Sometimes I look at myself and think, "Dude, I have the biggest, goofiest smile on earth."
Only in very dark moments, moments of pure self-loathing, do I type my name into Google. You never read anything positive; you always go straight to where they say something nasty about you. You're fat, you're ugly, you're tired, you're worthless, you don't have a career anymore. It's just an affirmation of every horrible feeling about yourself.
I’m always a little surprised at how even the most fortunate among us can have difficulty seeing just how fortunate they are.
And then I remember that 99% of the world’s population would say the same of me.
This Sunday, we’re beginning a new series of lessons on Paul’s letter to the Colossian church. And in his introductory remarks, Paul includes a prayer that asks that the Colossians might realize how blessed they are. Then he fills in the blanks for them. It’s a pretty stirring list of blessings.
My prayer for us as we start the New Year is that God will help us to see how incredibly blessed we are, as well.