Blessing vs. Impressing

You know how you hear something over and over again and you think you know it...but then finally one day, you hear it from someone else and in a different way and it just hits you like a ton of bricks?! I don't know, maybe that doesn't happen to any of you very often..but it happens to me all the time!
It happened again today...
We have a "relationships" class in my new ward and I went today for the first time. I know it sounds kinda funny, but it's actually a really good thing, especially for young single adults. Never has any lesson hit me so hard like this lesson did today! wow! I am not a very good writer, or even speaker for that matter, when it comes to expressing my feelings. I never feel like I really show others how I feel, but i'll do my best.
The main topic was "Blessing vs. Impressing". Now, going back to what I said earlier, I have grown up hearing "The way to be happy is serving others, being selfless, etc. etc." Right? we've all heard that. It finally hit me really hard today, and I'm going to make it a priority to change and focus more on blessing rather than impressing. I am outgoing and love to be the center of attention, and this has become a problem because it has caused me to be selfish and self-centered. I have become too focused on getting people to like me rather than being Christ-like and blessing the lives of others. I'm not saying that being outgoing and loud is a bad thing, but it is a problem when you are doing those things for the wrong reasons. Now, i'm always too hard on  myself, so I need to stop for a minute here and say that I have always loved people and tried to be a good person. But I need to be better! I know that if we all make it a priority to focus on blessing the lives of others rather than impressing others and being selfish that we will be happier people.
This teacher also talked about the social media. It's a great thing and we are so blessed to have it, but think about it. The whole focus of it is ourselves! Twitter? oh here look what I did today, look at this cool thing I said, look at how funny I am, me me ME! Facebook? Does that really show who we are? No, it's all the good stuff! These things aren't bad, but again if the motives aren't right then they can be! we have been encouraged by the brethren to use these things to bless the lives of others and spread the gospel. I am going to do this from now on.
final point: Charity is the single most important thing we can develop while on this earth. We need to love as the Lord loves. We need to stop focusing on ourselves and get out there and work! Please read this scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:3-4. It just says it in a better way than I ever could.

Get real!

Forgive me and my cheesy blog title...but this blog is all about how I think it's so important to be real. Obviously right? No one likes to talk to someone who's fake, and only saying what you want to hear so that you will like that person. So...why do some people do it? I'll tell you why I used to do it, because I am a people pleaser. I am not happy unless everyone else is happy. While that is not a bad thing...it has kind of ruined me. The real Christie ceases to exist sometimes because I am too busy trying to be someone who the other person wants me to be so they will be happy and comfortable in whatever situation we may be in.
DON'T WORRY!
I'm still me. It's not like i've been living a million lies my whole life. Not at all. What I mean is that I haven't really expressed my true views at times when I could have, I haven't disagreed with someone when I should have, I haven't held my tongue when I should have, etc. 
I have made it a goal of mine to work on being more real. More me. To say and do things because that's who I am...but still keep in mind the feelings of others, I don't want to totally become a non-censored little brat!
I am just going to stop worrying about what everyone else is thinking and just be me. Yes, I know I know, you all learned this back in junior high...but I'm still learning!