Several years ago， I discovered a grape-sized lump on my left breast. My doctor scheduled outpatient surgery right away. A month later， when I resumed periodic self-examination， I felt the same lump in the same hard-to-reach place. I was certain of it！ When I called the doctor to suggest he might have missed the lump in question， he insisted I was wrong. It could not possibly be a lump， he said， because he had removed it. After all， he was the doctor.
I got off the phone， doubting what I’d felt with my own hand. But fear of lethal consequences gave me the courage to insist he re-examine me， at which point he reluctantly acknowledged that， yes， it did seem to be the original lump. He removed it in a second surgery.
In my case， I had to confess that I was stupid because I didn’t understand technical things. Yet， even after acknowledging that I’m actually a pretty intelligent person， I still had to grieve the fact that no amount of classes or training would ever completely solve my technical ineptitude！
Another lie I believed about myself was that I’d been selfish for having only one child. The truth is， I nearly died giving birth to my daughter， and my husband didn’t want to adopt. Still， I spent years feeling like an inferior mother —like I should have trusted God to protect me in subsequent childbirth.
I now believe that —in my case — one child was God’s will for me. I’ve rejected the condemnation. Nevertheless， I had to grieve that I’d never have the houseful of children I’d always wanted.
最近，我问坐在我车里的一位朋友：“你喜欢自己什么？”沉默了好几分钟后，她转向我，满脸歉意地说：“我想不出来。”
我十分诧异，她竟看不到自己的任何优点。她是一个多么聪明、美丽迷人而又富有同情心的姑娘啊！
我深知并非只有她一人如此，自尊心较低已成为女性最大的困扰。尽管上帝保证深爱着我们，但我们大多数人不能相信他是说的“我们”。就像愤世嫉俗的编辑对初出茅庐的记者说：“如果你妈妈说她爱你，那就去确认一下吧。”