Of God, insecurity, and humility.

I've had to learn to accept what God's will is for me this weekend. I was at a debate tournament, and despite all of my hard work and effort, I didn't qualify in either of the events I entered in. In LD debate, I won 2 of four of the my debate rounds, and in my standard oratory I only know that I made it to the finals, and my coach said that I was VERY close to qualifying in that event. However, when I was sitting in the awards ceremony, I was really upset with my self thoughts such as "you're not good enough," or "you didn't do your best" were shooting like wild fire through my mind. Finally I came to the conclusion that God must have other plans for me on the weekend of regionals. So, I'm re-learning that I need to take into account what God has in mind, who am I to argue with his thoughts. I'm also re-learning, that I need to nip insecurities in the bud long before I dwell on them. Even when the thoughts I mentioned before were running through my mind, I should have been thinking that I did do my best, and that I put my heart and soul into my performances. It was just a matter of the judges not liking my performance as much as I did. What I'm really struggling with now is trying not to be bitter and working on being humble. I do feel like I was one of 2 or 3 standard oratories that were of any consequence. I know that this isn't the way to view this, but it's still irritating. I'm working on developing some humility.

surrounded by tempting merchandise

     So recently I read a book called "Dateable" and in this book it presented an idea that I've agreed with for a long time. The idea was, that women, while complaining about men all being gross and drooling over them, set themselves up for this. They do so, by dressing in skimpy outfits and displaying the area's of their bodies that turn men on. All I have to say to this is, Don't display the goods if you don't want potential customers to window shop. If you don't want men to look at you in a sexual light, then don't dress in clothing that is meant to show off your junk.
    Don't get me wrong ladies, I'm not saying that men should treat you like a peace of meat even if you are wearing that type of clothing. However, it is human nature, and while as Christians we are called to rise above our human nature you have to make it as easy on us as possible. There's no way you can expect a man not to stare at you in a too tight mini-skirt and a shirt that displays a lot of cleavage.
     These are just my thoughts and opinions, and I don't intend them to sound rude but the truth hurts. I hope that  someone has learned from my random musings over this topic, and I hope that women better understand that men aren't pigs, just shoppers walking through a store surrounded by tempting merchandise.