Thoughts on Evaluating Our Inadequacies

I was writing a letter to a friend and I said the first line of this and the rest came pouring. So, I thought I'd share it.

When I was doing ballet all of those years, I focused on "I don't want to make a fool of myself on stage". I realized, too late, that I did it for the wrong reason. I should have, instead of worrying and thinking "practice and be perfect", been enjoying the opportunity to dance and express myself in that way.
Sometimes, we get caught up on "these are my new year's resolutions", even when we don't think we make them. Last night I was reading a book by President Thomas S. Monson and I decided to write a list of all of the virtues I want to have and the kind of person I want to be. It was such a long list, and it seemed a bit daunting. Sure, it helped me see where I could improve, but I realized that, though we need to recognize where we can or should grow, in this world of "be like this, and be perfect, and have goals for this year" it can make people really sad, because they want to achieve that but there seems to be no end to "to do lists". So, after writing that list, I made another one: "The person I already am". I didn't write a single negative thing on there, because Heavenly Father wouldn't want me to think of myself in a negative way, even by comparing my weaknesses to someone else's strengths. This list, though not as long as the first one, was me. It wasn't everything about me, because we're all human and we all have complex, three-dimensional characters, but it was the things that made me look at myself as God sees me. On the top I wrote, "Daughter of God--heir to His exaltation". That is at the top of everyone's list.
Who cares about resolutions and "oh, I have so many things I need to change to be a better person", cause, in the end, if we just say, "I want to be like God" and we look towards that, then everything falls into place, cause we'll naturally turn our weaknesses to strengths and draw closer to him. Sure, there are times when we need to put in extra effort, but not by evaluating ourselves negatively. Life doesn't have to be complicated, and we shouldn't look at ourselves and think, "well, I don't live up to the standard", because that isn't how God sees us. If we really are failing at something and we want to change, then, with our Savior's help, we can. But we can't and shouldn't look at ourselves, see all of our faults, and think that we have to fix them all without also seeing our strengths. We need to know where we stand and try to be good people, but I believe that we also need to see our strengths and not focus on our inadequacies.