12-8-22 I want to commend all of you for being willing to do the self-work necessary to bloom into your best selves. I was reminded of how difficult that can be by a new client the other day. In our 2nd session she admitted that during the week’s assignment she came face to face with how many negative thoughts she had in a day, and she was a little depressed that she had never realized that before.

But that’s the “booby prize” of becoming self-aware, isn’t it? Through the years it has been my heart’s deepest desire to become my best self by shining the light on all my perceptions and beliefs that negate that. But I can’t tell you how many times, when confronted by my thoughts of judgment, impatience, unkindness - all those pieces of myself I’m not too fond of - I wanted to quit, cover them all up, ignore them because frankly, it just doesn’t feel good. Happily, I kept up with it because the heart of my soul was right there, too, always urging me forward.

And then I entered the next difficult phase: I had done all this work over a long period of time and learned so much. Yet in noticing that I still so often had those same old thoughts and unconsciously acted from them, I would beat myself up because I “should” have known better. Sound familiar?

Well welcome to being human. And it doesn’t matter if you’ve just begun the journey or like me, are well into it – we are all sometimes going to forget love is our truest essence and often come from that “less-than” consciousness that acts out without checking in with the heart first. And when that happens to me, for some silly reason I think I haven’t made any forward progress and I forget that truly I have come so far and overcome so much.

So I’ll share with you what I told my client and remind myself of often:

Beloved one, focus on what’s right about you and your intention to be kinder, stronger, gentler, more accepting, honoring, and compassionate. Celebrate your willingness to be on this journey in the first place, and how you continue to persevere even in the times when it feels so dark, hopeless, or lonely. Don’t forget or ignore how far you’ve come, and what strides you’ve already made.   Believe that it is in bringing the shadow pieces to light rather than sweeping them under the rug - bringing them to the light in acceptance and gentleness  - is exactly the recipe the world needs for healing itself. Everything you are, the whole package, is a gift to the world that helps and inspires others on their own journey back to wholeness. Good on you and welcome home. Today is a good day...and we make it so! www.