Month: November 2013
Love yourself MORE
November 22, 2013
In the last two weeks I have seen two heart-wrenching videos I feel compelled to share with you tonight. Watching them is worth your time.
In this first video a few women are asked how they feel about themselves as mothers and then their children are asked how they feel about their moms. The difference is startling.
In the second video, a forensic artist asks a woman that he cannot see to describe herself to him while he sketches it out. Next he asks someone else, who just met that same person person a few minutes prior, to describe the features of that woman and the artist creates a completely different image. All I can say is “Wow.”
WHY?? Why are we so hard on ourselves? We need to love ourselves more! Love ourselves more than we thought possible. Love ourselves like we love our children. Like we love coffee in the morning. Like we love clean sheets on our beds and warm towels after a bath. (I really love clean sheets!) The love we feel on the inside, reflects on the outside and pours onto everyone around us. When we love ourselves the way we love others, more love flows back to us. Every part of us will feel our love and our lives will beautifully unfold in that space of love.
Do you have trouble believing that or loving yourself enough? If so, you just need a new perspective. So if you are reading this and doubting yourself I want you to know that you are amazing. Yes you, my friend. I really mean it. You’re reading this, because we are somehow connected and you are reading this because you need to know. So pay attention please. Here’s your message: Stop picking on yourself! You are exactly as you should be and created in such a way that there is no one like you on earth. There is no one like you so please stop comparing yourself to others. You’re doing a great job in life and you are a treasure. I appreciate you so much. So many other people feel the same. Do you? I sure hope so. See the good. Look at yourself and smile. You are beautiful inside and out.
Authentically,
Steff
Strength Inside Myself
November 21, 2013
I was procrastinating on an important decision recently and one of my friends helped me to make a choice without giving any of her input at all. She simply trusted that I would make the correct decision for myself and continued to regularly ask me what I had decided. She never once tried to sway me one way or the other. Finally, after weeks of checking in with me she asked me again. I told her that I just wasn’t sure what to do. I was concerned I could possibly make the wrong choice so I just wasn’t going to make a choice. This time however, she simply said “What would it look like if I…” and that’s really all she needed to do. I took a moment to look at the possible scenarios and knew that the best thing I could do for myself was what I was avoiding all along. (Interesting how we do that, isn’t it?) So right then, I told her what I was going to do and the next day I acted on that decision. I felt so good that I make that decision. I felt confident about it and my friend lovingly helped me to make the choice on my own.
It was truly a beautiful process, a friend helping me in a time of uncertainty. She never pushed me or got impatient and she never gave up on me. She never even gave her opinion. She simply encouraged me to imagine the possibilities of my choices and trusted me to make the decision. There’s a little more to it than that I guess. She believed in me. She reminded me in a quiet way that I had the strength within myself. She held me in a space of love and trust and it empowered me. It was wonderful and I’m inspired to help others the same way when they are faced with decisions or uncertainty.
What if we approached everyone in our lives that way? What if we wake up in the morning and immediately trust those in our lives to also make the correct decisions? What if we hold them in such a space of love and trust that they feel empowered to be themselves and to do the right things? I hope and pray that when my children are faced with a choice, they will see the possible paths, feel my love and confidence in them and then make a self-reliant decision. So what if we all do that for our children? What if did the same for our family, our friends and our coworkers? What if we even did the same for strangers? Just image the love and empowerment that each of them would feel. We really need to do the same for ourselves too. I need to remind myself over and over that I am perfectly capable of knowing for myself and what the right things to do are. I should believe in myself. I DO believe in myself… and I believe in you, too.
Authentically,
Steff
Paying Attention to the Messages
November 16, 2013
Many times the universe can give us subtle hints or nudges in a certain direction. There are times we hear faint whispers of messages that we need, or we coincidences that occur in our lives as God’s way of acknowledging we’re on the right path. Then there are times we get smacked upside the head as to say “HEY! Listen, I’m talking to you!” Sometimes we get that smack in the head, brush it off and ignore that it happened. Unfortunately if you ignore the messages, they often come back even louder until we get the message. My advice? Don’t wait for that.
I love my crazy life so don’t get me wrong. I feel I do a good job staying connected and grounded to what’s important. I know we go full speed ahead a large percentage of the time but we do it with our family and friends. I love that most everything I do, I do for my family, my friends or my community and I make time for myself with exercise, blogging, time with my girlfriends, etc. HOWEVER…I’ve been given a message that I need to slow down. How
do I know that’s the message? Because I have an air cast on my foot. Yep, a sexy black boot on my right ankle. It’s nothing serious. Just a little tendon damage that needs some time to heal and it will. I have it on though because I was NOT allowing my body to heal on it’s own. After injuring it running, I gave it a couple of weeks to heal and then went right back to my training program for the half marathon. Then after the race, I knew it needed time so I took a break from running but I did continue with the normal day to day. Sure I iced it, elevated and even rested it for several weeks but unfortunately it wasn’t enough. So God decided to tell me to chill out. Stick a boot on it and rest.
I have to tell you though; I’m still struggling with it. It’s hard to slow down. It’s hard to ask for help when I’m used to doing so much. I got my pretty new black boot on Thursday evening and last night it really dawned on me that I’m STILL not taking care of myself the way I should. So I’m making a declaration of sorts. I’m going to allow myself to heal. My ankle needs a minimum of three weeks in this air cast and I need to give it the rest it needs. I’m going to ask for more help and graciously accept it when someone offers. I am going to do less and rest more. On an airplane, they instruct you to put the oxygen mask on yourself first and then on your children. That is for a very logical reason; the better we take care of ourselves the more we can help others. I actually just told a good friend of mine that a couple weeks ago. Its time I took that advice for myself and listen to the messages that I’m being giving. It’s time to slow down for a bit.
The realization that I haven’t been listening as clearly as I should about my foot, makes me wonder if I’m paying attention to the other signs and messages I’m being given. We will all have those little coincidences, those “God winks” that can easily be missed. Was I paying attention to them? Well if I wasn’t, I am now!
Authentically,
Steff