What if you spoke to yourself the way you speak to your best friend? What if you nourished and nurtured and tended to yourself the way you tend to your loved ones?
The greatest seed you can plant is to love yourself... all else grows from there.
Hello.... Happy February, Happy Family Day and Happy Month of Love.
I've been wanting to host a session on Self-Love and Self-Acceptance for a while now. I always tend toward what I, myself, am needing. I find when I create such a session, many others are needing it, too. 2024 was a difficult year for me. I was very hard on myself and my inner critic took up far too much of my bandwidth and energy last year. The result? So much unnecessary - and avoidable -resistance and suffering.
At the end of 2024, I spent some much needed time and energy in reflection of the year, as I do. What was I needing to learn? What was the message that was trying so desperately to get my attention in all of these fearful emotions that had taken up space in me? As I know all too well, our emotions show up FOR us, they are never here to be ignored, resisted, pushed away or numbed out. They are meant to be felt, to be understood. They are here to help us heal, and they show up when we are ready for this healing.
The message came loud and clear and repeated itself over and over. ACCEPTANCE.
I had been resisting everything that made me, me: who I am; where I am; how I do things and how I don't; what I have and what I don't; decisions I had made; what I had overcome to be where I am. I was fighting against it all. And I was hurting.
ACCEPTANCE hit my consciousness like a foghorn. Acceptance is the opposite of all of my resistance. And... I softened. I surrendered. I listened. Instead of focusing on all that I perceived as wrong about me, about my life and my decisions, I started to focus on all that was right. I started to speak kindly to myself. I started to acknowledge where I had been and what I had overcome to be where I am today. And I celebrated myself for that. I intentionally found gratitude for all that I do have in my life, instead of focusing on what I didn't.
As a Coach, I knew all of this, consciously. I coached my clients through their resistance - I believed in them, held space for them, showed them so much love and compassion, taught them to believe in themselves, to celebrate their wins - no matter how small - to practice self-love and kindness in the way they treated and talked to themselves.
Subconsciously, I was needing healing. Thus, the healing began.
We ARE the love of our life. We deserve all of the kindness and compassion and love that we pour into those that we love and care for around us. All else grows from here... the ripple effect that can be felt when we love, nurture, care for and nourish ourselves is endless. We are happier, we are healthier, we have far more love and energy to give to what matters most to us, and everyone in our lives benefits - especially us.
Does this sound selfish? Good! It should. We are a gift, this life is a gift. And we only have one. We need to care for and love ourselves like our lives depend on it... because they do!
Xo lori ann
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