Five Rules of Self Love (Read Time: 3 min.)

The journey to self-love is an evolving, life long process.  I'm reminded of that almost every day.  As I work on my own level of self love, I hear the words of Louise L. Hay, "When you really, really love yourself, everything in your life works."  Notice she didn't say "Some" things; she said everything. 

As I embark upon this continuous journey of learning how to love myself more, I find myself looking for ways to remember that loving myself is a continuous choice I am honored to make.  Here are 5 rules of self love that I created to remind myself of that very choice:

Rule #1: I love my flaws because they're part of my brilliance.  What makes us unique is also what makes us imperfect.  Loving our flaws means we're okay with where we are.  Things don't have to be a certain way and we don't have to be a certain kind of person.  Right here, right now, exactly where you are, you ARE good enough.

Rule #2: I love my mistakes because they give me permission to grow. Every mistake is an invitation to change.  Without the mistake, we could spend years going on living in the lie that we're perfect.  Nobody is and every mistake invites us to be MORE of who we already are.

Rule #3: I love where I am because it's exactly where I'm supposed to be.  Trusting the process of life is a great way of knowing that where you are is exactly where you need to be.  There's peace in that.  It allows you to be still even as you move forward.

Rule #4: I love people for who they are because they remind me that we all deserve love simply because...  In any moment, we can love people or we can judge them but we can't do both at the same time.  Whatever we do to others we are, on some level, doing to ourselves.  This rule reminds me that all great things begin and end with love.  I can leave criticism and judgment alone because love is what lights the way of change.  When I love someone else as they are, it gives me the room to love myself as I am. 

Rule #5: I deserve and accept the best now.  I don't have to wait to be perfect to deserve what I really, really want.  Knowing that there is no order of difficulty in miracles, knowing that nothing is impossible for God, knowing that in a split second, everything could change for the better reminds me that it's not what I do that brings me my highest good but who I am choosing to be as I embrace the good that lies ahead. 

Body Ecology Day 2- Freedom or Restriction? (Read Time: 3 min.)

I am lying in bed, pretty much unable to move. 

Why you might ask?

Well, I threw out my back this morning carrying my 5 year old in and out of the car as I carpooled my older two sons to school.  As I lie here, I can't help but think, "God is tryin' to tell me something."  So I started today really good on The Body Ecology Diet.  I wasn't hungry, drank 96 oz before sundown, and felt... well, deprived. 

I don't know what it is about this diet.  My body feels great on it but my psyche does a number on me.  I watched my husband have a cup of coffee this morning and, before you know it, my inner child was throwing a temper tantrum about why I can't have coffee and sugar.  On top of that, I was craving a piece of toast... so I had one... and I felt great about it... for about 2 hours... and then came the sugar crash followed by the bloating feeling followed by the lower back pain and muscle spasms.

My "new" plan of allowing myself to follow some of "The Body Ecology" rules but not all of them while also exercising more totally backfired because now that my back's gone out on me (first time in all of my 33 years of life this has ever happened), I can't exercise and, without further ado, I realize that here I am repeating the spiritual 6th grade again.

So what's the lesson?  I'm supposed to be on The Body Ecology Diet and I better get with the program before the Universe sends me a larger message.  Needless to say, I am getting the message.

As Scarlett O'Hara would say, "Tomorrow is another day..."

Back at square one tomorrow.  Oy vey!

What's Your Goliath? (Read Time: 3 min.)

I was watching T.D. Jakes this morning and he (as always) gave a powerful sermon.  One of his questions really struck me:

What's your goliath?

At one point, he stated, "Your provision is in your problem..."

Think about that for a second...

I'm on day #1 of The Body Ecology Diet (http://www.bodyecology.com/) and I can't say it's wonderful.  It's not.  I'm detoxifying my body and my energy levels are in the tank.  I got to cook a big Sunday breakfast this morning and watch my family eat pancakes, french fries and eggs as I had broccoli, egg whites and chicken breast for breakfast.  But the achievement of any dream is not in the dreaming; it's in the doing. 

I plan to step out into the world by April 1st touting the measurements 36", 28", 38."  I plan to run three marathons next year.  I plan to look better at 35 than I did at 25 so in order to do that, I have to be willing to pay the price. 

And here's the deal: my weight has, for decades, been my goliath.  It's time for that bad boy to get slayed.  At another point in the sermon, T.D. Jakes said "The reward was not in fighting Goliath; it was in defeating Goliath." 

And here are some questions I'd like you to consider this week:

What's your goliath? 
How long have you been fighting him?
When are you going to finally decide to defeat him and win?
What will it take to do that?
What's kept you from begining the process?
What will your life look like once you get that slingshot and defeat that bad boy?

It's now or never.  Do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do.