I'm taking my own advice!

For the past few weeks, I’ve felt a lot of angst about this newsletter. I had intended to get ahead on my writing for the summer, but I just couldn’t get it done. I need quite a bit of time and space to write, and life just got in the way. Now that my kids are home for summer, that time and space is even harder to find. Add to that my struggle with indecision on pretty much every aspect of my life, and I’ve been finding myself feeling stressed out, guilty, unworthy, unable to enjoy the moments before me, and pretty much like an all-around failure! What's worse, this all has affected my mood and I've taken out my frustration on my family. Ah! This is NOT how I envisioned starting my summer! Then, as I was preparing to write this particular message, I read my past newsletters from this year and something amazing happened. I felt like they were specifically written for me and this moment in time! Here are some of the sentences that jumped out at me. “This year, I’m experimenting with honoring where I am. I’m trying not to fall into the trap of constantly thinking of what I ‘should’ be doing, and instead to allow myself to follow the natural energy that I feel in the moment.” “We don’t have to accomplish anything before we take care of ourselves or before we do the things we enjoy. We don’t have to DO anything to be deserving of love, attention and care.” “We’re spending our days FEELING guilty, which is one of the lowest emotions we can feel.” “What if instead of focusing on what we ‘should’ do based on other people’s decisions, we asked ourselves what feels right for us?” “We are the emotional regulators for our whole family and when we're happy, it radiates out and affects everyone.” “Take a good look at what you’re saying YES to. So many of us have a host of obligations that we get ourselves into because we either feel guilted into doing them, or we don’t know how to say no.” “Do you trust Life?” “It’s no fun to have worries constantly swirling in our heads, and our bodies aren’t meant to be in a state of stress all the time.” “What is for me will not pass by me.” “So many of us tend to spend our time criticizing ourselves for all the ways we aren’t perfect. What if you added affirmations to say to yourself throughout the day? ‘I’m doing the best I can.’ ‘I’m proud of myself for all that I do.’ ‘I accept myself as I am.’” “When we're having fun in our lives, everything gets easier!” “As nice as it feels to have the extra freedom, summer can be a tricky time for moms because they’re so focused on family that they have little personal time.” “As for me, I want to feel peaceful, relaxed and connected to my loves, and filled-up personally.” Whoa. I’m floored by the synchronicity. I wrote exactly what I needed to hear! So, I’ve decided I’m going to take my own advice. I’m going to honor where I am and let go of the “shoulds” I feel from myself and others. I’m going to allow myself to feel worthy – without tying my worthiness to accomplishments. I’m going to let go of guilt and listen to my own inner voice. I’m going to release worrying and trust Life, and I’m going to believe that what’s for me is not passing me by. And I’m going to stop criticizing myself and remind myself that indeed, I am doing the best I can. Finally, I’m going to give myself permission to feel peaceful, relaxed, connected to my loves and filled-up personally. I’m going to do all of this by simply taking a couple of months off from writing, fully immersing myself in the joy of spending my summer with my family and letting that be ok. If you’d like to follow me on Facebook or Instagram, I’ll be posting periodically with some of my favorite quotes and a bit about what I’m up to. Otherwise, I’ll be back in contact when school rolls around, hopefully feeling rejuvenated and ready to start this journey anew. Over to you. Is there a message here for you? Are you waiting for accomplishments or permission to enjoy where you are in life? What is your inner voice telling you? Let me know – I’d love to hear! Love and light,

Mendy