Self love and acceptance impacts everything...

​I was thinking a lot about what self acceptance and self love really means to me and the simple fact is that it is truly everything! Most of the things that you are struggling with could be improved or resolved with self love and acceptance. And here is why.
The top 5 things that challenge us as adults are:

1. Physical Health
2. Mental Health
3. Work-Life Balance and Relationships
4. How we look as we age
5. Financial Concerns

Let me tell you a little story about my husband to drive this point home. About four years ago he started getting an interest in his mental health, he started seeking outside himself and began to see that there was something bigger than him. This isn’t something I could do for him, I could only model this. He started doing breathwork and coming on meditation retreats and it was a gradual slow build. This happened through us have conscious conversations and me being very careful not to shove things down his throat. We explored and grew together, but at the point it seemed like he was falling back into old habits, but I kept on keeping on and I kept loving him through the process.

Then about 2 1/2 years ago he had a mentor at work invest in him which made him feel like he mattered. This mentor told him that if he wanted to move up the ladder in the company but he needed to start dressing and acting the part. This mentor believed in him before he could believe in himself. Suddenly my husband started caring about his appearance, and not in a self loathing type of way, in a way that he actually cared about how he appeared in the world. He got a new haircut, started using skin care, he bought new clothes. Because of this he felt empowered to do so. He was fortunate to have found this mentor.

When he started caring about his physical appearance, it built his confidence which afforded him a promotion, and also improved our relationship. I no longer felt like a has to mother him about those things and our financial situation improved. Now he has taken another step and has started to be concerned with his physical health and has taken great actions on that which has helped him be less concerned about the aging process.

I tell you this story for 3 reasons.

First of all to demonstrate that change doesn't happen overnight, it happens in the small little moments, and the small little decisions.

Second, I tell you this story because I know that these concepts we are talking about can sometimes feel out of reach. They can feel untrue or unattainable or like it’s a wish or a hope or a prayer. But I am telling you from experience that all you need is a willingness, an openness to something being true or available to you, to it to start having an impact in your life. My husbands transformation started with believing in himself and having a mentor solidify that belief. I am here to tell you that I believe in you, I know that you want this and I know without a doubt that you deserve this, so please believe in yourself, I have so much belief in you, but it needs to start with you. You matter so much in this world and the world needs all of you, my biggest wish is for you all to see that.  

I also tell you this to show you how much self love and self acceptance impact all areas of your life. Understanding this, taking small steps forward, making tiny little decisions can change everything, but you must have patience with others and with yourself. You are doing great, just keep going, small little shifts at time!