“Mirror mirror on the wall; I promise to utterly love myself once and for all.” Katie L Lindley

With the New Year, I can promise and hold to it that I will wake up with the same me I went to bed with. It is the same me that shows up around every corner. The same me that, for the most part, has a very sunny and loving outlook. The same me that… possesses many shortcomings, the same me that… will always be working on myself in some way.

So, should I put a vision photo-board of a skinnier version of myself? Or a wealthier version, freer version, or happier-couples version? Work out harder, eat clean, pray more, and kiss more… The endless lists of “let’s change up this year” bombard me every year.

I think what would best serve me this new year is to look into the mirror and lovingly accept the “version” that I am at this moment today. That is a tall order and is not as easy as it sounds. In the book “You Can Heal Your Life” by Louise Hay, she speaks of “mirror work,” where you are in front of a mirror, looking yourself in the eye and saying, “I love you.” That may sound silly, but give it a try. Loving yourself, the “age” that you are, and the “weight” that you are. The whole “you” that is you.

This begs the question, why should I try so damn hard to change myself? How about wrapping my mind around embracing my own journey as it is?

How can I expect to love and accept others if I cannot love and accept myself? Self-love, self-forgiveness, self-compassion, and all the roads that lead to loving myself shine a beacon on loving others. Being an authentic self is my never-ending goal.

We are all just silly humans trying our best in our own ways. Limited or not, we are. So, should I put pressure on myself to resolve and be resolute because the New Year is upon me? I am not so sure.

Perhaps being resolved with oneself can be a resolution towards a better self.

Gratitude may best well be served in grace, as well as faith and compassion. I’ll order that with a side of love and a big fat dose of being present! Gratitude can and will shift one’s thoughts, days, and actions in a positive direction. If you drop the unrealistic expectation of resolutions, then pick up the practice of finding your personal gratitude on a daily basis.

The New Year will roll around, as will birthdays. Finding more things to be grateful for and fewer things to gripe about. Now, that is a goal that I can obtain at the click of my thoughts. Go, team thoughts!!! This can turn to comparison into compassion. Judgment into acceptance. Complaining into patience. I am all for that.

The longer line I have to wait in is okay if I wait with a soul that can see all the others that are waiting, too. The silence in the people that have their own lives and own moments in a simple act of noticing. As the New Year rolls around, the same me will be there. It is a good thing that that is a good thing.

Many blessings to the New Year!!!!!

My Mantra: “Every day starts out new; I can find gratitude in each day.”

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Katie L Lindley

Although I would like to say I am organized, focused and cookie-cutter, that simply would not be me. I am no different than any other woman in the world. I love to love, love hard, and, in the end, have learned to love myself above all else. So here I am, writing about the many men and the multiple purposes they have served in my life. Realizing that not one man on my roster had fulfilled every single one of my needs. Perhaps one man is not supposed to? I have compiled snippets of the men that have entered my world. In the end, they have shoved me towards my bathroom mirror, forcing me to take a better look at myself. Reflection is brilliant and the strongest guidepost into ourselves.

Working on the next book in the series “A House for Every Purpose, My Journey From Pillow to Pillow” revels a woman abandoning her home in search or her identity beyond men, motherhood, author.

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