So it’s my 56th birthday; hard to believe I’ve been alive this long- blows my mind! Yesterday someone, much younger than me, asked, “What would you say are the greatest lessons you have learned in your life?”. I thought about it, struggled with it and then I realized that it’s so simple; no need to dig deep. One of the most important things I have learned in 56 years is the importance of surrounding yourself with people that truly love you. People that you know will always have your back. There will be imposters; people that wear a mask of pretense, but eventually the mask will slip off and their truth will be revealed. When people sincerely love you, their light will shine through and lift you every time you think of them.
They are the people that make it easy to love yourself.
Which is so very relevant because that, my friends, is the most important lesson I have learned in 56 years; that first and foremost we must learn to love ourselves.
It took me a long time to be able to say, “I love myself”. For years I lived in judgment, wanting to be different; thinking if I could only____(fill-in the blank) then my life would be perfect.
Through all the negativity we create about who we are, or who we want to be, or how we wish to be seen; the most important nugget of truth is that we are all perfect exactly as we are; we are all beautiful and we are all perfectly imperfect.
It’s tough to let go of all that unnecessary judgment that we get so cozy with in our lives.
We can only truly love- if we truly love ourselves.
There have been so many lessons I have learned in 56 years, but this is the one that has rocked my world.
Today is my birthday and today I am filled with endless love for my husband and my sons and my dog and my family and all of my friends- that fill my life with so much joy. I am grateful for every single moment in my life; the ups and downs, the tears and smiles, the pain and hurt- every moment because it delivered me to where I am standing and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere or anyone else.
© 2013 InnerMom
Judy Banks, Chopra Certified Meditation Instructor, Holistic Health Coach
All right reserved- Reproduce with Permission only
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