Blessing #18: I Forgive You “Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.”― Anne Lamott When I was writing this particular blessing in my book, I was actually in the middle of a very painful personal crisis. I felt angry, and hurt, and betrayed, and confused. My trust in the people involved had been shaken. I didn’t enjoy any of those feelings; but I knew that if I chose not to forgive, my own path to personal healing would be blocked. I could have made the choice to hold on to my anger…
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Blessing #17: I am Powerful “With great power comes great responsibility.” ~Anonymous There have been many variations of the sobering phrase, with great power comes great responsibility, that have been spoken by leaders since the days of Jesus of Nazareth to Sir Winston Churchill to Spiderman’s uncle Ben Parker. Truly, the power that we each hold within us is great. Our thoughts, words, and actions have the power to create or destroy, to heal or harm, to bless or curse, to encourage or oppress, to strengthen or sabotage, to save or abandon, to love or to hate. We have the…
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Blessing #16: I am Wise “He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.” ~Confucius What is Wisdom? It is in knowing that I don’t know everything. It is in being open to and embracing change, instead of resisting it. It is in listening, not just hearing. It is in understanding, not just learning. It is in making mistakes and learning from them, not repeating them and expecting a different outcome. “We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.” ~Marcel Proust…
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Blessing #15: I am Compassionate When we choose to be more compassionate to the suffering of others, we do much more than acknowledge their pain; we act in such a way as to help alleviate their suffering. Compassion goes beyond feelings of pity. Compassion elicits an active response. It may be as simple as giving a donation to charity, or as hands-on as a heroic act of rescue. Between those two extremes are a million ways to express compassionate action. Empathy is similar to Compassion, but they are not the same things. Empathy is the emotional response that allows us…
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Blessing #14: I Choose Joy Joy is a Choice Every day, our lives involve a series of choices to be made from the moment we wake to the moment we drift off to sleep. Certainly, we must make many of these decisions based on or in reaction to the decisions of those around us, whether they are people within our household, the people in our workplace, or the strangers we pass on the road. But there is without fail one choice that always depends solely on us: The choice to be more Joyful. “Joy does not simply happen to us.…
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Blessing #13: I am Worthy & Deserving of Good Things What are you worth? 1 million dollars? 10 million? A billion? 20 bucks? Though you may earn a wage to make a living, the transaction of money in exchange for goods & services does not determine your intrinsic value because your inherent worth is not the same thing as your net worth. If you do nothing on this planet other than show up, you are enough. Everything else you contribute is a wonderful, glorious bonus. You are worthy simply because you exist. You carry an eternal, invaluable soul within the…
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Blessing #12: I am Truly Beautiful Dorothy Parker famously said, “Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone.” (Quite) a few years prior, Plato mused that “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.” Is there a woman or a girl on this or any other planet who hasn’t at some point wrestled with the idea that she is, in fact, beautiful? In every age and in every culture, there are evolving and somewhat fickle standards of beauty that women have either tried to achieve or have struggled against. And don’t think that men haven’t been…
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Blessing #11: I Believe in Myself Self-confidence is super attractive. Respected leaders in every field, professional athletes in every sport, and great artists in every genre have something in common: the ability to believe in themselves, no matter what. It’s that self-confidence that pushes them to sharpen their skills and excel in whatever their chosen profession may be. It makes little kids and grown ups alike want to emulate them and the reason fan clubs exist. Believing in yourself doesn’t mean that you are infallible, and it doesn’t mean that you don’t need to learn new things. It does mean…
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Blessing #10: I am Adventurous Last week, I got to ride in a Tesla. My (lucky!) boyfriend even got to drive it! Not only is it a beautiful car inside and out, there is an insane burst of power from the instant acceleration. It feels incredible, much like what I imagine Superman feels when he launches skyward. I am ALWAYS up for a new adventure! Whether it is going on an exotic vacation, or trying out a new restaurant, or challenging myself physically and facing a fear- I’m in. To conquer my fear of heights, I started doing some of…
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Blessing #9: I am Fun Close your eyes and think of your most fun-loving friend. Who comes to mind, and what about that person makes them so much fun to be around? What’s fun for me may not be as much fun for you, and vice versa- but so what? Fun comes in all shapes and sizes, and there are a million billion gazillion different ways to have fun! Let’s be honest- life can be pretty hard. To balance things out, we want to cut loose a little when we can. We actually need to take a break from things…
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