This morning, at one of my favorite coffee shops, a nice guy asked me if I survived the holidays. I paused…then answered, YES!

He then followed up with: Did you enjoy them? I didn’t have to pause this time, hell YES!

Were my holidays full of fun, food and good cheer?

Yes!

Were my holidays also laced with family drama, financial pressures and the odd case of COVID? (Thank you for your concern but not me this time.)

Hell yes!

So what gives? How can both be true?

I’ll let you in on a little secret…the sooner you accept the reality of life, the ups, the downs, the sucky parts, the magic parts…the sooner you’ll be happy.

You heard me right. It’s NOT all good. And that’s okay.

Surrender. Give in to the resistance…to the desire and attempt to control…to make everyone happy…to get it all right…because you can’t.

Acceptance doesn’t mean giving up your wants, desires, or goals. It simply means that you accept where you are, even if that means acknowledging that you’re in pain, overweight or unhealthy.

Get up early one morning, light a candle, get quiet, get still and listen.

Listen to everything that wants to pour out of your heart, your mind and your soul.

Cry.

Talk to God, to the Universe, to yourself, to the bird chirping outside of your window…

Then, and only then, can you get clear on the next step.

Acceptance of your present situation doesn’t mean endorsement of it. It’s okay to want things to be different.

When you’re ready to move forward, reach out. I can help. It’s what I do.