New Year Resolution for your Soul 💚💚💚

January 2nd 2021 How many of us have thought to ourselves as we do every year 'new year, new me'? Well how about if we tried something a little different this New Year. How about 'New Year, Love me' Not a new you, let's not even say the old you. Just you. Gym membership sales must go through the roof in January. Ok this year is a little different but there is plenty of online options too. Everyone obsessing about reinventing themselves, new years resolutions, losing the Christmas lbs, being thinner, fitter, healthier. Don't get me wrong exercise is not something to be laughed at, it's important for the body mind and soul but what if even just for a few moments we looked at it all from a different angle. Speaking as a woman, personally and from listening to my girlfriends we are ridiculously critical of ourselves. I have friends who have the most beautiful faces bodies and personalities and they still pick out physical flaws. I’m now forty and I'm the youngest of most of my pals. We didn't even grow up in this body beautiful Instagram age. Can you imagine what it must be like for young girls now. The pressure must be out of this world.

I'm a curvy girl. Some of my curves even have curves. I've done this diet and that diet. I've fallen in and out of love with gym routines and going for personal training. There's times I'm happier about my body than others. Writing this I'm thinking to myself I've definitely been happier with my body than I am now but the older I get the more comfortable I become in my own skin. I realise more all the time confidence most definitely comes from within. As does true beauty. To quote something I saw on Facebook 'a person with a beautiful face won't always be a good person but a person with a good soul will always be beautiful' well along those lines anyway. Point is, it makes a good point. Go and stand in the mirror. Naked if you dare. I know every single one of us will pick faults in our physical bodies. Wanting slimmer thighs. Poking at cellulite like it's a foreign body. Hoping to blink hard enough and see our boobs as they looked when we were 21, we could probably write a ridiculously long list of things we criticise about our appearances. So I present you with a New Year's challenge. Stand in the mirror and pay yourself a compliment. It’s not all about appearance either, it can be anything at all. If you can find several things you can be kind to yourself about that's fantastic. When you have done that go and sit somwhere comfortable and quiet. Close your eyes. Imagine standing in front of a mirror. But in this mirror you can't see your physical reflection. Bare with me here please. Imagine instead of looking at your body you can see your soul. Everything that makes you laugh and cry. Everything that makes you tick. Your personality, your beliefs and your hearts desires all laid in front of you in a magical mirror for the soul. What do you think you would see? Take a few moments and really think about it. Just like many of you reading this I've been through many ups and downs in life. Despite being hurt by many people in many different ways I like to believe there's good in most people. We're all just living our lives. Doing our best to be good people. I can stand in the mirror for my soul with ease. I can find many things I love about myself. This has taken work though. I bet you can think of loads of things you love about yourself too. I'd go so far as to say you may have even smiled when you've recognised some of the things you love about yourself. I challenge you to try this everyday for a few moments. Imagine how good you'd feel about yourself if you started your day feeling so aware of your own inner beauty. I mean really and truly recognising it. What a resolution that would be. We all make mistakes. What's important is that we learn from them, and then let them go and I mean really let them go. This will feed our souls. This is a diet tip people forget. When we help somebody or use kind words our souls thrive. This new year, if you want to join the gym do it, if your want to count your calories do that too. But I urge you to look at the bigger picture. If you can reach inside yourself and find self love that's the greatest resolution of all. Search for the hero inside yourself and many other things will fall into place. Happy New Year.