I Love You, Me.

This month was a doozie as far as the Leading Lady Challenge goes. Practicing self-acceptance and love is hard and I feel as if, at this point in my life, it shouldn't be. I've lived with me now for almost 55 years. I've survived, thrived, overcome, and all that but still, I have those major moments when the belly and back fat, the chub-rub, and general, thankfully minor deterioration of my body due to age just has me struggling. Toss in the lack of outside validation (that I sadly still look for) and yeah, I realize I still have work to do in this area.

On the flip side, I do have some great practices in place now thanks to bringing Mackenzie to life. First, my daily affirmations include, "I accept and love myself unconditionally", or some variation that bolsters my self-esteem. I imagined at some point in Mackenzie's life, that message was taught and reinforced and I figured, for me, better late than never and I worked daily to keep that affirmation on permanent rotation in my mind.