Dear Bright-as-the-Sun Girl,

Sometimes we give in to some kind of unexplainable pressure to not be as amazing as we truly are. Sometimes we hide. Sometimes we apologize for our successes or cover them up so much that no one will ever know they ever existed, or that they actually exist right now, right this minute.

We know, even if only a little, we know our incredible potential and yet we hide.

Your light is as bright as the sun. Don’t hide it. Imagine if the author of your favorite book, or the writer of your favorite song, or the designer of your favorite dress decided to hide her bright light, let herself feel ashamed of it, imagine all that the world would have missed out on.

We are all born with a gift that is meant for human-kind. In fact, we are all born with lots of them. Some of them are gifts that are meant for just one person, sometimes just for our family or close friends, and then there are the gifts that we have to offer to each other, near and far, the gifts that make the world more beautiful and bright and true and good and fun and hopeful and wonderful.

Please don’t hide. Please don’t hold back those gifts — please please please. You are the ONLY one with those exact gifts and no one will ever be blessed with them again if you don’t decide to bravely give them. It’s all you, babe.

And don’t ever ever EVER apologize for your beautiful divine nature, for your fabulousness, for the things about you that shock and amaze and leave the world in awe. YOU are a gift — shine shine shine.

xoxo

You may feel too old to do it, or maybe too young. You may feel too fat or too uneducated or too worn out or too devastated.You might sometimes even feel like it’s just not worth it to try so hard, or that your clothes aren’t right, or that your car is too embarrassing. You may just feel like you are too unorganized, inefficient and inexperienced to start on your dreams — or to keep going with your dreams.

You may feel like the world is too unkind a place or that it is all just too scary. You might even feel sometimes like your dreams are sort of silly — or that they don’t matter.

You might feel this way. There may even be others who cause you to feel this way. You probably have a hundred reasons not to follow your dreams, not to live the life you are wanting to live, not to WAKE UP and fly — reasons to stay stuck.

Your excuses might even be really legitimate.

Well, dear friend, DO IT ANYWAY. DREAM ANYWAY. FLY ANYWAY. ok? No more waiting. DO IT ANYWAY.

You are so capable. You are so loved. It is time.
xoxo

Dear Faithful Girl,

Want to make yourself miserable today? Of course you don’t!! But if you did, a great way would be to try to figure out what and where you are going to be in your life a month from now, a year from now, 5 years from now — and if you will be ok, and how things will EVER possibly work out and if everything is just going to come crashing down one of these days — to worry worry worry.

But you want to be happy, so you are not going to do that, right?

Please remember, lovely soul, that sometimes all that we REALLY know is that we are ok today. That is all that we NEED to know! SO TODAY is a great place to focus our energy. Please remember that sometimes all we can see is the very next step, so it’s ok if all of our energy is simply focused on the very next step, not on the dark uncertainty that seems to stretch out beyond that step.

YOU ARE OK RIGHT NOW. Isn’t that beautiful? You might WISH you were somewhere else, and you might not FEEL 100% ok, but if you really think about it, you have everything you need at this moment, even if it is just enough to survive this moment. And tomorrow you will have everything you need too. You have made it to now, and you have been tough and resilient through all of it. You will continue to make it, and you will continue to have what you need to make it.

Faith is believing in things that we can not see yet, but yet we KNOW in our hearts exist. Keep the faith, beautiful friend, even if it’s just a tiny little smidgen of faith. Keep it, don’t let anything take it away from you.

Because let’s face it — you made it through yesterday, you are making it through today, and you will undoubtedly make it through tomorrow. You will.

Try to smile your way through it. It will make all the difference in the world.

You are loved beyond measure.
xoxo

Dear Fabulous Girl,

Every day you have the chance to be a tremendous blessing to someone else, in ways that you may never even recognize.

Even if you feel like you don’t have a lot to give, or that you don’t have the same kinds of things to give that others have….you definitely have gifts to offer that cannot be found anywhere else.

Share what you know….treat others with kindness….put yourself in another’s shoes…turn an unfortunate situation into a wonderful one…thank someone with a thankless job…do your best to really really really SEE another human being and go out of your way to show them that you SEE what they do, who they are and what THEY have to offer.

When you give, no matter what you have to give…your life takes on new meaning….and you can’t help but have an incredible day.

Thanks for everything you do, everywhere you go. You are so loved.

xoxo

Try not to think about all of the things that you have to do for the next year or the next month or the next week to get to where you are hoping to be. But try to just think about today. Try not to get overwhelmed by big bills in your mailbox or a long weight-loss journey or a chronic illness or a difficult relationship.

and just think about how to do it today.

There’s no reason to worry, or wonder or make yourself sick with “what if this happens?” kinds of feelings, Just do what you can do today and then let it go. Do your best and let that be enough.

All you can do is all you can do and there’s no more that you can do. But you CAN choose to do that “all” with a smile on your face and an optimistic attitude and peace in your heart and even a funky little dance in your step, knowing that you did everything that you could and that tomorrow you will do all that you can again, and that it will be absolutely enough.

Be at peace. Be happy. All is well.

xoxo

Dear Lovely Girl,

It is never too late. You are never too damaged, or too old, or a “has-been”.

There are many situations, relationships and moments that inflict the lie that our best times are past us…but we must remember what the truth is….and remember that anything or anyone or anywhere that tries to push the belief on us that it is time to give up…needs to be confronted, toe to toe, and told with all of the earnestness we can muster…that the TRUTH IS, that we are actually becoming, always always always.

If you were a caterpillar you just might think that you are destined to crawl along the edge of everything…squirming, centimeter by centimeter. Then suddenly a day comes when what just might look like a tragic event happens, and you find yourself encased, all alone in a cocoon….and you turn to mush. It seems like it’s too late to be the caterpillar you always wanted to be. It feels like you are damaged beyond repair. You definitely feel like a “has been”. In some ways…you ARE a “has been”, you will never be a caterpillar again.

Because, you are BECOMING. You are becoming what you were meant to be in the first place. You are growing your beautiful wings, you are preparing to fly.

Don’t sell yourself short. Don’t give up before the unveiling of your wings. Let the miracle happen exactly the way it needs to happen…..you are BECOMING right this second.

And you are SOOO spectacular…..so amazing…..so loved.
xoxo

It is so important to listen to the right voices. Many times, we must tune out almost every voice around us to be able to focus on what is true for our own lives.

Please don’t give any heed at all to the useless opinions of others, beautiful friend. Act for yourself. Face your own truths…then act on your own truths.

Turn off the confusing lies, tune them out…plug your ears when there are annoying, loud, negative voices that have no business giving you opinions about your own life.

You know SO much more than you think you know. Your inner compass will guide you. Those feelings in your gut are your deepest wisdom. Be brave and tune out all of the voices, except the voices that are speaking your truth.

You are courageous and amazing….and oh so loved.

xoxo

Dear Beautiful Girl,

Most things don’t stay the same forever — they just don’t — no matter how hard we try, no matter how much we resist change, no matter how much we wish we could keep things exactly as they are — most things won’t stay the same forever. This is a good thing!!! It really is!

Almost everything has a season. Every relationships goes through ups and downs and lots and lots of transitions. Every child grows up. Every flower is a bud and then a blossom and then it’s done — and more flowers grow later. Everything gets older every day — every person learns more every day — every life gets richer every day. People change, places change, jobs change, relationships change, fashions change, economics change.

Roll with the changes, incredible you. Cling tight to the things that don’t change — the truths in life that are solid and dependable — and then roll with everything that does change. Change is what gets us where we need to be, what drives us to do things we wouldn’t have done otherwise, and what helps us see things more clearly. Change wakes us up, keeps things exciting and makes us try harder. Change brings on appreciation for where we have been, makes us more careful about where we are going, and helps us weed out everything that is not good for our lives.

Change is good. Sometimes it’s really scary, sometimes it’s really uncomfortable — but change is good.
Everything is going to be ok, it really is.

You are so loved.
xoxo

Dear Seeking Girl,

Our souls always knows when it’s time to move on. We fight those feelings, we resist them…we try to stuff them down or shoo them away….but our souls are persistent and keep sending messages….in fact, messages usually start coming from every direction when it is time.

It is hard to move on. It is hard to embrace the changes that moving on brings. It is hard to navigate away from what is comfortable and what we know….even when we know we’ve outgrown it or that it is destructive to us in many ways. Many times, we stay in places where we know we don’t belong simply because it is what we know…and we are too afraid of moving on and into what we don’t know.

Listen to those gentle and not-so-gentle pushes that your soul is trying to communicate. Moving on is important….if we don’t move forward, we stay stuck. It’s like a stream…or a river…when it stops moving, it gets mucky and contaminated……..we need to constantly be finding our flow…we need to be growing and learning and moving.

Move on, sweet friend, if that is what your soul is urging you to do….and keep moving and moving and moving……
Keep moving forward.

You can do this.
xoxo

Dear Thoughtful Girl,

Sometimes all that you can do is wait for it to feel better, wait for a bad day to be over, wait for things to work themselves out. Sometimes you have done all that you can possibly do, and then you just have to wait.

Patience teaches us tremendous lessons and rewards us with tremendous gifts. Patience makes us grow in ways that nothing else could. Patience is hard to embrace, and practicing patience is hard to do. Most things that have lasting value come through doing difficult things.

If you are in a time, beautiful friend, where you have done all that you can do…and now you must just wait…take heart. Don’t give up. Don’t give in to the hopelessness, sorrow or bitterness that could and does consume some. Keep your heart open, keep believing what you believe. Keep your thoughts toward where you are headed, and how you WANT to feel, toward what is ahead. Do you best to learn in the moment. Do your very best. Things will turn around, just like they always do. Life will work out, just like it always does. You will be through this before you know it.

You are so very loved.

xoxo