How to love the life you’re in

Ever felt that if only I had that job, things would be better? Or if only I lost those last 10 pounds, things would be great? If only I had the great car, house, guy, girl; if only I were older, younger, prettier, thinner, sexier… You fill in the blanks. Then everything in my life would be better, wouldn’t it?

We are sometimes in a constant state of flux between our past and future. We don’t always take time to realise everything we do have right now, in this moment. Sometimes, we are so busy wishing and hoping for things that we watch life pass us by and then say:

Another year over, where is time going?

Since starting my own transformation journey, I have learnt that to be at peace and enjoy the present, I have had to let go of my past. I had to let go of negative emotions from past events, such as losing my beautiful mum to cancer, the betrayal of a much-loved stepdad, a broken marriage before I was even 30, and the niggling feelings that I just wasn’t good enough.

When I learnt how to release the emotions and limiting beliefs I had, I became free and it gave me the space to forgive.

Forgiveness

We often view forgiveness as something we give to someone outside of us: the boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife who cheated, the parents who let us down, or the stranger who tore a family apart.

To me, though, I learnt that forgiveness is something we need to give to ourselves first and foremost. We need to forgive ourselves for the way we often treat ourselves. Think about all the times you talk to yourself in a harsh and critical way. The way you can put yourself down in a way you wouldn’t dream of doing to your best friend. We can be so harsh on ourselves.

Robert Holden, in his book Loveability, writes:

“…forgiveness is a decision you make to have a loving relationship with yourself.”

Loving the life you’re in is about accepting yourself and your life as it is right now. It’s about cutting yourself some slack and allowing yourself to appreciate all the great things you have in your life.