love and acceptance of myself

So guess what? I am not perfect. I have known this for a long time. But I don't think I have ever fully accepted what this means. It means that my house will never look like a picture from a magazine. My body will never look like a swimsuit models, or heck, probably not even as good as most real people I know look in a swimsuit. No matter how good an idea I have, and no matter how carefully I plan, something will still always go wrong. No matter how wonderful my husband is, he will never be perfect either (and it's a good thing since I couldn't live up to that).

None of this is a newsflash to me.
But I am trying something new.
My new mantra (or however you spell it)
2 little magic words that have the power to change my life.
IT'S OK.

They are not intended as an excuse or a cop out. But as a reminder that even though things aren't going the way I want, I won't be judged by that single moment for the rest of my life. I want to take all that time spent worrying (which probably adds up to something like 5 years for me) and use it to find joy. I don't need to wait for someone else to tell me that it's ok that my house is messy, or that I haven't done my hair for the day, or that I spent an afternoon completely enjoying my tiny girl instead of doing laundry and alphabetizing my canned goods :)

I have the power to help myself be happy.
I am not behind.
Life is not a competition to see who is the most organized and pretty.
I can be happy for other people's accomplishments without getting down on myself.

And when moments of perfection come along, because sometimes they do, I can enjoy them knowing that even when that moment ends, I can still be happy.

I refuse to believe the lie that there are perfect people with perfect lives. It's just not true. Everything in life has a cost, and creating the illusion of perfection comes with a pretty hefty price-tag.

My mother would be pretty angry with me for treating her little girl so badly for so long. And I know she would tell me just what I need to hear so much of the time, It's ok.

So here's to breathing deeply, loving myself, and remembering It's ok :)