Everyone makes mistakes. No one is perfect.

Why beat ourselves up when we mess up?

We just need to change our perspective and drop the myth of perfection.

It is as it is. Why judge spilt milk? We can upgrade our attitude and see the situation with new eyes. 

How would we do things differently if we had it to do all over again?

What would that look like, and how would it feel?

What have we learned from the experience that has changed us? What's the golden nugget we can take away?

We can bring every experience back to ourselves and learn from what has happened.

We can help create more kindness in the world by being kinder to ourselves.

This is one way we can be the change we want to see in the world.

Worthiness is a big issue in our society.

We are repeatedly given told that we are not worthy: that we are not thin enough, rich enough, successful enough, smart enough and so on.

We've got to stop waiting to feel worthy and just choose it!

Look at the advertising campaigns on television and social media. 

They pander to fear, saying that our self-worth is determined from the outside.

This is a lie.  We are not worthy because of the car we drive, the clothes we wear, the schools we attend, the degrees we have, the job we hold, the size of our home or the wealth of our friends.  These are all temporal.  We can't take them with us when we die.

We are all worthy from the inside out, not the outside in.

We have all made mistakes which, in hindsight, would have handled differently. That's part of life.

Our mistakes don't make us unworthy of love.

Even if we've caused harm, it just means we have a mess to clean up.  We can do that.  We can learn and grow from our experiences.  It's a choice.Choosing to love ourselves is the key. It's not selfish to first love ourselves.  It's the foundation we need to love another.

Our cup of love is so full, it overflows to share with others.

We no longer feel like we are running on empty and need someone or something else to fill us up.  We no longer feel the need to look outside of ourselves for love, when we are love ourselves.

It's much more self-empowering to fill our own buckets with love and then to share the overflow with everyone else in our lives.

We can take our feelings and experiences in and turn them into either love or fear.

When we turn them into love, we acknowledge how we feel and what we've experienced. We stop judging and just letting it go.

Maybe we could have done better. That's okay.  We can review how we went and choose to do things differently next time.

But, judging our feelings or experiences just means that we are dragging the past around with us, and that's not very pleasant.

So, we drop the judgment and we feel our feelings and experiences with gratitude and acceptance, both expressions of love.

When we do this all the cells of our bodies resonate with more love, and that's a great service to the planet.

We could use a lot more unconditional love on earth, and it starts with each of us choosing to take life in and turn it into love.

During the holidays and beyond, it’s so important to be kind, patient and tolerant, with ourselves first and foremost, and then with others.

To me, being kind means acknowledging the benevolence of the Universe, that she has my back; that there’s a purpose, a reason for everything that I’m experiencing in my life, and I can take those experiences and use them to evolve and grow, to be more of my best self.  Even in the most heartbreaking moments, I can use my heartbreak to experience more love and compassion. 

With kindness, I know in my heart of hearts that the love and support of the Universe is always with me, and I am never alone; that flooding my heart with kindness helps me to see and experience people and events during the holidays in the best light.

Patience is about being without expectation.  Expectations during the holidays can lead to depression and disappointment.  When I choose to be fully present in the moment without any pre-conceived ideas how people will act or how a gathering may be, I free myself up to be pleasantly surprised; I’m open to enjoying all the moments; I’m open to whatever that experience brings. 

Tolerance is about open-mindedness.  It’s about looking for the similarities I have with other people and using that as a basis to interact and connect, instead of focusing on the differences. 

With tolerance, I can have a meaningful conversation with someone that has political, religious and world views that are 180 degrees opposite to mine, while maintaining clear and appropriate boundaries.  In our humanness, we have many things in common, family, friends, trips, experiences, difficulties, the ups the downs, the trials and tribulations of life.  

Tolerance helps me do more than survive some holiday gatherings; it helps me to connect with ones I don’t usually choose to socialize with in a mutually supportive way, to enjoy myself and thrive.