Instead of focusing on becoming your BEST self. Focus on becoming your WHOLE self.

It can be tempting at this time of year to be lured into thinking that we need to 'upgrade' ourselves in some way. Become a 'better version' of ourselves. But in my experience this leads us away from self-acceptance, which for me is the way to true peace and happiness.

Focusing on becoming our 'best' selves is located in the future. It tells us that who we are now is not enough. That somewhere out there, there is better version of us, and if we work on changing the things about us that we don't like then we can become our 'best' self.

For me (and the work I do with my folks) the focus is about bringing our 'whole' selves to the party. To uncover what is already there within us. The parts of us that have been buried by a lifetime of conditioning from the outside. The parts of us that maybe we think are unlikable. The parts of us that hurt. The parts of us that want to shine so brightly that it scares us. This is a 'whole' damn human being.

A whole person doesn't have to strive and push to be the 'best', they can just 'be' as they are.

A whole person is committed to being who they are now, not waiting for an elusive future self to come along.

A whole person knows their flaws and their brilliance and is ok with both.

A whole person is willing to admit when they make mistakes and still love themselves.

A whole person doesn't need to compete with others, they know everyone has their own unique magic.

A whole person doesn't succumb to the pressures of what society says they should be doing and when.

A whole person knows, understands and trusts themselves.

A whole person is curious to discover more about who they truly are.

For me, life is a return journey. A windy path that keeps leading us right back to the centre of who we always were. Who we were before the world took hold of us and told us who we should be.

So there's nowhere to get to.

The work is to keep returning, over and over again. which takes patience, practice and perseverance.

How do you feel about that? Relieved? Excited? Sceptical? It's all good, AND it's not always easy. This work requires courage, boldness, to swim against the tide. That's why we need support to do it. Someone to walk along the path with us with no agenda, only a commitment to allowing us to be more of who we already are.