A few years ago, one of my really good friends would talk to me about changing her eating habits.

She said she wanted to do it for better health.

But her underlying tone (which I heard as clear as day)...

was self-disapproval, even shame.

It's hard for me to watch someone I care about treat themselves harshly.

She would ask me what I thought.

I would say things like...

"I wish you would stop beating yourself up. Your tone of voice (toward yourself) sounds demanding and harsh. You sound like you feel like you're not enough. You think that this diet is going to change that. In my experience, the current diet is not going to make a lasting difference. It's not my business what you eat or how much you weigh. I just want you to be KIND to yourself."

The underlying tone of energy that we bring to any goal or task is the energy that will show up in the end result.

I would leave her to make her own choices about wellness.

We would talk about other things.

YESTERDAY, something changed.

We've recently been talking about Embodying Elevated Emotions...

what does it mean to really, truly, fully embody

JOY or LOVE or EMPOWERMENT or KINDNESS...

what does it looks like?

How does that feel?

Part of the process includes becoming SUPER AWARE of how you speak to yourself, how you think, how you feel, and how you act.

It includes saying the word CHANGE when you catch yourself being less-than-loving to yourself.

YESTERDAY, my friend and I talked, and she was so proud of herself!

She caught herself walking into the kitchen for popcorn, shortly after eating dinner.

She asked herself WHY she wanted the popcorn.

She realized that she didn't really want the popcorn.

As soon as she became AWARE that she was just going through the motions...

She said "CHANGE!"

And walked out of the kitchen and found something else to do.

I was THRILLED!!!!

So excited for her!!!!

My HEART leapt for JOY for her!!!

So excited that she was simply LISTENING TO HER TRUE SELF,

TO WHAT SHE REALLY WANTED,

TO THE TRUTH OF HER BEING.

SHE WAS LISTENING!!!!!!

She was putting herself first.

In an authentic, healthy way.

She was PRESENT ENOUGH TO ASK HERSELF WHAT SHE REALLY WANTED IN THE MOMENT.

SHOWING UP with that kind of PRESENCE is a gift we usually reserve to "important people."

But here she was... walking out of the kitchen... giving her BIG PRESENCE to herself.

Taking action toward what she REALLY wants...

Embodying self-love and self-kindness.

Loving herself into great choices.

This is my wish for you.

What a GIFT!

Much love,

Debbie Happy Cohen

Founder of Joy-Based Living

ps. We're starting a new rhythm to nourish ourselves... Sunday Evenings that feel like SOUL FOOD... 30 minutes of gentle blessings and guided meditations.

You can check it out here.

Yesterday evening's meeting was amazing and I am sharing... so many blessings to you this coming week.

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