Here we are – the last few weeks of 2019.

Looking back over the year, how well did you honor yourself?

Did you get enough sleep?
Eat well more often than not?
Move your body in ways that feel good to you?
Make room in your schedule for the things that bring you joy?
Dress in ways that make you feel beautiful?
Experience the things that were on your list?
Set healthy boundaries where they were needed?
Do the inner work to get unstuck and move yourself forward?
Laugh at yourself, at life, and the beauty of it all?
Ask for what you wanted and needed?
Make progress towards your bigger goals, dreams and desires?

If you’re anything like most women, and almost every one of my clients, you might feel like 2019 was a flop because you didn’t do enough of the above… or do any of it perfectly enough. Sometimes we hold ourselves to impossible standards, don’t we?

Here’s the thing I really want you to understand about self-honoring: it’s a never-ending, always available to you, choose it from wherever you are right now kind of thing.

Told yourself you’d go to bed early, but didn’t actually shut your eyes until 1am? Choose to honor yourself tomorrow with a nap, or a much earlier bedtime.

Didn’t have time to plan for a healthy dinner during your busy week, so you got take-out instead? Choose to honor yourself tomorrow with a green smoothie, a beautiful salad, or whatever is more in alignment with how you really like to eat. And maybe even make a plan or have a back-up for when things get busy again.

Had to shelve the inner work you’ve been doing because your kiddo, or your dog, or your significant other has been sick and needed your support? Choose to honor yourself with a hot bath or a little day spa replenishment and take your journal with you to dive deep with yourself.

Skipped your workout for 3 weeks straight and now you can’t motivate yourself to get back into your routine? Choose to ​​honor yourself by doing one thing that will move you in a healthy direction. Maybe go for a walk instead of that HIIT class. Whatever you choose, it gets to feel good to you.

Self-honoring is always available to you, no matter where you are right now, no matter how far from it you’ve strayed, and no matter what’s happened that’s led you in a different direction.

Life happens. Things get complicated, demanding, and overwhelming at times. Even with all of our best intentions and efforts, there will be times when we just do what we can… and it might not be up to our high standards.

It doesn’t mean you’ve failed or you’re a fraud.
It doesn’t mean you should just throw it all away, go crazy and deep dive into all of the ways you’ve not honored yourself in the past.
It doesn’t mean you have to punish, berate, or even judge yourself for not doing it perfectly all of the time.

There will be times when not doing things perfectly, or even well, is the most self-honoring thing you could do. Because perfectionism and super high standards, when upheld in rigid ways, can actually be pretty abusive and detrimental, too.

As this year comes to a close, and everyone’s life gets busier, just remember you can always choose to honor yourself as you go. And if you forget, or it feels too stressful, or you haven’t quite figured out how to do it in a way that doesn’t leave you anxious and exhausted…

… you can always come back to yourself, you can always choose to self-honor next time, and you can always make a decision that feels better to you.

Because you are always deserving of your own gentleness and generosity. xx