The Manifesto is Working

Call it a manifesto, or an affirmation, or maybe just a shift in the way to think about things, but keeping the thought "Be who I am today."on the tip of my tongue is working for me.

Sofie at 2

Sofie at 14

So, who am I?  Yesterday, I was a mother who was feeling a little bittersweet about her baby growing up.  Telling myself to just be who I am, right now, helped me stay present with what I was feeling.  I realized I needed to give myself permission to crawl back in bed, shed a few tears and go back to sleep.  When I woke up, I was ready to tackle my very ambitious list.  Today, I am feeling proud of her independence.  Raising well-adjusted, self-reliant children has always been the plan, but its heart wrenching when they actually do spread their wings.  And it does have me questioning how I want to spread mine.

And surprisingly, I also heard the manifesto as my hand reached inside the cookie jar!  I swear it was as if someone slapped it! "Who I ALSO am today, is someone trying to lose weight.  Get your hand out of there!"  Ha! Ha! Ha!

We all struggle with our own internal dialogues, but I think that having a few manifestos at the ready might just put an end to some of the conflict.