i hope you all enjoyed your weekends.  and for those of you who had three day weekend like i did in honor of veterans day, don’t forget to tell the vets you know who are still here how grateful you are for them.

i tend to get more contemplative than usual a few times a year.  while the new calendar year does not spark that in me, a few other days/times definitely do – my birthday, my grammy’s death date, the start of a new academic year and thanksgiving.  thanksgiving is  my favorite holiday but as with most things after a significant loss, the day took on an entirely new meaning once i no longer had my grandmother to celebrate the holiday with.  and it wasn’t just because her sweet potato pie was missing.  thanksgiving, along with each of the other days/times i mentioned, is now bittersweet.

over the last couple of years, i have gotten a lot better at sitting with feelings of discomfort instead of trying to ignore it, suppress it or put on a happy face if that was not what i was actually feeling.  instagram often surprises me with knowing exactly what i need to see to make me pause and reflect.

“oh how wonderfully you have grown since november of last year” –mhn (morgan harper nichols)

i know there won’t ever be a day where i am not grieving my grandmother, i do often think of ways she would want me to approach how i think and act.  after reading this single line from morgan harper nichols, i thought about all of the ways in which i have grown since last november…

1. i started this blog
2. i set clear and necessary boundaries, especially with family
3. i went on my first solo international trip
4. i shed some weight i knew my body was tired of carrying (still a work in progress but hey, slow movement is better than no movement)
5. i reprioritized my own mental health which in turn made me better for me, my family, my friends and my clients
6. i have learned to grant myself the same patience and tenderness as i do the ones i love most
7. i have become exponentially more assertive
8. the way i work in session with each of my clients has totally evolved in a way where they are getting more out of each session
9. i have strengthened relationships in ways i did not know possible
10. i love myself more now that i ever have before

so this month, i challenge you to take a moment to stop comparing yourself to others and simply compare you to you from a year ago.  what did you notice?  what have you accomplished?  what do you love about you?

xoxo,

k. tap