Simply Living: Who looks inside, awakens.

Each time I read something - a book, an article, even a sentence from a piece of paper, I try to read it out loud for my daughter to hear. Entering into the third trimester, I'd like to believe that she's becoming more acquainted with exterior sounds, so I read EVERYTHING. It's more of a habit than anything. While finding things to read this morning I came across " Dying To Be Me" via Positive Thoughts, on my Facebook feed and felt touched enough to share it: >>> Love yourself before all the rest. The most meaningful lesson I learned from being at death’s door is that unless I love myself, nothing else in my life can function at its best. The amount of depth, meaning, and joy I experience in my lif e is in direct proportion to how much love I have for myself. The amount of love, kindness, patience I have for others is also directly proportional to how much love, patience and kindness I have for myself, because we cannot give others what we ourselves

I can feel when I'm not living truthfully. When I'm not authentically living, I'm just floating through life relating my experiences to everyone else's. I find myself comparing levels of achievement and accomplishments to those outside of myself. But the thing is, we've all experienced entirely different realities; what one achievement is to one person, to another it's just a day in the life. A world full of complexities has somehow turned to a very minimalists society. To create categories is foolish. A person can't just be a doctor, therapist, decorator, banker, guru.. You're a creator, a thinker, a student in the University of life - among an unlimited amount of other qualities. You're so many things that are entirely different than someone other than yourself. So to compare your experience with another is unnatural and unauthentic. I've noticed personally that what I've gained in life that makes me feel fulfilled and accomplished, isn&#