Merry Christmas and Letter to My Past Self

Merry Christmas!! I hope you're having an amazing day enjoying your family.

With Christmas at the end of the year, it's always a great time to reflect on blessings from the previous year; things you loved, things you're most grateful for, things you may want to change.

One thing I encourage you to reflect on today is the health of your relationship with yourself.

Your relationship with yourself is perhaps THE most important relationship you have in your life. And this relationship has three parts: your relationship with your past self, your relationship with your current self, and your relationship with your future self.

Today, I will share with you a letter I wrote to my past self. (The next two weeks, I will share my letter to my current and future self--just in time for the New Year.)

Dear Past Julia,

I love you SO much! I know you have always done the very best you could in every area of your life. I also know you've failed and fallen short SO many times, and have experienced so much pain as a result.

I forgive you for all the beliefs you held so tight that ended up not serving you. But I'm not disappointed in you for any of it.

I am SO proud of you!

I'm not mad at you for being insecure as a mother, inadequate as a spouse, or inexperienced at all the things you wanted to be good at. I love you for being brave and willing to push towards your dreams and expand yourself. I love you for working hard and loving people to the best of your ability.

Remember that, "Ever adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit," (Napoleon Hill).

I'm grateful you chose to carry and give birth to five children! I know you have served and sacrificed thousands of hours for them, and you've grown as you've learned to love them unconditionally. You have expanded yourself so much in this process. Thank you for teaching them and protecting them to the best of your ability, and for learning to let go of things outside your control.

I'm not mad at you for being in constant sleep-debt trying to accomplish all the things you want to do and love on all the people you want to love. I forgive you for overeating sometimes when you didn't know how to process your negative emotions. I forgive you for having perfectionistic tendencies, and I know you're working hard to overcome them.

I am grateful for all the growth you've experienced in your life, and the wisdom you have given me. You have really set me up! I'm so excited for what our future holds.

Thank you one thousand times! Merry Christmas!

Love,

Julia

So, amidst the festivities of the next few days leading up to the New Year, I challenge each of you to write a brief letter to your past self. A letter of gratitude, forgiveness, pride, and encouragement. Whatever you past self needs to hear so that she/he knows that everything from the past serves a purpose in your present.

Every experienced made you who you are today, and none of it was a waste.

Your past self needs to hear from you, so write that letter soon!

Have an AMAZING Christmas!