One of my daughter, Sydney’s, favorite things to do lately is cup my face with her hands and say, “mommy, you look absolutely beautiful.”  I’m not sure where she learned it from or why she’s been telling me that so much lately, but every time she does it I feel like she means it with all  her heart.  In turn, it makes me feel, well, beautiful.  Not in a, “I’m the prettiest person in the room way,”- that is not me nor will it ever be me!  She does it in this way where she looks me directly in the eyes and I know she loves me.  It’s simply….. beautiful.

As I was reflecting on how wonderful these interactions with her have become, I thought back to my “old” life of self-doubt, insecurity, and never feeling like “enough.”  Having children has certainly brought those things back up for me, but my children constantly remind me that I matter to them.  It’s this incredible gift that I am completely undeserving of and, so blessed to have.  Kids keep you in the moment, they engage with whatever and whomever is right in front of them.  They are present and they are a present to us all. 

My mission is to constantly remind my girls that they “look absolutely beautiful” every, single day.  The world can be incredibly cruel and judgmental, but it is also filled with so much beauty.  Sydney reminds us all that you don’t need a reason to tell someone how “beautiful” they are.   We need more love in the world right now.  We need more kindness too.  And, we need authentic people that look one another in the eye and tell them how much they matter to them.

Doubt and fear flood the headlines right now and it is our job to change the conversation to one of goodness.  The research says for every 1 negative comment you need 5 positive comments to change things around.  So, every time you tell yourself or you hear someone you love saying something negative, give them 5 positive affirmations that you truly mean.  Is that hard to do?! You bet it is!  And… it makes you think twice about allowing negativity into your life because it’s a lot of work to turn it around.

This week, let’s focus on canceling out the negativity of 2020 and turn it into a time of love, joy, and family. After all, that’s what matters most. They say the days are long and the years are short and I’m going to do everything I can do make these short years on earth “look absolutely beautiful” and I challenge each of you do the same.  I know Sydney will.

With love and lemonade,
Lauren