Quote by Anais Nin

You and I deserve to be loved just as we are.

Even when we are working to improve ourselves.

Even as we transition or work to more fully become out authentic selves, making the outside match the inside. Or as we realize there is a closet to step out of.

Even when we make mistakes, backslide or do a bad thing.

Even if we grew up in families that told us we were not deserving.

It is a challenge each day that we must take up. I know I feel it, and it’s really come up in the process of getting a new puppy to be a therapy dog. I realize how much I am stressing, worrying about doing things just right – I want her trained just right, to introduce her to the practice just right, to not disturb my clients or the work. And what I realized was how stressed and tense I was becoming.

So I am working on it. I am working to set things up so she and I are more likely to succeed. And just as importantly, I am working on the self-compassion I am always talking to my clients about. Because I am going to make mistakes, and so is Sadie, and so are my clients.

We all deserve love just as we are.