Friday's Special Moment of Gratitude - Recognizing A New Best Friend

The most adventurous journey to embark on; is the journey to yourself, the most exciting thing to discover; is who you really are, the most treasured pieces that you can find; are all the pieces of you, the most special portrait you can recognize; is the portrait of your soul.”                                                                                                                                         . JoyBell C.

I was reading a blog post just now about being your own teacher and having all of the answers inside of you.  I do believe that as we get to know ourselves better and better we will find the answers to the questions we have, if we give ourselves permission to be still and to be quiet. 

When I read the words be your own teacher for some reason the phrase "Be you own best friend" popped into my head.  Some days I do think I am my own best friend.  I try to take care of myself and make decisions that are best for me while not hurting anyone else.  It took a long long time to come to this point in life. But important things are worth waiting for and yes I should have listened to my mother who gave me this advice many years ago when I was a teenager. 

 What does being my own best friend mean to me?  It means really listening to what I need. It means living a life that is calm and peaceful. It is saying "yes" to things that are interesting and challenging and "no" to things that don't make sense to me now.  It is accepting that writing and painting are an important part of my life and making sure that I create time to do both each day.  It is remembering that exercise makes me feel not only stronger but gives me energy.  It is not being hard on myself when I reread something that I have written and published and then three days later finding not one but two or three or four mistakes.  I would tell my best friend it didn't matter, now I say those same words to me and really mean them.

 Being my own best friend means being there for me. It means taking care of me the same way I would take care of someone else.  It means having fun, laughing, and taking a deep breath when things get stressful.  It is reminding myself that life is filled with ups and downs and to learn from both. Most of all its recognizing that I'm not perfect and noone expects me to be.  I think I am going to like being my own best friend.  How about you - what does being your own best friend mean to you?

Each Friday I share something that I am grateful for.  This week I am grateful for the quiet moments which give me the time to reflect upon the kind of life I want to continue to create.  Each day is different and offers new opportunities and I am so grateful that I have slowed down enough to notice and appreciate them.

 Remember:  When you share your talents and gifts with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin.
I hope that you will take a minute to visit the artists at Paint Party Friday.  They are such a wonderful supportive group of people who I look forward to visiting each week.