Set Them Free
Hubs captured this over the weekend ~ pure bliss + inner peace.
Such a powerful reminder of how far I've come.
~
My dad made a comment recently that took me a bit to digest. I was reading him one of my blog posts - and he said something along the lines of - 'Sounds like your life sucked.'
My life has not sucked.
My battles with perfection, an eating disorder, injured athlete syndrome, depression, PTSD, postpartum depression - those have sucked.
In massive ways.
And. The suckage is part of life.
If we want to fully feel joy,
we must be willing to fully feel pain.
The thing is - when we are in the darkness, feeling our pain - big and small, we so often think we are alone in it.
We aren't.
~
I know my posts are deep - and not the norm for a platform like Facebook. AND. I also know that the deep stuff - the whole truth - is not always what we want to read.
But, what we WANT and what we NEED aren't always the same.
We ALL struggle. We've all faced shame. It's part of our human story.
We need to know we aren't alone in it.
Because, we're not.
I share the messy shit because I want you to know it is possible to FEEL deep, lasting joy.
~
I used to look at pictures of myself and see everything that wasn't there ~ tear myself to shreds, holding myself up against an impossibly ideal image of who I thought I was supposed to be.
Actually, that's the lens with which I viewed the world.
So hyper-focused on all the things that I didn't have / didn't do that I missed out on LIVING. And it nearly destroyed my relationships.
Nothing was ever enough. I was never enough.
How does that serve us? Truly?
The time + energy spent hyper-criticizing and over-analyzing and ruminating about all.the.things we're not...
We can never get that time back.
Perfection will try to tell you that you've got to hold on to that mindset to keep your edge.
It's a lie. That dark + toxic energy keeps you chasing something that doesn't exist out there.
No title, promotion, award, recognition will bring you deep, lasting joy + inner peace. There's nothing out there that will determine your worthiness.
That thing you are seeking... it's already inside of you. ✨
You are already worthy of love + belonging.
Exactly as you are.
You are enough.
Give yourself permission to be UNAPOLOGETICALLY YOU.
~
It is possible to fall in love with YOU, exactly as you are.
I know because I've walked this path and am helping others to do the same.
It is possible to feel FULLY ENOUGH.
Without conditions.
(No matter how loud your inner critic is getting right now.)
We can't control all the thoughts that come streaming into our head. (I've tried.)
We CAN release the grip of the thoughts that no longer serve us. And set them free.
The ones that keep us small.
The ones that keep us stuck in never-enoughness.
No more engaging. Set them free.
Start by choosing GRATITUDE.
~
When is the last time you felt FULLY enough?
I mean YOU.
The real you, underneath it all.
The you that crawls into bed at night.
The you that looks in the mirror.
✨When you are alone with yourself, how are you?
~
Samantha Livingstone is an Olympic Gold Medalist, transformational speaker, empowerment coach and mama of four. She empowers others to cultivate the courage, compassion and resilience needed to let go of perfection - so they can achieve their own gold medal moments AND live a life that is filled with freedom, balance and lasting joy. A mama of heart warrior and mama of twins, Samantha and her husband, Rob, live in the Berkshires with their four girls.
You can learn more about Samantha at www.samanthalivingstone.com.