Another trip around the sun ☀️

I meant to send this around my birthday last month, but maybe it’s fitting that I didn’t.

Because another trip around the sun has given me a little more time to think about what truly matters.

And what I keep coming back to is this:

The most important relationship I will ever have is the one I have with myself.

I’ve spent parts of my life worrying about what other people think. Comparing myself. Wondering if I’m doing enough, achieving enough, being enough. Thinking about where I “should” be instead of appreciating where I actually am.

And somewhere along the way, I realized how exhausting that is.

I don’t want to spend my life worrying about life. I want to enjoy it.

I want to enjoy myself.

I want to accept myself instead of constantly trying to improve or correct myself. I want to speak to myself with kindness. I want to trust myself. I want to know my worth without needing someone else to confirm it for me.

Because I’ve realized that self-worth and self-esteem aren’t things we magically wake up with one day. They grow from the relationship we build with ourselves.

And that relationship deserves our attention.

This year, I’m thinking less about how my life looks compared with someone else’s and more about how it feels to me.

Am I happy?

Am I present?

Am I laughing?

Am I doing things that make me feel alive?

Am I spending time with people I love?

Am I actually enjoying this life while I’m living it?

I’m also more aware than ever that I get to design my life.

Not every circumstance is in my control, of course. But I get to decide what I value. What I make time for. Who I surround myself with. What I say yes to. What I say no to. And, maybe most importantly, how I treat myself along the way.

And when I look around, one of the things I feel most grateful for is my beautiful support system, the friends and family who love me, make me laugh, show up for me, and remind me how much richness there already is in my life.

So, after another trip around the sun, I think what matters to me is actually pretty simple:

Be kind to yourself.

Stop comparing your life to someone else’s.

Build a relationship with yourself that feels safe, loving, and strong.

Know your worth.

Love your people.

Let yourself enjoy your life.

And remember that you are allowed to create a life that feels like yours.

That’s what I’m carrying with me into this next trip around the sun.

And maybe that’s my birthday wish for all of us: less worrying about how life looks, and a lot more actually living it.

xo,
Kirsten