Last week I spent several days in NYC learning and networking as part of a publicity mastermind.

Through this group, I had the opportunity to meet so many incredible people, including the oh-so-wise soul, Geneen Roth. Geneen was a 4x guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show plus she was recently featured on Super Soul Sunday!

If you’ve not yet discovered her books, I highly recommend starting with her book, Women, Food and God. It’s about so much more than food, and touched me deeply.

There’s a section in the book where Geneen expresses her sadness about how women spend so much time hating their bodies — and what a waste of time and energy that is.

She goes onto say that for the 151,000 people who die every day, so many of them would give anything to have just one more day in their body. With this, she urges us to show gratitude for our bodies and our lives and be kind to ourselves.

Now, I realize it may feel a tad morbid to think of the number of deaths happening around the world, but to me, the heart of that message is quite uplifting when you dive into it, and I really resonate with it.

Personally, I’ve spent years hating my body (regardless of my size) and sometimes it makes it difficult to put myself out there — especially when it comes to media opportunities. I wonder if I’m thin enough, pretty enough, all kinds of enough. And it’s challenging and energy draining. (Think about what else I could be doing with that energy!)

For me, Geneen’s words served as a reminder that we have this one beautiful life that we’re lucky enough to still be living, so we should do all we can to make the absolute most out of it.

I know that at times “making the most” of life can feel easier said than done. After all, life is full of twists and turns. I myself spent years struggling to find my direction, desperate to finally figure out what I should be doing with this drive inside of me…

Even today, I know there are moments where I take things too seriously, I don’t make the most of each day, I’m too hard on myself, and I feel like I want to throw in the towel.

And maybe that’s you right now, lovely. Maybe you’re struggling to find your own path, or you’re overwhelmed by the challenges of your business, or feeling exhausted with unexpected life struggles. Whatever your challenge or situation, I want you to know that it won’t last forever…

And more than that, I want you to know that you have the power within you to shift your life in the direction you desire. Today does not indicate what’s possible for you tomorrow — and neither does the shape of your body.

You, too, have so much to give, so much potential to reach. You’re capable of more than you know, and so much is possible for you.

And it all starts with loving, YOU and being kind to yourself.

You may cry after your first photoshoot (I did!), you may be scared to put yourself out there online, host your first event, or send your first sales email, but your mission is worth all of that effort and the uncomfortable moments. And you have to remember to be kind to yourself in the process.

Trust me.

And just know that all of us have been where you are in some form or another — we’ve all faced challenges and had to continue to put one foot in front of the other despite insecurities and doubts…

You may be starting small, but everyone who’s great at something was once brand new at it (just like the amazing entrepreneurs in these photos!), so you truly just have to begin and do your best to be kind, patient and loving to YOU.

Embrace this life and make it the one you want. You can do this.

Lots of love,

P.S. At the event dinner, I was seated next to Geneen. I told her about my work with women and money and we spoke about the parallels between food and money. Geneen said that she finds that often times women treat their iPhones better than they treat their bodies. I believe that also pertains to how we treat ourselves in general, and that also affects how successful we are and how much money we make.