It’s one of two reasons:

1. Through a random chain of unexplainable clicks on the interwebs, you somehow landed here and you don’t know how it happened, but for whatever reason, you’re still reading this (so I promise to make it good!)
2. You are here on purpose and reading this because you are ready to feel better.

(If neither of those reasons apply, you got me—I really can’t read minds, I was just guessing!)

I’m going to make this blog post short and sweet, and I guarantee you’ll leave with a few nuggets of wisdom.

Confession: I’ve spent the majority of my adult life trying to “figure out the secrets of happiness.” Courses, books, programs, therapy, coaching. And I still don’t have it all figured out. But one thing I have figured out is this:

I don’t need to change anything or anyone around me in order to feel whatever I want in any given moment.

And so sometimes, I still choose to feel sad. Or angry. Or ambivalent.

And that’s ok.

But whenever I’m ready to feel something other than any of those negative emotions, I know what to do.

As a matter of fact, I had to do it just this week.

You see, this week I reached a life milestone. I dropped my two oldest kids off to college. It hurt.

I cried.

I slipped into old patterns of trying to feel better through food and retail therapy. The exact things I coach people not to do.

This caused me to spiral into shame and self-doubt. Suddenly I felt like a fraud and wondered what I was doing with my life. And on and on.

Then I remembered something.

I am human.

I can allow myself to grieve, to eat Cheetos, and to buy clothes to avoid the pain without it meaning anything about me and my worth.

I remembered I still have the secrets to being happy and whenever I was ready to use them, they were there for me, without any judgment.

So I gave myself grace.

GRACE.

Grace is the starting point. It’s the access gate to experiencing more happiness, less judgment… To feeling more worthy. Grace is so powerful, it deserves its own blog post, and I’ve got that for you right here!