"You gotta do you, girl!"

For a lot of my life, I've tried to please other people. I've tried to not ruffle too many feathers, and I've put my own happiness on the back burner for the sake of other people's benefit. As a single parent, I feel that part of this is to be expected, as my first priority is the safety and happiness of my children. But at what point do I get to make myself a priority?
With the start of this year, I decided that I need to focus on me. I mentioned earlier this month that we started a series at church about working towards being the best version of ME that I can be. And I'm attempting that. I've also mentioned that I've been working out, and trying to improve my mom-body! I'm getting results and I'm feeling great! Another big aspect of my life is the relationships I have with other people. I have been lucky enough to reconnect with old friends, make new friends, and even try out the dating world. Although my feelings on dating remain the same as last year's (that dating is NOT an essential, or even desired, part of my life), I have allowed myself to be open to the idea of dating again, mostly because things have just fallen nicely into place, without any effort. While I still maintain the position that I do not NEED a relationship in my life, I am allowing myself to be open to the "idea" of dating again!

I was talking to some girlfriends about this last week and they basically encouraged me to "do me"....I have put up a very tough facade' in the past two years, trying to control everything in my life, especially my independence, but I am excited to see what happens as I slowly let my guards down. As the first month of 2011 comes to a close, I am hopeful that my "do me" take on life will pay off.