Live. Love. Play! Musings on Life, by Sarah

So this is my first blog posting.  I've attempted two other blogs in the past, but neither stuck.  Hopefully this one will.  What's my purpose for doing this now?  I love to write.  And I like to share my observations.  I decided to put those two things together and see what happens. 

Yesterday (January 3rd) I finally made my New Year's resolutions for 2012.  I've done this nearly every year, informally.  I realize this is typically done *before* the new year begins, but I didn't know what I wanted my resolutions to be.  I didn't want to just pick any old thing.  Or something I knew I wouldn't stick with or didn't really care about.  I'd really like to improve myself as a person, at the core.  When I finally took some time away from home (sitting in a coffee shop with a delicious, warm drink), five resolutions came to be quite easily.  They are goals more than resolutions.  Two address personal issues I struggle with.  Two are work/profession-related.  And the last is an over-arching theme.  A creed, of sorts. 
Here they are:

My Goals and Resolutions for 2012:
1. Trust the Universe at all times.
2. Let go of my "need" to be in control.
3. Get a literary agent.
4. Have at least one completed novel manuscript.
5. Love and respect myself first and foremost.

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Here is my first observation on life.  It's about myself mostly, but I'm guessing it also applies to others as well. 
When I'm feeling left out by others, it's because I'm leaving *myself* out.
Others are a mirror for how we feel about ourselves.  If someone has a characteristic that particularly annoys us, more often than not, it's because we have that same characteristic within ourselves and aren't proud of it.  Instead of looking within, and changing the thing we don't like about ourselves, we tend to look OUT and demand others change, that something is wrong with THEM, that THEY are bothering US. 

But the truth is, each of us has everything we need inside of us. 

Bringing this home to my own personal experience, I had been feeling excluded by other people's fun plans lately.  When I finally sat down with that, and my feelings around it, I realized that I was excluding myself.  I was doing things that other people wanted to do (whether it was what I would have chosen or not).  I was neglecting myself and not planning fun events for MYSELF.  So I changed that.  I now have two events coming up that I planned and am excited about.  And more are to come.

The moral is this:  Look within.  YOU ARE ENOUGH.  Always. 
When you're feeling down, repeat to yourself "I am happy.  I am love.  I am peace."  Or any alteration of that that speaks to you.  It will lift your spirit and your vibration.  And first and foremost, LISTEN to YOURSELF!  It's YOUR life to live however you want.  Live it beautifully.