Why We Need Children's Books

Upon a recommendation from a friend, I just got the book I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont for my daughter.

After just one reading, it was clear that this book has am important message for not just for our kids, but for all the adults in the world as well. It's worth having a copy around the house to read to the kids, or for yourself!

"I like myself!
I'm glad I'm me.

There's no one else
I'd rather be.

I like my eyes, my ears, my nose.
I like my fingers and my toes.

I like me wild.
I like me tame.
I like me different
and the same.

I like me fast. I like me slow.
I like me everywhere I go.

I like me on the inside, too,
for all I think and say and do.

Inside, outside, upside down,
from head to toe and all around,
I like it all! It all is me!
And me is all I want to be.

And I don't care in any way
what someone else may think or say.

I may be called a silly nut
or crazy cuckoo bird--so what?
I'm having too much fun, you see,
for anything to bother me!

Even when I look a mess.
I still don't like me any less,
'cause nothing in this world, you know
can change what's deep inside, and so...

No matter if they stop and stare,
no person
ever
anywhere
can make me feel that what they see
is all there really is to me.

I'd still like me with fleas or warts,
or with a silly snout that snorts,

or knobby knees or hippo hips
or purple polka-dotted lips,

or beaver breath or stinky toes
or horns protruding from my nose,

or--yikes!--with spikes all down my spine,
or hair that's like a porcupine.

I still would be the same, you see...

I like myself because I'm ME!"

Definition of Success

Wow. Has it really been nearly a month since my last post?

Seems so.

Life has been keeping me on my toes lately. Between children out of school, searching for a new preschool, family visitors, family health issues, business growth and summer fun, time to write here dropped down on the priority list.

But I am here now, and that is what matters. My business success and life enjoyment is not dependent on how many blog entries I post per week or per month.

The theme of Redefining Success has been coming up a lot lately for many of my clients. It seems as if there are many women who are realizing that it's time to look at the idea of success in a new way.

As women, we've been told over the years that we can "have it all". However, we've also been told that to have it all we must be Super Women, working crazy hours at work and home, tending to everyone's needs but our own, and sacrificing our health, relationships and fun. Is that how you want to define success?

What if success looked something like this:

• I do work that I really, really enjoy and which I know I am good at.
• I make good money doing work that I really, really enjoy.
• The time I spend on my career/business supports my professional goals, but is also a means to support my personal goals. Therefore, I have a schedule that allows me time for myself, for my family and for my relationships.
• I am physically, emotionally and mentally healthy and I've found ways to support myself in these areas in order to maintain that health.
  
• I am a present and active mother, but I am not defined only as a mother.
  
• I have a productive and engaging career, but I am not defined only as my career.
• I have a fun and fulfilling relationship, but I am not defined as only a wife/partner.
• I operate from a place of what is best for my highest good (and the highest good of those around me) as opposed to what I think I SHOULD do or based on what others are doing.

How are you defining success these days? If you are operating from an old definition of success, or someone else's definition of success, there's a good chance that you are constantly feeling like you aren't quite as successful as you'd like to be or should be.

Begin creating a new definition of success today and see how it shifts your life.