Even though it is temporarily easier to opt out of life so we don’t get hurt, in the long run it becomes much harder. Each easy individual decision to now show up adds up to a much harder life down the line. When you stop showing up for life because it has hit you upside the head (however understandable that is), eventually if you stop showing up for life it will stop showing up for you.

And as one of my favorite authors Alan Cohen once said, "Show up as your full self and the rest will take care of itself."  What Alan means, is to show up in life as your authentic self, with your heart wide open.

You can start showing up again. Start small but start. It can start with changing the way we choose to think from ‘Things never work out to me” to ”Something good is just around the corner”, from “I can’t be bothered” to “I’m going to make the effort tonight and see what happens”. They don’t have to be big things but they are all deliberate steps to re-engage and show up for life.

Your responsibility is to learn to love yourself and appreciate yourself just as you are. How do you do that? How do you cultivate self-love and self-acceptance in a world that constantly compares you to others, tells you that you must do more and have more in order to feel worthy? You do this by taking a journey deep inside yourself. Everything that is essential is inside of you.

Accept yourself as you are, with all your imperfections in this moment, and have patience and understanding for your journey struggling to be a human being. We are all on the same journey -- the journey to self-acceptance. And when you take a leap and show up for what you want in your life then health, love, friendship, laughter, connection, and learning will start showing up for you in return quicker than you could ever imagine!