Do you ever feel like you are wearing a mask?  Hiding a part of yourself you want so very much to show and express – yet you constantly stop yourself from doing so?  You want to be that lean person wearing the Hip and Now Fashions, even a pair of Skinny Jeans may fit the bill. Or how about the clothes you’ve already got?  You want to be fit and trim and have your arms stop waving when you yell out hello to your neighbors across the street.

Or maybe, like me, you want to be more like Diane Keaton in “Something’s Gotta Give” – one of my favorite movies.  I just love Diane’s character Erica’s lifestyle in the movie.  She’s got it all – the beach home, the apartment in the city, a fantastic, successful career, a vibrant social life, a loving family and an ensuring romance brewing and most importantly a great sense of humor.  Sounds ideal doesn’t it?  Well you may say: “only in the movies”…well hold on now – maybe it’s possible to have some of your fantasies come true in real life, too.

We all want meaningful spiritual connection with others that’s a given.  We want the physical body of our dreams, too.  Oh and how about the great relationship thrown in as well.  But what about the roles we already have – the masks we already wear?  Do they perhaps hold some of our dreams as well?   We have the wife mask, the professional mask, the mom mask – giving you the genes you need in order to make the perfect cupcake.  Talk about pressure if don’t have the cupcake genes and you’re a mom!    You probably have more that one mask – we all do.  It’s time to take off the masks that aren’t right for you and stop doing what you think you should and start doing what you’d love to. Irresponsible?  Not really it’s actually very responsible and very honoring to you and everyone in your life.

At the beginning of a new year I always suggest you give yourself time to rest and heal from the last 12 months.  Give yourself the opportunity to discover what you like about your self and your present life.  It’s vital you do so.  It’s when you don’t take the time that things start to fall apart.  You stop taking good care of the important things – like eating well, exercising, getting enough quality sleep and tolerating relationships that may not be all that healthy for you.  When you slow down you get to figure out – often by listening to your gut feelings what’s right and what’s not.  If you are running around too much or trying everything you can to avoid being with yourself you will never re-discover what excites you and makes your heart sing.

Believe it or not your food choices and healthy habits are directly related to the things that really matter in your life like your healthy relationships, healthy professional life, and your ability to express yourself creatively.  You need to be more transparent, more honest with yourself to be fully healthy. When you strip away irrelevant masks (or roles) any health or weight challenges you may have will begin to disappear.  So simply wear the beautiful masks that enhance you and are fun to wear – and wear them confidently.