I was recently asked to speak at an event, and when given the topic, I knew instantly what I would say. I grabbed my pen and note pad and began furiously writing, the words pouring out almost faster than I could write. What I wanted to say felt urgent, and important, and I wanted everyone to hear this message.

The topic…”I have a dream.”

Interestingly, my dream wasn’t for me. It was for everyone else. It was for you.

I had recently gone on a life-changing healing mission to rescue my wounded little girl, who I found even after decades of healing work was still partially hidden inside the box she had created as a child to feel safe. You can read about my journey and how I saved her here.

From this experience, I finally, fully recognized what all the spiritual masters and self-help books say, and I could see myself clearly. And what I want, more than anything, is the same for you.

My dream, is that one day, you can see in you what I finally saw in myself. That you can see who you truly are. And this is the dream that I scribbled out so ferociously on the page that day…

I have a dream that you realize you are whole, you are valuable, you are innately lovable exactly as you are. There is nothing you need to do, no one you need to please, nothing you need to change, no one you need to save. You don’t need to be more attractive, more intelligent, less outspoken or more successful. You just need to be you. And you are lovable and worthy of love exactly as you are.

I have a dream that you will love yourself as deeply as you love others. That you put up healthy boundaries and care for yourself fiercely, because you know above all else that you come first. That you are not meant to live for everyone else. You are meant to live for you.

I have a dream that one day, you will realize that you cannot do it all, because you were not meant to do it all.  You were not meant to do everything and be everything for everyone else. That you forgive yourself for not fitting into this broken model of what it means to be valuable, and instead you create a new model, where the only measure of success is that you are the truest version of yourself.

I have a dream that you will realize that you don’t need anyone else’s acceptance, approval, or permission. For anything.

That you will stop. Stop everything that does not serve you. Stop living for everyone else and worrying about everything and thinking you’re not good enough. You are divine!!! And your only job is to love yourself and take care of yourself so fully and so fiercely that you finally see who you truly are…Spirit. Source. Divine Love.

And from there, you realize you are whole, so you no longer need to please anyone or change anything. You are just you, and that is divine. And that love and peace spreads into everything that you do and everyone you meet. It is life changing…for everyone…but you do it for you.

I have a dream that you will realize that you are not broken, you did not fail and no matter where you are in life or what has happened, you can use your experience to break you open to become more of who you truly are. More of your authentic self.

That you will one day realize that every experience, every relationship, every circumstance holds a gift for you to see what is within you that needs to be seen, that needs to be healed, that needs to be loved and accepted…by you.

That you realize you are in great need of love, from yourself, and that you will give yourself this love.  That you will give yourself the space to be vulnerable, to feel your feelings, to grieve the long-buried pain. To hold this wounded part of yourself in love, and then get quiet, tune in, and ask yourself, “What do you need love?” And after that, “What would light you up? What would bring you joy?” And then you will do that thing.

That you will love yourself so fiercely and so deeply that you won’t let anyone, or anything pull you out of your peace.

That when you are triggered and start to blame and get upset, you stop and say, “No! I will not let this take me out! I will not give away my power!” And instead of going outward and focusing on the “problem” or the person, you will instead go within and find the gift, the lesson, the healing. And that when you are sad or scared or lonely, you will not turn on the TV, pick up your phone and start scrolling through social media, find comfort in a bag of chips, a bar of chocolate, a tub of ice cream, or a bottle of alcohol. That instead, you will sit with this part of yourself and allow the feelings to come and the tears to flow. That you will allow the pain that is coming up to be seen and healed so you can love yourself even deeper. So that you can gather up the wounded, split-off parts of yourself and love them back into wholeness.

And most of all, I have a dream that you will find that deep, peaceful, whole place within and live from that space. In total love, in total freedom from everything else. Because you know deep within you, in every cell of your body, that you are whole, you are love, you are loved, and you are worthy of absolutely everything.