Welcome to Day 13 of my blog series based on Judith Hansen-Lasater’s “A Year of Living Your Yoga.” While the book has 365 quotes, I picked only 30.

My goal is to stay close to 500 words excluding the quote.

Ready? …

October 3 — We bring the world our goodness. Too often, we focus on our faults and shortcomings. Today, remember that you can offer the world your best self.

YEAH! Let’s go!!!!!

“It’s not bragging if you can really do it.” — Babe Ruth

“Find a parade and get in front of it.” — Bill McGowan (founder of now long-dead communications company, MCI)

I prefer the first quote but the second one makes me laugh. It’s not so much that you’re stealing someone else’s thunder, it’s that you’re stealing someone else’s thunder.

Let’s adapt that second quote to allow ourselves to be a part of joy and to create joy as we share ourselves.

So instead of thinking that the cake you made was not as moist as you’d like it to be, give yourself a chest bump because YOU FREAKING MADE A CAKE! And EVERYONE LOVES CAKE!

In terms of yoga: go for it in that triangle pose! Don’t sweat the details, just feel the stretch and the breath and the lengthening and the fact that you’re balancing all your twisted open and bent-sideways body on your two powerfully extended legs and straight feet and one hand instead of grousing about how you wish you could go deeper into the pose — maybe this IS your triangle! Rejoice in it!

Who needs to be another Tara Stiles? The world doesn’t need another Tara Stiles — it’s GOT YOU!

Do you think I’m blowing smoke up your skirt?

I suppose I might be.

GIVE YOURSELF A HIGH FIVE THAT YOU BUSTED ME!

Here’s the thing: no one can make you feel good about you except you. Someone else might be the agent of that feeling, but you make the decision; you’re the one who allows it… You’re the one that says, “I dunno… I’ve been pretty contemplative all day; I’m not sure I’m ready to offer the world my best self… I feel like concentrating on my faults and shortcomings….”

NOT WITH HAIR LIKE THAT! You have awesome hair! NOT TO MENTION THAT SKIRT! DID YOU PICK THAT OUT? WHAT STYLE YOU HAVE!

I think this quote is pretty simple: snap out of it. Stop being such a jerk to yourself. If you’re a mother: HOT DAMN: you birthed those kids. If you’re not a mother, HOT DAMN: you know what you’re made of… (work with me here).

I’m not going to ask you to do this:

But … they work.

One of the comments on the YouTube page said that when he was a kid and watched these affirmations on SNL, he used to think they were hilarious; now that he’s gotten older, he sees them as a necessity.

The world can be a pretty harsh place. So many people project their own self-loathing and insecurities on to other people and it can do some damage. The goal is to become resilient and know that you’re really a pretty amazing person.

Just remember to be good to yourself.

Thank you.