We’re at day 100, and I look back at the other 99 days and feel a sense of peace. We’ve explored a lot together over that time, and the most important message that I’ve discovered is that each of us matters.

We have something wonderful to share with the world.

The good that we all can do starts from within.

External validation is not our driving force. What matters is that we believe and love ourselves.

Let’s think about that for a bit. If we chase after other people’s validations, we’ll be constantly led by feelings of insecurity. What our boss thinks about us doesn’t matter in the long run. Neither does what our spouse thinks of us.

That might sound controversial at first, but is it truly?

Yes, we can receive feedback from those all around us, but our driving motivation and our self-worth are driven from within.

We do not need someone else to love us in order to love ourselves.

As adult children of alcoholics and dysfunctional families, often, the fear of abandonment is strong in us. When we needed a stable person in our lives as kids, we often didn’t get that.

Now that we’re adults turning to another or an addiction to fuel our self-worth would be perpetuating a cycle of generational dysfunction.

The new beginning that we’ve embarked on is seeing that we matter.

If you can look yourself in the mirror, smile, and say, “I love myself,” that is a strong first start.

The skills we need to practice in our lives are laid out in this book, and in many others like it.

We need to take care of our body, mind, and spirit and focus on our boundaries.

The new beginning that’s before us is a path of self-exploration and the freedom to live a life of happiness.

You deserve to be happy. Not because I say so, but that you are intrinsically worthy.

The challenge is: What are you going to do about it?

Making lasting good habits is hard but not impossible.

I hope you make time each day to take care of yourself and to build upon the habits we’ve explored in this book. I invite you to go back, read the pages again (by picking a random entry each day), and to allow yourself to be loved.

If you believe yourself worthy and open yourself up to the world, possibilities will become available to you in ways that you could not have foreseen.

If not today, then when?

Like what you’ve read? Be sure to check out my other posts in my Let Go and Be Free blog.