You are a wonderful woman. You love the woman you have become. Yes, sometimes your confidence slips, or you don’t feel you’re doing your best, but you have accepted the woman that you have become.

Acceptance doesn’t mean complacency. You can embrace yourself, even as you try to change those things about yourself which don’t make you happy. Relax . . . it isn’t a crime.

Does that mean that deep down, in the secret crevices of your being, you’re not being authentic if, on the one hand, you say you love yourself and, on the other hand, you’re trying to change things about yourself?

No . . . of course not. All that means is that you are a work-in-progress.

Still, as a midlife woman, you’ve made the ultimate connection. You make yourself the priority. You’ve learned to forgive yourself. You take responsibility for your own happiness. You give back to yourself. You appreciate yourself. You’ve relaxed that harsh self-judgment thing that you used to have going on. There’s a good reason for all of this:

You’re finally there . . . you’re feeling more connected to the woman you are.