Seriously, why did I have to become 35 years old to hear this question for the first time?!? Instead I got asked / told “You don’t want to disappoint your mother, right?” “Be a nice girl and do ___.” “Don’t be so stubborn!” “One more bite for grandma, one more bite for your neighbor, one more …” etc, etc. Basically I was here to please others, be nice and quiet. The sad thing is that I got really good at being and doing all those things. It’s sad because I disconnected from my desires and I did a lot of things to receive approval from others. This turned out to be quite unhealthy, because I depleted my energy working for other’s desires or what I thought were their desires (not the same thing!). In return I expected to receive love, acceptance and praise. I got that, but I also heard variations of “Not good enough.” and this cut deep. I was trapped in a dilemma: the more I gave, the more I craved for approval and the less I received it. Not fun at all! It was my trust in my body’s wisdom that saved me. I knew that I had to get out of this situation and rebuild the basis of my worth within me, instead of my environment. I took a leap of faith and trust that my inner guidance in the form of bodily sensations and intuition will lead me to live my life with authenticity, passion and love.