Enjoy Christmas More with Self Acceptance and Christmas Cookies

Is my body where I want it to be?  No.  Is that OK?  Yes.

As I sit in the living room, the  lights are  sparkling in the fireplace and the Christmas tree is blinking with its green, red and white lights.

The peace and contentment that I feel as I sit here, is only multiplied because of the self acceptance I have found around my body image these past two months.

I have achieved a very large portion of my dream.

Probably the hardest part – the inside work.

In the book the Magic of Self-acceptance by Dr. Michael Sharon, he states, that fear can be disguised in people who are extremely self-critical or low in self-esteem, who feel that they are not good enough, and who often find readable excuses not to proceed with daring projects and risk change. Such people will use all their rationale to come up with sensible, logical reasons to explain both to themselves and to others why a new plan won’t work. How do you discover fear? Look for any unsatisfactory issue in your life which you would like to change but do not feel free to make a decision about.

These are the ideas we ponder each week in our posts on 8 Women Dream.  Are we moving forward?  Are we stuck?  Are we resisting?

Jack Canfield says to stop looking outside yourself for the answers to why you haven’t created the life and results you want, for it is you who creates the quality of the life you lead and the results you produce. To achieve those things that are most important to you–you must assume 100% responsibility for your life.

Are we taking 100% responsibility for our dream, for our place on this dream team, are we doing all that we can to move our dreams forward? Or are we blaming others for where we are with our dream?

In what I do for a living I teach people 100% responsibility for where they are in their lives and hold them accountable for their actions.  I have done the same thing in working on my dream to live a healthier life by accepting myself as I am right here right now.

I have.  Even as . . .

My mother arrives from Michigan to bake cookies, and teach my daughter the art of cake decorating.  She will bake cookies of every kind, along with cinnamon rolls, and breads.  The trays will be filled then decorated elaborately as gifts for all our friends.

I can be fine with all this baking and food without taking my eye off the goal of staying healthy and accepting myself as I am.  So in honor of this I want to share with you our Christmas cookie recipe.

Below you will find the recipe for the Christmas cookies that have been in our family for generations.  I know it seems crazy, with my quest for a healthy lifestyle to suggest sugar cookies, but I must share the recipe – it’s Christmas! So enjoy!

The famous Christmas cut out cookies:

4 cups of all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, stir together flour and baking powder.  In another bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy and light.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Stir in flour mixture, a third at a time to make a stiff dough.  Divide dough into 4 pieces.  Roll out a portion of cookie dough to 1/4 inch thick.  Cut out shapes using cookie cutters.  Place on lightly greased or nonstick cookie sheets.  Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minute, rotating baking sheet halfway through cooking time.  Cool completely on pans about 5 minutes, transfer to cooling racks and cool completely before decorating.

Colored Icing:

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons water

3 to 4 drops food coloring, plus more as needed

Colored sprinkles, optional

In a small bowl, mix sugar and water to form a thick, smooth icing.  Stir in food coloring to reach desired shade.  Drop icing onto cookies using a small teaspoon and smooth with the back of the spoon.  Make additional bowls for additional colors.  Additional multi-colored sprinkles can be added on top of icing before it dries for more decorative cookies, if desired.

My mother and father have been married for 56 years.

This was to be the first Christmas that they have spent apart.  My mother wasn’t here 12 hours and my father was booking a flight.  He just simply could not do Christmas without my mother.

For the last 56 years, with my father at her side, my mother has found a passion that has given her great joy.   It is through this passion for cooking, that my mother found and accepted herself.

With this kind of an example for a mother, how could I possibly go wrong?  She is a shining example of someone who has found something she loves which feeds her soul.  Maybe I am content because in being a part of this dream group I feel like I am a part of something powerful, something life-changing and so I am happy – at peace.

Maybe it is the support I have from these 7 other women and the commentors on this blog.  Maybe it’s reading the posts over the last year that has changed me.  Maybe it’s the writing of the posts that has calmed my soul.  It’s like having an extended family who unconditionally supports you no matter what you do.

Maybe it’s the sugar in the Christmas cookies

This is what Christmas and life is all about: family.  Mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, children and grandchildren, husband and wives – and our extended family – those people who have signed on to our lives even though they don’t have to.

Blessings to all of you this holiday season and remember to love yourself exactly where you are.

Veronica

(Veronica’s dream is body satisfaction.  This includes losing weight, making her body strong, accepting her body image while trying to achieve a better one.  Veronica is a recovering alcoholic who has turned a liability into an asset.  She works with women who desire staying clean and sober and works with families as a interventionist)

DREAM GOAL:  May 16,2010 Bay to Breakers 12K

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