The Word Is Love-Lessons in Self-Acceptance, Relationships & Other Things That Really Matter

by Allyson Clayton

Overview

In the summer of 1998, after feeling sick for so long, I got the diagnosis that changed my life changed forever. I the autoimmune disease lupus. With it came chronic pain, fatigue and a host of other frightening symptoms that took over every minute of my every day.

For years I managed my life and responsibilities in the shadow of illness. I struggled to be happy. Anger consumed me. I grew tired as I mourned the former me.

After grappling with the realities of compromised health for well over ten years, and grieving the loss of a parent, I arrived at a place where I didn't want to be angry, scared and sad anymore. I wanted to focus on what was good. I wanted to stop raging against my body for its perceived failures. I longed to revisit a long held dream: to be a writer. To start my journey to a better and more peaceful life, I needed to shift expectations, of myself, others and the world.

The Word Is Love-Lessons in Self-Acceptance, Relationships & Other Things That Really Matter explores the beginning of this long overdue journey, presented in a collection of essays about my experiences.

In a world filled with shiny, frivolous things and the constant pressure to be perfect and keep up, there is a joy that comes from being firmly in touch with what I value. As painful as it has been, illness and loss have had a hand in my evolution. They have put me on the road to what I am meant to do, and the person I am meant to be.

The path to fully appreciating all that is good in our lives never really ends. There will always be good, wonderful days when we are able to see things clearly; and there will always be challenging days when the negative get the best of us. I want to keep perspective so the good outweighs the bad.

Now that I am on my way, I know what I want to achieve.

I want to be well.

I always want to know love in my life and fully cherish my amazing family and friends.

I want to love what I see when I look in the mirror, honor my talents and like the person I am inside.

I want to embrace simplicity, focusing less on things and more on experiences, because moments feed my soul one million times more than things ever could.

And I want to know that aspirations are never beyond my reach.

I want all of these things for everyone.

The Word Is Love celebrates what is important. I hope you join me in the celebration, and it leads you to a place of happiness, self-acceptance, potential, and a love for what matters.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940044833418
Publisher:	Allyson Clayton
Publication date:	08/23/2012
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	495 KB

About the Author

After many years of the usual grind, I began to reassess everything. I had many things to be happy about, but life and routine began to chip away at my soul. I was exhausted. Something just wasn't right. I had been living with health challenges for well over a decade, and all that time I was managing and making it work. It just reached a point where something had to give.

The time had come for me to work toward my best, happiest place.

My philosophy? Our lives begin and end, and it all goes so terribly fast. I want to make the most of what goes in between.

I am very much a work in progress. I imagine I always will be. In sharing the realities, humor and struggles of my marriage and relationships, loving myself, and finding the awesome things in this world that move me, I hope you can find it in yourself to do the same. Do whatever excites you and makes you happy!

I have tons of dreams. I want to make my mark on the world, create fantastic, larger-than-life stories and publish them someday. I want to heal my body. I want to look in the mirror and love what I see, every minute of every day. I want to find inspiration all around me, and I want whatever I discover to make me better at everything I set out to do. I want happiness and adventures, with my husband and doggies along for the ride.

And above all, I want this world to be a place where love, humor, hopes, dreams, passions, talent, good health, compassion for self and others, and living life without reservation are all to be celebrated.