Choice is great for human rights, but sometimes it doesn't feel like a choice. For a lot of women the pursuit of having it all includes extreme bouts of anxiety, self-doubt, insecurity, and depression. What woman -- or any person of any gender -- would choose that? It's because having it all in American culture isn't a choice -- it's a gendered expectation.

What if you were as kind to yourself as you are to your best friends? Using a self-compassionate approach to your areas of growth can simplify the process. Being kind to yourself means there are no extra layers of judgement, isolation, or over-thinking that can stand between you and your goals.

It takes a village to raise a child. To teach them life lessons, to give them love, and to structure an environment in which that child belongs. Adults need a village, too. We all need a village. We all need a network of people who care about us to help guide us through life’s big milestones.

The approaching new year creates a universal hope that the trials and tribulations of this year don’t plague us in the next. The hope that things will be different in the new year, and you’ll finally be happy or successful or fulfilled, and that you know just what you have to do to get there. But, sometimes we can take these goals a bit too far and this layer of urgency can make our new years resolutions unhealthy.

If you only give yourself kindness when you’ve done everything right, are you really giving yourself kindness? Sometimes it’s easier to look in the mirror and ignore the parts you don’t like. But the parts of your identities that are most difficult for you are the parts that need your love most.