First of all, If you haven’t heard, a new site/community launched yesterday. And I ABSOLUTELY ADORE the message… (straight from their page over at Girl Body Pride)
Girl. – Because no matter what decade we find ourselves in, we share a desire to heal a piece of ourselves while doing everything within our power to make sure today’s daughters grow strong in mind before all else.
Body. – We are at war with the reflection we see in the mirror. It’s either too full or too thin or too curvy or not curvy enough.
Pride. – We all need to be reminded that we are worth everything at this very moment. Happiness is not something to be determined by a number on the scale or the tag in our clothing and Hollywood doesn’t get to tell our us, our daughters, sisters, friends, and cousins that we aren’t perfectly wonderful just as we are anymore.
Seriously y’all, go check it out. you might just find something that ressonates with you… I know I have.
When I went to the site, and read those words, I had to come to terms with something that was a tough pill to swallow.
I don’t like what I see in the mirror. Not really anyway.
Those words are hard to type for me because in truth, I know how far I’ve come… but when I look in the mirror, all I see if how far I have still to go.
I know better, but when I see models and “the perfect people” I compare myself with them… and it probably doesn’t help that I’m reminded of the lack of comparison by rejoining the dating pool at 36 but that’s another post entirely…
We are inundated with societies idea of beauty. It’s everywhere we look… the interwebs, magazine racks, TV, movies… I’ll admit I bought into it all… I believed that my own worth was tied to a number on a scale or the size dress I wore. I put my own self worth in something arbitrary instead of remembering who I really am…
This week I’ve been re-evaluating my goals. Re-defining myself by my own standards of who I am and who I want to be. My appearance is only part of it … a small part really, but will be the most obvious change to others. As I began to build out my own vision boards for inspiration, I was looking for images that fit MY definition of beauty… and? It was harder than I thought to be honest. Luckily for me, the Olympics are on… and then it hit me. THAT’s what I really want to become. Fit. Strong. Muscular. Healthy.
Women who work hard doing what they love and define themselves not by how they look but by their achievements and acomplishments.
And when I think about it like that, I remember again how far I’ve come.
And then… for a brief moment… I catch a glimpse in the mirror. not of what this vehicle looks like… but the real me. and in that moment, I smile. a genuine smile. a real smile. because I know – if only for the moment – that I am the same person I’ve always been. And She is Beautiful. Inside and out.
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