Embrace
I recently watched the Netflix documentary, Embrace, and feel so inspired. If you have never heard of the film, I will give you a brief synopsis. Five years ago, Taryn Brumfitt, hit the social media network hard with a before and after body post. It was not a typical before and after we are used to seeing on social media. Taryn posted a before photo of her body building body, side by side to her post children body, sharing a message of loving and embracing your body. The documentary follows Taryn as she travels to talk to women of all different shapes, sizes, ethnicity and ages to discuss body image. The end message, embrace your body as it is.
In my 30 years of living I've spent less than 1/3 even liking my body. In fact I've spent most of it being so consumed with how to obtain the perfect body, I wasn't really even living.
What do you consider to be a 'perfect body'? Is there such a thing? I've looked at all facets of life and I've always said, 'Nothing's perfect'....but for some reason I didn't believe that was the case for my body.
When I was deep into my eating disorder I weighed about 35 pounds less than what I weigh now. I had awesome hip bones sticking out, you could see my spine and rib cage slightly, maybe even a thigh gap....can you sense the sarcasm? None of this was awesome, and at the time, I still saw myself as not enough, fat, ugly, and still needing to lose a few more pounds in order to be happy. That last one was all a lie, even if I lost a few more pounds it would not have been enough.
Luckily, I woke up one day, and something switched in my brain...this was no way to live.
How much time do you find yourself telling yourself, 'I shouldn't eat that', 'I want to lose a few more pounds', 'I'm too fat', 'I'm not toned enough'...the list goes on and on. I've spent a majority of my life telling myself these things, and even though I remember a lot of the good times in my life, I also remember how I felt during them. I could have enjoyed those times even more if there wasn't that nagging voice in the back of my mind bringing me down. It's so easy to lose sight of more important things when we are surrounded by stories in the magazines, on TV and social media, telling us what we need to do to achieve the 'perfect body'.
I don't want to assume that you believe in God, or that you don't, whatever you believe, just remember that we were all created to be different and unique. No two people have the same exact body, no two people have the same exact thoughts. No two people are exactly the same.
When did we stop embracing our unique selves and want to conform to the rest of society?
To quote Taryn:
“Your role in life is not to spend it at war with your body; go out there and do something with your life, contribute, and reconnect with how you feel in life and get some more balance back. It’s not about how you look. And that comes back to the quote I always say, ‘Your body is not an ornament; it is the vehicle to your journey.’”
Wow. I know for me I've spent too much time worrying about making my body an 'ornament' and not taking enough time to recognize it as a 'vehicle'. Ornaments are decorative pieces and nice to look at for a season, and nothing more than that. A vehicle is a necessity to get us from point a to b. Whether you see a vehicle as a car, bus, bike or your legs, we couldn't get around without any of those things. Recognizing our bodies as a 'vehicle' will allow us to focus on fueling it, being kind, taking care of it. I mean, would you drive your car with the fuel gauge on 'E' with 4 flat tires and a broken windshield? You can certainly try, but I don't think you'd get very far.
When I was in treatment, we constantly said 'Fake it till you make it!' I find myself living this daily. If you tell yourself something everyday, you will eventually start to believe it. This is true when we feed our brains both positive and negative thoughts. Every morning I speak positive affirmations over myself and my day. It really works, my mindset is completely turned around when I do this, and it makes each day fulfilling.
Try doing something for yourself everyday, or once a week. Try saying positive words over your day. Try staying in the moment and embracing the beauty of the world around you. When you feel ready, try embracing your body and the beauty that lies within you.
https://media4.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2015_19/526481/taryn-brumfitt-image_05c57715545da1ac93abb959899947bb.today-inline-large.jpg
In my 30 years of living I've spent less than 1/3 even liking my body. In fact I've spent most of it being so consumed with how to obtain the perfect body, I wasn't really even living.
What do you consider to be a 'perfect body'? Is there such a thing? I've looked at all facets of life and I've always said, 'Nothing's perfect'....but for some reason I didn't believe that was the case for my body.
When I was deep into my eating disorder I weighed about 35 pounds less than what I weigh now. I had awesome hip bones sticking out, you could see my spine and rib cage slightly, maybe even a thigh gap....can you sense the sarcasm? None of this was awesome, and at the time, I still saw myself as not enough, fat, ugly, and still needing to lose a few more pounds in order to be happy. That last one was all a lie, even if I lost a few more pounds it would not have been enough.
Luckily, I woke up one day, and something switched in my brain...this was no way to live.
How much time do you find yourself telling yourself, 'I shouldn't eat that', 'I want to lose a few more pounds', 'I'm too fat', 'I'm not toned enough'...the list goes on and on. I've spent a majority of my life telling myself these things, and even though I remember a lot of the good times in my life, I also remember how I felt during them. I could have enjoyed those times even more if there wasn't that nagging voice in the back of my mind bringing me down. It's so easy to lose sight of more important things when we are surrounded by stories in the magazines, on TV and social media, telling us what we need to do to achieve the 'perfect body'.
I don't want to assume that you believe in God, or that you don't, whatever you believe, just remember that we were all created to be different and unique. No two people have the same exact body, no two people have the same exact thoughts. No two people are exactly the same.
When did we stop embracing our unique selves and want to conform to the rest of society?
To quote Taryn:
“Your role in life is not to spend it at war with your body; go out there and do something with your life, contribute, and reconnect with how you feel in life and get some more balance back. It’s not about how you look. And that comes back to the quote I always say, ‘Your body is not an ornament; it is the vehicle to your journey.’”
Wow. I know for me I've spent too much time worrying about making my body an 'ornament' and not taking enough time to recognize it as a 'vehicle'. Ornaments are decorative pieces and nice to look at for a season, and nothing more than that. A vehicle is a necessity to get us from point a to b. Whether you see a vehicle as a car, bus, bike or your legs, we couldn't get around without any of those things. Recognizing our bodies as a 'vehicle' will allow us to focus on fueling it, being kind, taking care of it. I mean, would you drive your car with the fuel gauge on 'E' with 4 flat tires and a broken windshield? You can certainly try, but I don't think you'd get very far.
When I was in treatment, we constantly said 'Fake it till you make it!' I find myself living this daily. If you tell yourself something everyday, you will eventually start to believe it. This is true when we feed our brains both positive and negative thoughts. Every morning I speak positive affirmations over myself and my day. It really works, my mindset is completely turned around when I do this, and it makes each day fulfilling.
Try doing something for yourself everyday, or once a week. Try saying positive words over your day. Try staying in the moment and embracing the beauty of the world around you. When you feel ready, try embracing your body and the beauty that lies within you.
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