Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens.1 Thessalosians 5:16
There are days when squeezing chunky parts of me and staring at my reflection leave me ambivalent. Ambivalent in a way that I know I love myself but I'm just not happy with how I look during those "off days" (as I'd like to call it). I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Besides, I'm just being honest here. The road to self-love is not an easy direction to tread on as you may already know. It's not something that happens instantly. No one suddenly wakes up one day and says, "Wow, I love myself today!", then instantly finds hundreds of things to love about herself and immediately gains confidence that lasts perennially. Self-love is a long and difficult battle, which means you constantly have to remind yourself to love you. It's more of saying "Okay, I won't believe the lies that say I'm not beautiful and I don't deserve love. I'm committing to loving myself today." each and every time you wake up. It's a loyalty to yourself that you have to constantly stick to every single day.
I wanted to slap myself the moment I came across this photo after googling "body love". As I read how this girl was so grateful to her body and by far and wide transcended her superficiality towards herself, I realized that I had become oblivious to gratefulness and I was definitely being reminded to be thankful. Then it came to me--most of the time I whine is when I magnify my flaws and see my body as something only to be looked at and not as an awesome, amazing instrument that allows me to do a lot of things--wonderful things that let me savour life and live it to the fullest.
The photo above inspired me to look at my body in a different light from then on. It made me see my body with gratefulness towards all the wonderful things it allows me to do. Here's a list of things I'm thankful for my body for:
- My body endured eating disorders with me. I treated my body harshly for a long time and yet it didn't give up on me. It allowed me to survive and have a second chance at living healthy again.
- My legs (oh how I love my legs!) make me look longer and it can run fast! It jumped off the Macau Tower once when I did a sky jump! :)
- I love my arms because it can punch fast and hard when I box. And because it's where I can get creative and express myself with tattoos. :D My arms are also guilty for giving the best tight hugs ever!
- My shoulders allow me to carry heavy duffel bags and a digital camera simultaneously whenever we travel. :)
- My hands allow me to dig through piles of clothes and lift shopping bags!
- My hips allow me move! I like to dance (though I'm no good at it), play DDR, do Hip-Hop Abs and Turbo Jam wildly with 'em hips!
- My breasts aren't big (FINE! They're small) which make them easier to run with. They also look good in bustier tops! :)
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I encourage you to list things that you're grateful for body-wise. List down all the fun memories you've had with it, or you can also take a photo of your body and do your own version of the "body love" photo above. :) I assure you, you will feel uplifted and extremely blessed. :)
HAPPY THANKSGIVING PLUMPIES! :)
Keep loving your beautiful self,
Stacy