Welcome to the Gun Show

So, you know those huge 5 gallon water containers that go on top of a dispensary so you have essentially a huge bottled water at your house to get fresh water out of? I have one of those and I LOVE it. What I don't love doing though is when we run out of the water jugs and I have to go get replacement ones. I don't know why I dislike it so much but I do- maybe just because lugging them around is awkward but whatever - really the point that I'm trying to make here (Yes, I do have a point) is that I had to go replace my empty ones a few days ago.

I go to Lowe's, and promptly park in the loading only zone right by the exit- I might be fit but that doesn't mean I'm looking to haul five of these big guys around the parking lot. I go inside and tell the lady at the register what I need. She goes over and starts grabbing me a push cart, and I just say to her, "Oh no, that's ok. I'm parked just outside so I'll just make a few trips." I grab the first two and as I'm leaving I notice that she's watching me kind of oddly... maybe not oddly... maybe curiously is a better word. I come back in and grab two more and the lady comes up right next to me.

"Wow, you are strong. I thought I had big arms but look at yours!" She exclaimed pretty loudly.

To be honest, I'm not sure what my face looked like initially. We all have those body parts that for years we have longed to change and for me... that's my arms. I always wanted smaller but really toned arms (like, think Kelly Ripa... my arms look like they ate Kelly Ripa's arms).

Right after she said it, I might have made a small grimace, but that moment passed and I found myself smiling at her and saying, "Thank you, they do a lot of work for me."

I'm sure that men do this too, but I know that women rip their bodies apart on a day to day basis.

My stomach isn't flat enough.

My hips are too wide.

My butt is too flat.

My legs are too short.

My boobs are too small/big/saggy (lots of complaints in this region).

There are many reasons why we might feel that way, or why we do this to ourselves, but we need to install a new narrative.

To change the narrative we need to start recognizing what we like about it instead of focusing on why we don't. This doesn't happen overnight and can take a really long time. For my arms it was always just being grateful that they were strong and capable. My arms assist me in daily tasks that allow me to live the life that I want - I'm not sure I could ask for more than that. And I am willing to bet that there are things that the body part that you hate does for you too.

Loving yourself - ALL of yourself - is a key component in reaching your goals. You have to be willing to love yourself for where you are today to get where you want to be (I'll do a whole other blog post on THIS later).

So start with a small baby step. Think about those things that you dislike. Make a list if you need to, but make sure there are two columns - why you currently don't like it, AND why you SHOULD. Until we change this narrative,

body shaming ourselves and others will continue to tear us down while we should be building up. If you tell yourself everyday why you should love a body part, who knows, it might not be too long before you find yourself BELIEVING it.

#selflove #selfesteem #bodyimage