For as long as I can remember I have hated my body. I was always the fat kid in elementary and the unlovable fat girl in high school. These views of what my body was always upset me because I worked out everyday, my diet was healthy, and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. Why could society not take this label away from me? Well, it took a mission and a few years at college to figure it out, but I figured it out nonetheless. I was looking at myself all wrong. It is SO easy to look at the Body Mass Index and categorize myself according to its standards. What the BMI doesn't do is take into account what my body can do.
My body hiked 5 miles yesterday. My body swims twice a week. My body walks and takes me everywhere I need to go. My body bikes for fun. My body climbs 6 flights of stairs in an average day. My body can give a hug. My body can smile and help bring a little bit of happiness to someone else. My body can do anything I train it to do. My body is more than what it looks like. My body is powerful. I am strong. Not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well. THAT is the kind of standard I will hold myself to. Not just how my body looks, but with what I do with this body.
Let's be a little kinder to each other and to ourselves. We all need it.
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