I haven't felt much like writing lately. That is a problem when part of what you are supposed to do for a living is write. When you are a creative type, you have days where the thoughts, ideas, emotions just pour out of you....and then you have days of late, where you feel less inspired. You have Picasso blue periods. 
You can get discouraged by little things, like this: I go and tell someone about the new way I have begun to think about my body. You may have remembered from a few posts back that I was spending time in the self-pity restaurantof dis pare because "my body was letting me down,"or betraying me. Welp, I decided that is just BULL-ony! I was the first one to do the betraying in this relationship!
I mean if we think of our bodies as another being that we are dating, how do we rate as partners? For me, I often put my body last on the "to do" lists, and didn't own up to the fact that mine wasn't going to be an easy affair, but rather a high-maintenance relationship that needed lots of attention and nurturing to keep it in balance. I didn't return my body's calls. I cheated on it. I called it names. If you don't have an easy body to deal with, (especially as a girl,) you KNOW it around age 6 or 7. But instead of accepting it, we waste all of our adolescence and young adulthood trying to talk this body into being something different. Yeah, yeah....blame genetics, bad luck, or whatever...but it was me that had to own this foregone reality and start thinking of my body as a valued asset despite its shortcomings--not an evil betrayer or bad spouse I was stuck with.
I shared my ideas with another person and said: I have a new outlook! I am now thinking of bodies as one-of-kind, priceless paintings on loan from the master painter of all time: GOD! I mean I always knew this was the case, but did I actively try to think of it that way? Not so much.
If I remove the idea of the body as being MINE (ego) and think of it more as HIS possession, and I am just the head caretaker...I realize just how poor of an employee I have been! I would have fired me long ago! We need to care for ourselves, ladies. I am not talking about acrylic nails, tanning beds, Mani/pedi's, designer clothes, $400 handbags, diamonds, or botox. I am talking about health and wellness. Vitamins, Vegetables, Fruits, Exercise (as little or as much as our particular Genetics demand,) and time to rest. Give your body what it NEEDS. We all have different needs. No talk show or self-help book has your blueprint on file. Only you can accurately gauge what you need. Vanity keeps alotta women (and men) poor. How much more screwed up would the global economy be if women stopped HATING their natural appearance and spent all the time and effort and MONEY they devote to superficially "looking good" to actually feeling good and doing what's best for their body, soul, and family? How much happier would these wrinkled, pale girls actually be? Newsflash from me, a Marketing Director: The free market is all just a big game of "I am cooler than you!" Come on, be smarter than that. None of those fools are cool, at all! Cool can't be bought, dyed, implanted, or any of that garbage. The really cool people already know that and they aren't buying.
Still aren't sure if you are worth the time and effort? (After all, we all have the critics, mean-girls, and haters who have made us feel less than deserving throughout our lives.)
You are worthy just by being born! You were designed to be original, not mass produced. You are the greatest craft project EVER! You are handmade. (Is it any wonder why we value these type of objects around us?) There was never a "mold".
Be a good spouse to your body. Polish up the artwork and beauty God has made with your physical being by listening to it and putting yourself at the top of the list. Don't be the last to notice how great you are.
SOOOO....I spilled my ideas and heart about this, and the person I told wrote a whole piece about it, using my exact words as her own! Then, she had me proof it for her! Yikes. (I used my extra gooder proofing eyes for that there one!!!! UHHH!)
If she had asked, I wouldn't have minded at all. I would have been flattered that she valued this new outlook and idea enough to share it with her audience. It is just the act of being...what's the word...SHMARMY! It is just plain SHMARMY to use someone's ideas as your own without asking first. Anyhow, that's part of the discouraged writing mode. Now, on to caring more for MYSELF! ;)
The National Eating Disorders.org has this list of 20 ways to love your body. Enjoy!