Your Beautiful Body Challenge

When we are here on this planet in this lifetime, our beautiful body is our home.

It’s the embodiment of who we are. It’s what people see when they call our name.

Which is why it is SO offensive when anyone hates on your amazing body (and that includes you).

Your body is the reason WE get to enjoy your company.

You would not be here if your body wasn’t working overtime to grow new cells and repair damage and fight off invaders and keep you alive.

I love learning about biology, because it makes me realize that my body is far more intelligent than I ever gave it credit for. My body knows how to do all these things that I couldn’t do even if I TRIED!

(And it does it all automatically, beneath my conscious awareness, so I can be free to get on with living. How awesome is that!)

But sometimes I DO hate on my body.

Sometimes I get mad at it.

I get mad when I’m tired and I don’t have any energy and I drop things or break things. I get mad when my brain doesn’t work and I forget things. I get mad when I come down with a cold right when I can’t afford it.

I remember what my body was like in my 20s, when I could push it and push it and feel like it would obey my every command.

I could make it stay up all night or walk 20 miles while fasting (not a smart idea) or climb up a mountain in heels (again, NOT smart).

I get frustrated that my body limits me now, telling me in no uncertain terms that I need 9 hours of sleep at night and I need regular meals and I need to stop instead of keep going.

What I’ve come to realize is that my body has ALWAYS wanted those regular meals and 9 hours sleep and that rest, but I wasn’t good at listening.

I was like those young kids who get a brand-new car and drive it into the ground because they don’t realize that just because a car can go 100 mph doesn’t mean it should.

One of the gifts of age is the realization that our bodies have served us well, as well as they could under the circumstances, and it’s up to us to look after them if we want them to keep going.

We can’t keep starving our bodies.

We can’t keep exercising until we drop.

We can’t keep sitting inside in front of screens.

We can’t keep staying up late.

We can’t keep feeding our bodies packaged foods.

We’ve got to invest in these babies.

Invest in sleep.

Invest in sunshine.

Invest in fresh air.

Invest in sweet words.

Invest in caresses.

I don’t care what the world thinks of your body. I don’t care what the mirror shows.

Your body is life, and it’s YOU, and that makes it precious.

So please…

Take care of it.

Think of 3 things you’re not doing right now for your body that you should be doing.

Things your body would really like.

Things that would make your body SO happy.

And commit to doing them.

Your body is your best, most loyal friend. It will never abandon you, no matter how much you hate on it.

So why not repay some of what it’s given you over the years?

When we treat our bodies with tenderness and care, rather than shouting at them and looking at them in disgust, something happens.

We start to see just how fragile we are, and just how fragile everyone else is.

I know it’s “funny” to make fun of celebrities and their terrible outfits, or recoil in mock horror at that actress over the age of 40 who shouldn’t be wearing a bikini, or pay close attention to who’s put on weight or lost it.

But those bodies are LIFE bearers.

Bodies have just one job, and that’s to keep us ALIVE, and they’re completely focused on that.

It’s cruel to make bodies responsible for beauty standards that we made up and imposed on them.

The more love you lavish on your own body, the less you want to talk about other people’s bodies. You know everyone is doing the best they can.

Our relationships with our bodies are such a personal matter. Who are we to judge when we don’t live inside another person’s skin?

Obviously, I feel really passionately about this!

I know too many beautiful people who feel shame because their bodies don’t look the way they think they should… and as a result they don’t look after themselves very well, like they don’t believe they’re worthy of being taken wonderful care of.

I hope you know you’re worthy of being taken wonderful care of.

Your body is a good body. It’s doing the very best it can. It just needs help sometimes.

So think of 3 things you’re going to do to look after yourself better, whether it’s get more rest, take your body out for more walks, or drink less, and start TODAY.

I’m so glad you’re here on this earth at this time, and I appreciate your beautiful body for making YOU possible.