No More Pressure!

Do you ever get tired of reading headlines that glorify certain weights and sizes? Articles about a “famous someone” who just had a baby and is now a size 0 or about another one who dared to go out in a swimsuit before her body was “beach ready”. There’s pressure coming from every source, telling us: “you’re too skinny” or “you’re too fat”. The words may be different but the message is the same: “You’re not good enough” and the sad part is that many people believe it.

There are many things I love about growing wiser with the passing of the years and one of those things is the fact that I like myself. I love myself and I can now say it loud without feeling guilty, conceited or arrogant. I’m not perfect but I like the skin I am in. There’s a lot I want to improve, but that doesn’t mean I’m not good enough. The idea of perfection and eternal beauty that society wants to sell us is not real and I’ve decided I will not buy into it. A number on a scale is not going to define how I feel about myself.  What I really want is to become stronger.  I want to be stronger physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

Becoming stronger physically means something different for each person. It could mean being stronger than the desire to sleep one more hour in the mornings and instead getting up to do exercise. It could be the ability to stop eating something unhealthy or doing one extra rep of a tough exercise. It could be running a marathon or walking half a mile. Each goal is as unique as each of us and there’s no need to compare.

The other day my daughter got a part in a film in which she needed to do some major training at the Buckhead Fight Club, a place I had not heard of and one in which I felt a little out of place at first, since it’s a tough looking boxing training area. The people who go there are serious about their boxing and I didn’t think I fit in.  But as I saw my daughter train and how cool it looked and how nice everyone was, I decided to try the boxing fitness class and to my surprise I loved it!  I could never fight in the ring; it’s not my thing, but I can push my limits as I train harder than I ever thought I could. I can punch those sacs not worrying about a thing while I know I am doing something good for my body. I felt out of my comfort zone at first, but stronger and something as simple as a boxing class gave me a new perspective.

Now it’s your turn: Would you like to focus more on yourself and what you are looking for instead of your size and weight? What do you think could help you be stronger? Is there something you’ve been wanting to try and just haven’t? What are you waiting for?

Manuelita  @manuelitaotero