I’ve put a lot of thought into the purpose of these posts, knowing that for me they could easily become a place for self-deprecation. I’m good at that. However, for once that is not what I want or what is needed. As women, I think, we too often look in the mirror and despise what we see. It may be for a multitude of reasons, not all of them our own fault. I really do want to lose weight, but more than that I want to become a healthier version of me. I also want to be more purposeful about seeing my beauty. Not a beauty which will appear simply because I lose the weight, or I style myself like someone else. I mean the beauty which is there now. Which has always been there if I could only pay attention to it.
Gary has always maintained that he finds me beautiful. I always quip that I’ll buy him glasses for his next birthday! Because, you see, I really don’t get it. I don’t see what he sees and yet the reflection which stares back at me in the mirror is the same he sees each day. But then he qualifies his answer. He says I am wrong. He doesn’t see what I see. He sees his wife of 17 years. He sees the mother of his children. He sees the good times and the hard times in our marriage. He sees a fighter. He sees laughter lines around my eyes because of all the fun we’ve had. He sees the woman I was, the woman I am and the woman I am becoming. He sees our life together. He sees how much I love him when I look at him. He sees my love for our children. And me? What do I see? I just see the physical reality of my reflection. He is right though. We are all so much more than our reflections.
And these posts? My desire is that they become a celebration of our lives as wives, mothers, daughters and friends. We are awesome just as we are. Loveable just as we are. We are children of God. And if we can dare to love this body we have, the only one we’ll ever have, we’ll probably find we look after it much better.
So, this week I am celebrating being me. I am thanking God for this body I have and this life I am living.
In addition some smaller victories this week include walking back from the leisure centre a couple of times, choosing the longer one hour route; buying smaller plates and therefore serving smaller portions and finding out that this is very clever psychology and works like a dream; cutting down from two slices of toast for breakfast to one when I realised I just wasn’t willing to give up butter. I’m still celebrating the utter joy of sleeping through the night even when I have a sick and very loudly snoring three-year old next to me all week. I wake, see to her needs and drift back of to slumber land again. Sleep will never be something I take for granted. Ever. And lastly, I am celebrating losing another 2Ib bringing my total weight loss to 12Ib. I have decided to post a photo every time I lose another ten pounds. I have quite a few lots of 10Ibs to lose so I imagine they’ll be quite a collage at the end!
So how has this week been for you? What victories have you had? What are you celebrating about being you this week? Please do share, however small (or large!) Any prayer requests for the coming week? Remember, you don’t have to have a blog to join in, just leave a message in the comments section below. I am so excited about the support we can give each other to become the best version of the person we have been created to be. I’ll be praying for you all this week and sending my support to you over the land and seas which separate us.