A Letter To My Younger Self

Dear Me,

Right now you are 20 years old. You have led quite the life up to this point. I promise your future will be just as eventful. I'm a little more than a year away from your 40th birthday. I wanted to talk to you for a minute about your body.

You live in Florida and you always wear jeans unless you are at the beach because you hate your legs. You despise the light stretch marks on your hips that you've had since your growth spurt in the 5th grade. You are incredibly self-conscious about the slight pudge in the lower part of your belly. You think your cheeks are fat and they make you look like a chipmunk. You have always thought your boobs and butt were too small. You have always been your worst critic. But I need you to listen to me. 

Think about things rationally for a minute. Do you think that bodies get better over time? People are not fine wine. Metabolism slows down. Skin gets wrinkly. Joints swell and fill with fluid. Things sag. You know that saying, "You don't know what you've got til it's gone?" Well sweetheart, it's not gone yet, but it's on the way. Your body has done amazing things. It has created and nourished two lives. You should be very proud. But what I wouldn't give to have back all the things you complain about. 

So please, for both our sakes, enjoy your body. Wear the short shorts and show off those legs. Wear the heels. Stop worrying about other people judging you. Don't hide behind those big clothes hoping people won't notice your imperfections. Quit sucking in your stomach all the time. Breathe. Laugh. Be happy.

You end up with the best husband ever and some amazing kids. Your future is taken care of. So for now, just be yourself. LOVE yourself. Your body is beautiful.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Frog Update- The Results Are In

Image
Approaching the date of Frog's three year checkup Jason and I decided to tighten up on Leland's gluten free diet. That meant no cheating whatsoever. That may sound easy to some, but you can't really explain to a small child why he can't eat the same foods as his brother. Likewise it's not fair to an older child to have him eat his favorite foods far away from his little brother. We decided though, that it was the right choice despite the challenges. About a week after we started being insanely strict we started to see improvements. Frog began sleeping better and having less stomach problems. His sleep study was scheduled for two days later. It took a while to settle him down, but he actually took the ordeal like a champ. He endured the half hour of hooking him up without much protest. We were instructed that his cannula had to stay in, so I fought with it several times in the night. Aside from some occasional fussing he slept pretty well, just as he had done t...
Read more

I Hope You Know

Image
About six months after Daddy and I started dating he made an announcement. He said we were getting a chihuahua. He explained that his family's dogs had a litter of them and he had always wanted a white one. I told him that I really wanted it to be a girl. He said, "You're in luck, there is a girl that's white." The excitement began, and we impatiently awaited the call to come pick up our new addition. When your litter was six weeks old we were told you were weaned and we got the green light.  We drove all the way out to Jay and found a kiddie pool full of the smallest puppies I had ever seen. They pointed out which one was ours, and she was beautiful. She was also a little reserved. She stayed put in the pool and looked at us curiously. You pounced right to us, and beckoned us to play with you. It was that exact moment that you stole our hearts. Dad looked at me and asked what I thought. I told him that I was a little nervous that the first one would be stand offi...
Read more

Orifice Reducers

Image
Let's talk orifice reducers. An orifice reducer is the piece of plastic inside your bottle of Young Living essential oil. It allows you to pour the oil out one drop at a time. You might ask yourself, "Don't essential oils break down plastic?" Yes, they usually do, but not this kind. Young Living takes special care to only use really strong plastics with their oils to prevent leaching. You are not supposed to touch the orifice reducer. While it's true that YL essential oils don't expire, they can oxidize which will shorten the life of the oil. By touching the orifice reducer, you are shedding skin cells and dirt and whatever else into your oil. That will contaminate the oil and shorten its lifespan. Well, as Jen O'Sullivan says, "You have to know the rules, so you can break the rules." I touch my orifice reducers sometimes. However, I only do that with oils I know I'm going to use very quickly. If it's an oil that I replace every ...
Read more