Go ahead, say it! I dare you!
And if you can't, then why not?
OK, I won't lie, it makes me giggle a little too just because I do feel a little bit like Stewart Smalley from SNL, the affirmation guy, you know, the one who says into the mirror, "Because I'm good enough! I'm smart enough! And doggone it, people like me!"
But if 2009 gave me anything, it was the ability to finally love myself. I realized it when I wrote this post about 2010.
Because what I did a lot of in 2009 was chasing.
I had made all these moves in my life trying to climb the corporate ladder, going on trips, trying to find myself and find something that always felt, well, missing. I moved clear across the country. I changed jobs. I ran away from myself. I ran away with myself. Only to get stuck in my own head and in the same place I was before. With something still missing.
Sure, I had a blast and I made great friends and I had a great job, but nothing felt complete. I thought getting married and starting a family would complete me and that all the chasing after happiness would end because the road would lead to my family. But even though I so completely loved my family, still, I was not complete.
So then I freelanced. I blogged. I took pictures. I played softball. I made friends. Took more trips. Wrote some more.
Still not there.
What on earth was this going to take and why can I not find contentment?
And then I went on the journey through weight-loss which turned out to be so much less about weight-loss and so much more about the journey itself, which was chock full of fears of failure, facing demons, and finding strength.
Who knew that facing something so physical would mean facing something so mental?
And that's when it happened. And coincidentally, it's why fad diets don't work. Because fad diets don't allow you the opportunity to face the music; to face obstacle after obstacle, on the way to building your character. Fad diets don't allow you to go through all these challenges, find out that yes you can actually do it, and allow you to revel in your accomplishments!
Every muscle burn, every hurdle, every time you thought you couldn't go on but did, every bit of support from your family, every person who inspired you, every person you inspired, every time you needed to dig deeper, watching your tiny sons run laps around your kitchen because they want to "race like Mommy", all of that builds character.
And it makes you love you.
So go ahead! Say it! Proudly! Just like me and Stuart Smalley!
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