A Thursday Resolution cont...
I'm over half way through my resolution and have to state for the record that this has been a refreshing change. I've actually done pretty well with this. I haven't got a perfect track record but I've done better than expected. It's been fun trying at least. That said here are a couple observations...
I am what I think about myself. It feels a little cliche but it's stinking true. So many times I've heard "attitude is everything" and scoffed at the thought that maybe if I just thought better about myself I'd feel better...shockingly I'm finding it to be the case. I don't know if I'm willing to apply this to everything yet but I may consider expanding the parameters of positive thinking just to see where it takes me. Last night I was reading about how luck finds people who expect to be lucky...can't hurt to give that a whirl too!
The external messages I see in the commercial world around me are primarily useless and influence how I feel more than is reasonable. I don't watch a lot of television, I love movies, and I only read cheap smut magazines on the plane so generally speaking, my life isn't inundated with ridiculous size 00 women who are on baby food diets or super shake meal plans that require a maximum of 900 calories a day (both of which are apparently new fad diets). Still I can't believe how many times I see what are overwhelmingly unrealistic and unhelpful visual "expectations" of how I'm supposed to look, feel, and move. My newest beef is with magazines like Whole Living which I would expect to shun the cultural norms and actually practice what they preach. That's another topic altogether. Trying to figure out how to filter the remaining onslaught remains a present challenge.
Women are too hard on each other. Of all people to be critical toward one another one would think women would at least have learned by now that we should be each others biggest fans. I know, I know, competition...blech! What am I competing against. I'm not on the Bachelor for crying out loud...*sigh*, again, another topic entirely. If it's too much of a stretch to be each others fans then can we at least just stop ripping on one another. Give it up. If you have time to tear into another woman because you're either jealous of her or she annoys the daylights out of you it might be time to find another hobby to consume your time like knitting, or kickboxing, or...I don't know, juggling. An aside, I'm super judgmental and critical so I'm adding daily yoga and yogurt eating to my routine.
I'm going to see how this resolution goes but I may consider extending it another week...time will tell.
I am what I think about myself. It feels a little cliche but it's stinking true. So many times I've heard "attitude is everything" and scoffed at the thought that maybe if I just thought better about myself I'd feel better...shockingly I'm finding it to be the case. I don't know if I'm willing to apply this to everything yet but I may consider expanding the parameters of positive thinking just to see where it takes me. Last night I was reading about how luck finds people who expect to be lucky...can't hurt to give that a whirl too!
The external messages I see in the commercial world around me are primarily useless and influence how I feel more than is reasonable. I don't watch a lot of television, I love movies, and I only read cheap smut magazines on the plane so generally speaking, my life isn't inundated with ridiculous size 00 women who are on baby food diets or super shake meal plans that require a maximum of 900 calories a day (both of which are apparently new fad diets). Still I can't believe how many times I see what are overwhelmingly unrealistic and unhelpful visual "expectations" of how I'm supposed to look, feel, and move. My newest beef is with magazines like Whole Living which I would expect to shun the cultural norms and actually practice what they preach. That's another topic altogether. Trying to figure out how to filter the remaining onslaught remains a present challenge.
Women are too hard on each other. Of all people to be critical toward one another one would think women would at least have learned by now that we should be each others biggest fans. I know, I know, competition...blech! What am I competing against. I'm not on the Bachelor for crying out loud...*sigh*, again, another topic entirely. If it's too much of a stretch to be each others fans then can we at least just stop ripping on one another. Give it up. If you have time to tear into another woman because you're either jealous of her or she annoys the daylights out of you it might be time to find another hobby to consume your time like knitting, or kickboxing, or...I don't know, juggling. An aside, I'm super judgmental and critical so I'm adding daily yoga and yogurt eating to my routine.
I'm going to see how this resolution goes but I may consider extending it another week...time will tell.
I too scoff that positive thinking will somehow change my life.. however, I am also willing to be WRONG! I have this thing/voice/nag/devil in my head that is pretty darn critical--so I don't even need help from the competition of other women!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, your experiment, I think, is an experiment of reverence. Reverence for yourself, your body, and for the other. I have always found you to be a reverent person, especially when it comes to the outdoors and the wildness of life. This new 'positive thinking' is another form of reverence. I've been reading An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor--I'm on my second go around because this is a book that you eat up and then have to go back and devour again. Her whole first chapter is on reverence and she talks about exactly what you are talking about.
So I today have practiced reverence in your footsteps and in attempting to not think to myself how out of shape I have become in the past four months and see myself with disgust but to interrupt myself and think, yeah, I have a body and a way to shape it. To think, I'm really good at some stuff instead of hating myself for the stuff I suck at!
Thank you, as always, for being a true inspiration. xoxox