We can shift the world through love, but we must have love in our own hearts first. -Daily Om
Recently, Kristen and I read Daring Greatly by Brene Brown, which is about understanding shame, embracing vulnerability, and ‘enoughness.’
At Well-Balanced Nutrition, we see folks, mostly women, at all different parts of their wellness journey. Last week, I saw a young woman who had lost nearly 50 lbs three years ago and maintained her weight loss until recently. She put on 5 lbs after starting a new relationship and “getting more liberal,” in her eating habits. She came to see me about losing the weight after spending all of January following her healthy diet (with no change on the scale… frustrating!).
Shortly thereafter, a good friend explained her own dissatisfaction with “those last 3 pounds she couldn’t lose,” and proceeded to berate herself for eating a handful of M&Ms.
While reading Daring Greatly, I kept thinking of all my loved ones and how much I wanted them to read this book too. It’s so easy to get swept up in feeling inadequate, shameful, or unwanted. Our basic human desires are to belong and all too often that is tied to our body weight, shape or pants size. The story we tell ourselves is if those numbers don’t match the societal or our personal expectations then we’re not good enough. As Kristen put it, “We all fight the voices that tell us, if only I had ____, I would be _____. You can fill in the blanks.”
Food for thought:
A couple weeks ago Kristen wrote about Getting rid of perfection and embracing enough. Did you notice the inner voice she mentioned?
What would you tell your daughter, sister, or bestie who is shaming herself about the handful of M&Ms?
It’s time we start to love ourselves for who we are. Remember, we must first show love to ourselves in order to share love with those around us.
Here’s the one thing we really want you to know: You are beautiful, just the way you are!
