Did you know that today is National Love Your Body Day? I didn’t, until Emily drew my attention to it with a great post about the fact that her body is basically awesome. After reading it, I realized two things: 1) my body is awesome, too (and so is yours!), and 2) I should be celebrating National Love Your Body Day (let’s call it LYBD, because who doesn’t love an acronym?).
image via NOW Foundation
LYBD is exactly what it sounds like: a day during which we should try to put aside all the issues we have with our bodies, and focus on loving them. And while I may not have found out about the day early enough to spend a full 24 hours in celebration of it, who’s to say I shouldn’t try a little harder to incorporate some of the ideas behind LYBD into my daily life?
When I sit back and think about all the time I’ve spent wishing I looked different, trying to change something about myself, or feeling like I’m at war with my body, all it really does is make me sad. Ultimately, all that energy has only served to keep me in a pattern of negative thoughts and feelings that get directed at the most tangible expression of who I am: my body. Over the years, I’ve struggled with feeling like my body has some sort of vendetta against me, that we (that is to say my body and I) are at war, that it’s betrayed me somehow, that it doesn’t want me to be happy. Choosing a day in October and calling it National Love Your Body Day won’t change the fact that I struggle, and it won’t change the fact that my relationship with my body is fraught and often very negative. But it can serve as a reminder of how destructive and painful it is to think and feel that way about myself, and perhaps more importantly, a reminder that there are little things that I can do, every day, to keep myself from falling into that spiraling tunnel of negativity.
The fact that LYBD could fall on any day of the week proves that any time is a good time to take a step back from whatever else is going on, and recognize that your body really does deserve love and appreciation. I may sometimes feel like it’s a war zone, but the body I have today is the same body that has carried me through some really amazing accomplishments. Without it, I would literally be nothing! And when you stack all that up against all the little ways in which I might think my body is wrong or unattractive, suddenly they all seem far less significant than they were before I put them into perspective.
So for the rest of the evening, I’m calling a truce with my body. And for the rest of the time I have left with my body, I’m going to try a little harder to incorporate some of LYBD into every day.
This post is part of the 2011 Love Your Body Day Blog Carnival.
5 comments
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Carol says:
October 21, 2011 at 1:34 pm (UTC -5)
Awesome post!
Carol recently posted..Harvest Pumpkin Muffins
thea, the flying caterpillar herself says:
October 22, 2011 at 12:51 am (UTC -5)
Couldn’t have found this on a better day. It’s a day late, but I still needed the reminder
thea, the flying caterpillar herself recently posted..silence of the chatter monsters
lindsay says:
October 22, 2011 at 10:06 am (UTC -5)
what a great holiday! i am guilty of always wanting to change things too… i’m trying to appreciate all the things i can do though, so i’ve improved a little (i think).
lindsay recently posted..bah humbug (christmas photo card giveaway!)
Shannon ~ My Place In The Race says:
October 25, 2011 at 11:03 am (UTC -5)
I love the quote! Gonna have to steal it
Shannon ~ My Place In The Race recently posted..Tummy Bug
Jill Will Run says:
October 27, 2011 at 4:32 pm (UTC -5)
I’ve had this post sitting in my feed reader for days… I just kept staring at the title, partially not daring to read it. And when I look at that poster I feel incredibly optimistic and terribly sad at the same time. I know I’ve “wasted the person” I am by wishing things were different. I try to love my body for what it can do, but it seems like it betrays me frequently too. I get my hopes up that it will react a certain way and then I’m let down. You’re right, we need to appreciate our bodies every day, not just once a year! I just wish it was easier to remember this!
Jill Will Run recently posted..Last Two Days to Vote!