I have been thinking a lot about appearance lately. Since having baby 2, I was hoping that since I am breastfeeding that my weight would fall off, as it seems to for everyone whom I chatted with. It has not been with the case for me, though. I am working harder than ever to lose it, and get fit, but find that the weight is stuck. I was never a person to struggle with weight and so I find quite a challenge to dress my new larger body (how do you dress up a fat suit.) I am truly uncomfortable being the weight that I am, not just in moving it around, but in trying to feel like a woman for my husband.
On the same token, I have read a few articles berating people who become parents. The articles bring up, as an irritation, the "daggy" appearance of these parents. I felt this keenly, as I am one of those "daggy" parents. Many days I have to choose between eating breakfast and showering. Since the benefits of breakfast outweigh the benefits of a shower, I am usually fed, but not "done-up". I regularly feel very self-conscious in my greasy pony-tail and chubby belly, and, with a red face, recall the articles I have read, and am aware that I am simply proving their point.
Then it occured to me, that one of the many beautiful things about being a parent, is gaining the understanding that life is so much bigger than the way you look. There really is so much more to life than being really really ridiculously good looking. (I wrote these wise words on my mirror...)
(Hope you enjoyed reading something new Michelle)
2 comments:
I did appreciate reading something new. Our bodies tell our stories, where we've been and what we've done. We will never have virginal bodies again, but we do have something better, stretch marks and flab (we all have it) and they tell our history. They tell the stories of our children, the best possible stories we can have. I changed forever when I became a mother and I'm glad my body did to. You are beautiful but if you need any more persuading just look down at your stretch marks and pot belly, the marks of your children, then look at them and there will be no doubt there is nothing more beautiful than a mother's body.
Thanks Chelle. I'm not sure if I am the kind of person that can ever glory in my bodily imperfections, but I have always tried to get to the point where I can thank God, in a very real way, that my body functions. My body carried a baby, and now my body is nourishing my baby. I am grateful for that. I am blessed by that, but I don't feel beautiful for that. I think that's okay, though.
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