Body Contentment...

This summer I was at a local aquatic center with the kids and had given my appearance really no though prior because I was scrambling to slather sunscreen, pack and get three young bodies suited and ready to go. So… I find myself in the middle of the busyness realizing that I am going to strip my shorts and t-shirt off (swimsuit underneath) and reveal unshaven legs, nerdy tan-lines and grubby toenails not to mention the body that has not participated in any formal exercise in many months. The grand unveiling commenced and sort of anticlimactically…no one seemed to care.

I scurried after my daughter with very little self-consciousness despite circumstances and sat with her in the shallow end and played. Although I wasn’t uncomfortable, it is the nature of my mind to continue analyzing things…turning them this way and that. One of the things I thought was that the freedom and contentment with my body that I had always longed and prayed for had finally been realized. I could walk amongst strangers and friends in a fairly skimpy bathing suit and not really care. I used to yearn for this ease and thought that it would only come when I had reached a certain perfectionistic place with my body….but all efforts in that direction never got me to the place that I found myself in sitting with my daughter that afternoon. Could it be that contentment and freedom with your body is not a matter of exercise and controlling your food but has more to do with other less obvious factors? I believe the answer is an emphatic, “yes”!

I believe the constant striving toward changing your body to conform to some ideal that is different from your reality sends a message to yourself that basically says, “you are not acceptable or admirable the way you are.” There is nothing wrong with exercise and living a healthy lifestyle if done for the right reasons….to move you closer to your full potential in terms of the quality of your life (not the cultural ideal). However, most of us approach exercise as something that will help us realize our dreams of attaining a more perfect body or at the very least undo the damage we have done through our eating so that we can avoid moving farther away from the ideal. In the past I was an exercise convict….I loved it, was great at it and relied on it to make me feel good about myself and the day. If I missed exercising I felt just sort of off for the day and sometimes guilty. All of that exercise worship for 25 years, as I mentioned above, never got me to that comfortable place with my body that I was that afternoon at the aquatic center. So…what are the less obvious factors that influence body satisfaction? I think that would take pages and pages to answer, and likely varies a bit from one person to the next, but I will mention just a few.

I think having something greater than yourself in your life that you are responsible for and invested in is essential. It pulls us out of the hyper-sensitive self assessments that we tend to engage in perpetually. An example…I was at a recent event again in my swimsuit, reflecting in a non-harsh but more inquisitive way about my thighs, when along side of me came a young girl in a wheelchair. She had a puffy pale face and a shaved head that revealed many scars. I could see her body was frail as her father lifted her from the chair and carried her slowly into the pool. I could only guess what devastating childhood illness had encamped in her body but I can tell you one thing…I forgot entirely about my thighs and started praying for that little girl and her family and thanked God for my health and the health of my children. When you realize the awesomeness and fragility of life and all that is in it then you naturally are drawn toward an investment in that rather than the superficial.

I think that along with investment in something greater than yourself, it is important to stay busy. Not the sort of frenetic busy that accomplishes very little but the steady marching forward while engaging in worthwhile, healthy or altruistic endeavors. To put it simply…when you have less time to “contemplate your navel”…your navel just seems less important.

Of course there are many other variables that have moved me toward body contentment… which leads me to my assignment for you. What are some things (other than exercise and controlling your food) that have provided you greater body satisfaction? Reflect on the times you have felt just great about yourself and explore what factors contributed. If you are willing…please share these in comment-form here on this blog so that we can all benefit.

All for now…
Lisa