Celebrate good times!

This is a tale about listening. And not listening.

Last week I wrote about one of my core values - wellness. I talked about the importance of pausing to check in on neglected areas of health. But once you do that, the real challenge is listening to your body and acting on what it tells you.

WAY harder than it sounds.

Like many, I’ve spent years at war with my body. Even before we were inundated with social media dictating beauty standards, I already felt wrong—my belly stuck out, my teeth had a gap, my thighs were too big. When the world constantly tells you that you’re somehow flawed, it’s hard to believe otherwise.

When life got tough, my body became a target– something I thought I could (and should) control. And I was mean. And unsympathetic. And downright hurtful, physically and emotionally. I listened to my mind dictating what I should do and be, drowning out my body’s truth.

Sound familiar?

Rebuilding a loving relationship with my body has been a journey. But small victories are essential steps forward.

So, I’m celebrating yesterday! When I laid on the couch pretty much all day, alternately napping and binge watching “The Pitt”, after I woke up feeling tired and lethargic. Because that’s what my body told me it needed. And I listened, and I trusted. And even more impressive, I ignored the inner critic yelling at me to push through. No thank you, mind. I’m not listening today.

This is something I could not have done several years ago, at least not without guilt and shame and anger at my body for being not good enough yet again. So please, release the balloons and streamers here!

Instead, I gave my body space for what it needed - quiet, rest, rejuvenation. More importantly, I let it know it could trust me. That it no longer had to scream in the form of injury or illness to be heard. And it was grateful, I could feel it!

So today, I invite you to listen. What your body is telling you? How can you give it what it needs? And then celebrate when you can do even one small piece of that. Because every small step is a victory, and a move toward wellness.

 #wellness #celebratesmallvictories #livingyourvalues