Damn I Look Good

A few years ago, I noticed something.

I am always the one taking the pictures and hardly ever IN any of the pictures.  Why is this?  Well- seems pretty self explanatory to me.  I was waiting until I looked better.

I know, right?

Yes, I am in some pictures and I certainly don't go out of my way to avoid the camera.  But if given a choice, I would always choose to be the one taking the photo.  And you know that I always stuffed someone smaller right in front of me so as to hide my body as best I could.

Yeah- I did that.

But then I started thinking- what a waste.  Why am I hiding this body of mine?  Why am I missing out on being in the memories and the photos simply because I have a little extra fat or was having a bad hair day.

Pfft.  Whatever.  I'm over it.

So let me just stop and tell you all something- these short legs of mine have carried my flat behind all over Disneyland.  My feet are small and dainty.  The scar that runs down the middle of my chest is a testament to the open heart surgery I survived as a child.  It's mine.  I earned that.  The faint stretch marks across my stomach and the pooch that hangs over my c-section scar- those are mine too.  I'm pretty damn proud of that c-section scar because it helped me bring my son into this world.  The chicken legs, wide shoulders and knobby knees- yep, all mine too.

This body of mine is far from perfect.  Dare I say, it will never be perfect.

You hear that world?  I will never have the ideal body type imposed by the media on innocent women.  Nope, not gonna happen.

But what I do have, is this body.

Scars, stretch marks, flab and skinny legs.  It's healthy and it's loved.  By me, by my child, by my husband.  I'm not going to hide it away because it's not the image that people desire and I'm certainly not going to be ashamed of it.  It's a work in progress, an ever changing road map of my life.  A daily reminder of where I came from and where I'm heading and damn if that doesn't look good.

So the next time you look in a mirror- remind yourself that the body you see is more then just fat, scars, stretch marks, etc.  It's strength, survival, beauty and its perfect just the way it is.

Damn ladies- we look good.