Here I am exposed… I tried.

I tried to do a picture like Mish and Roni but apparently I’m not a technologically inclined.  Instead I ended up with this…

Darn paint….Since the picture is so small that you can’t read what I wrote and the boxes are all white I wanted to tell you why I love my body.

I also added this picture so you can see what the full picture was supposed to look like.  

I love that my stomach helps to support my back and prevent further surgery to repair even more problems.  I love that it holds me up when I run.

I love that my legs allowed me to walk 2 miles to and from school everyday while studying in Spain and recently on an entire day trip to Washington DC without taking public transportation.  I love that my legs let me run races that I was told I could never run post surgery and in even faster times than before.

I love that my arms allow me to carry large amounts of groceries up my apartment stairs all by myself.  I love that I can stir polenta and get it nice and smooth.  I love that they allow me to give bear hugs to my cousins when they are sad and miss our grandmother.  I love that can hold me in a plank pose in yoga to just watch TV.

My shoulders hold my posture up and make me look taller than I am.  My waist is a nice hourglass that looks great in dresses and balances out my hips and chest.  And my hands are strong to give a nice massage after a hard days work on a missions trip.

I love my body the way it is.  I’ve learned to be happy with my body the way it is because I’ll never look like the models and I really don’t want to.  My body is specific to me and beautiful.  It has served me so well to this point and doesn’t fail.  No matter how much abuse I’ve put it through it keep plugging forward and making me happier and happier that I’m strong and proud and healthy.

Thank you Mish for starting this.  I never thought I would be brave enough to post such a picture like this.  But I realized that I need to be proud of who I am and what I have accomplished.  It is important to recognize what my body CAN do instead of blaming it for what I CAN’T.

What things does your body do for you?