Race Schedule and Results

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

All you need is love…




I’ve often thought that loving someone else was the greatest gift that I could give.  I love my husband more than life itself.  My daughter… there’s just no explaining that love.  I love my family, my friends, even some of my neighbors.  And it truly is a gift to love these people.  

But I'm starting to realize that the best gift a person can give themselves is love - loving who they are, what they do, what they look like, what their limitations are, what they fear. And really, once you love yourself, you are giving those around you a gift as well - the gift of someone who is comfortable in their own skin.


Think about it – do you truly love yourself?  

That’s not a trick question. I hope you can answer that honestly, but if you can’t answer it with a resounding “YES!”, then you aren’t alone.  A lot of people aren’t 100% happy in their own skin and it affects so much of their life – probably more than they even know.

Sure I joke, “what’s not to love about me” but why is that so hard for me to answer myself?  There’s just something, deep within, that judges ME more than anyone.  I’m so critical of myself. I'm not skinny enough, fast enough, rich enough, patient enough.  Many days I feel blah at the image staring back at me.  Many days I feel like I don’t have a purpose, that I’m kind of empty.   And that’s gotta change.  I’m a smart woman.  I’m an accomplished athlete.  I’m a darn good mommy.  I have a great big heart and definitely jumped into the caring gene pool. 

Today I turn 34. While that’s not really a big deal, I have decided that this is my year.  I’m going to learn to love the most important person in the world that needs love – ME.  That starts with loving me from the inside out. Yes I have "flaws" but why not take those "flaws", change the ones that I can, accept the ones I can't and move on.  So I'm not a size double zero - really, that shouldn't be a size because really 00 just means two times nothing.  So I'm not fast... I get more race for my money by finishing in the middle of the pack.  So I'm not rich... money doesn't buy happiness (yes, it buys cute workout clothes and vacations and stuff like that, but there's more to life than money alone).  So I'm not patient enough... okay, see, that's one of those that I can work on!
What I'm getting at here is that I'm going to start looking at myself differently.  I'm going to take what I've been given and learn to love it.  If I can change something that I don't like, then I'll work hard to change it.  Because really, I can complain about it or I can change it... simple as that.
I’m going to challenge myself in ways that I haven’t done in the past and I will see results. (sounds convincing, doesn't it?)

One of the things that I have decided to do is join a 21 Day Fix challenge.  A super successful friend and someone I admire greatly for the love she has for herself, is heading it up and I’m committing to 21 days of nutrition, fitness, accountability, vulnerability. This is outside of my comfort zone a little bit.  I have to take pictures of myself (yikes) and I have to be honest about what I'm doing.  It's three weeks... three weeks which will hopefully lead to a lifetime of change. 

It takes 21 days to form a habit - I'm giving this a full 21 days.

I think it’s going to be the jump start that I need to tackle my next challenge – becoming a Beachbody Coach with Team Courage.  I’m really excited to start create an environment for others that struggle like me in their journey to fully love themselves to come, be a little vulnerable, and let me help them.  I think this is going to be a very fulfilling career and it will just help me become a better me.


And really, I need to learn a thing or two from my daughter.  I mean, she loves herself enough to kiss her all day long! :)

http://distilleryimage3.ak.instagram.com/e1e564448ba111e3aa9712d94378cda3_8.jpg
 

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Colleen, you are an amazing woman and you need to love who you are becasue we do. I live by one amazing belief that I have had since I was a teenager. I look at that guy in the mirror and ask him one simple question. "Do you believe in yourself?". Usually the answer is YES but at time I have answered that question with a no. When that happens I do as you posted, I decide to do something about it.

So my advice to you during these 21 days look at that woman in the mirror and realize that today she did her best, accomplished a lot and met her struggles head on. And remember we all love and support you.

Chuck

Unknown said...

Great Post and nice article.Thanks for sharing.
Lovegra

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