Be Kind to Yourself
It happens every year.
Beautiful, smart, strong women I know and love start to doubt themselves come January first. They say they’ve put on some weight, their skin looks bad, they haven’t been reading enough, and they aren’t fit enough or beautiful enough. They aren’t “enough.”
I start to hear things like, “I’m not going to eat any carbohydrates,” or “no more bread or dairy or sugar for me – I need to lose this holiday weight.” Of course, the women who are saying these things look great and are generally active and thoughtful about what they put in their pantries. So what is it about this time of year that they should suddenly feel they are not enough? That they should all of a sudden demonize one food group over another, when most of the year, they are so balanced with their diet?
It’s not that I am against the idea of treating your body well – I think it’s great. I do however find the frenzy that erupts on January first as everyone strives for perfection a bit jarring.
Wouldn’t it be nice if instead of perfection, we just aimed for health and happiness? (And I don’t mean health that is a veiled statement for perfection and vanity weight loss).
It’s not as if I am without my own nagging insecurities. And I am working on them.
I suppose what I am saying is that no one is perfect and my New Year’s wish is for people – lovely, smart, beautiful people – to make it a point to be kind to themselves and allow some human faults to sneak in – without guilt.
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