This Morning...

For the next 30 days, I will be participating in the WEGO Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge by blogging about a predetermined topic each morning. Please visit http://blog.wegohealth.com to learn more - and please check back each evening for your regularly scheduled programming.

This morning I looked in the mirror and...

...was proud of the person I saw.

Instead of criticizing how her thighs were too big, I thanked those muscular quads that they were able to carry her 13.1 miles despite various injuries.

Instead of rolling her eyes at the missing toenail and the blistered feet, I commended the training she has been doing over the past year and cheered about how far she has come.

Instead of wincing at the cracked callouses on her hands, I applauded her newfound love for weightlifting and hurrahed the number of pull-ups and presses she can do.

Instead of groaning about how her stomach isn't as flat as it used to be, I told her that she is healthy and fit and strong and nourished and a woman.

Instead of whining about the scars on her neck and on her stomach, I reminded her that she is lucky, especially due to her love of the sun.

Instead of grumbling about the scars on her hands and her knees and her elbows, I reviewed with her the adventurous and carefree childhood memories that created those permanent marks.

Instead of critiquing her too-small hands or her too-chubby cheeks, I showed her how she looks exactly like her parents and their parents before them and emphasized just how lucky she is to come from such a strong family.

Instead of complaining about the circles under her eyes, I respected her for waking up early to work with her students and staying up late to make new memories with friends.


Instead of picking apart and analyzing every physical "flaw" that she sees, I encouraged her to be thankful that she is alive, that she is able-bodied, that she is intelligent, that she is compassionate, that she is loved.


And that is what I saw this morning when I looked in the mirror.