This picture is so interesting to me. When I look at my sweet 2 year old, all I can think is "seeing her radiance makes me smile. I just love that girl!" and then I look at me and I see makeup under my eyes and eyelashes that disappear and CRAZY hair and a crooked nose and on and on. I work really hard to replace all of those negative thoughts/voices about myself. I don't let them stay long...but they try their best! And they come in swarms! I am working all the time on learning to love ME even better. I want to love me just like I love her. I want to see only my radiance. I want to see only the amazing spirit that God has blessed me with. I want to see myself like He does!
I've been thinking about three things that are often hard for us to love.
Our bodies: loving the squishy parts, and the curvy parts, and the skinny parts, and the too big, too small, too tall, too brown, too white, too, too, too, too.... parts. We are gifted with incredibly amazing bodies. They breathe and walk and talk and see and birth and feel and WOW! They are so amazing. If you want a little video to inspire you on that front, I recommend this one. Even though I am squishier than normal, and I can feel things jiggle when I walk that don't normally, and I can't run like I really want to, and I feel a little trapped in my body... even though it looks foreign to me in the mirror... I am working on just LOVING it. I nurture it by giving it good food, good movement, gentle touch. I sometimes just hold on to my own arm and say "thank you arm!" I am learning to LOVE my body. Join me!
Our emotions: loving all the cranky and volatile and trigger-y and tearful and happy and joyful and grateful and shameful and anything-ful parts of me. I love how my friend Aimee said something like, "if this emotion bubbling up right now was an e-mail, what would the message of it be?" I am learning to tell that loud and obnoxious voice of Shame to go to h*** and to be okay with my tear ducts that have water hoses hooked up to them. I am listening and feeling and being and sometimes just sitting with emotions. I am also letting them move through me and not letting them get stuck. I am loving my emotions. Join me!
Our awkward-ness: loving all the silly dance moves and sweaty pits and terribly timed punch lines and dressing faux-pas, or the underwear hanging out, messy hair, mis-matched socks or food in my teeth. I am loving and embracing and being grateful for all of those parts of me! The other day I posted a dancing video on Instagram (I wasn't brave enough to post it to FB) because every single time I watched it, it made me laugh out loud. And, I wanted to hopefully help someone have something to laugh and smile about. I think I made a lot of people smile!
We were just trying to make a music video as a family, and each member got recorded dancing to this song. I didn't bother to get dressed or put on makeup. I just danced! It was fun! I am learning to love my awkward-ness. Join me!
I have something crazy and audacious that I want to do. I want to start a movement. It is called the "LOVING ALL of ME, Baby!" movement. It might just be me! lol And I am totally okay with that.
Challenge: Have someone take a video of you dancing. And then post it! Make sure to use the hashtags #LAMB #lovingallofmebaby or just tag me in it so that I can find it and cheer you on. :)
ooo, ooo and this can be our theme song, lol! (I'm kind of making this up as I go along, can you tell?)
I love you! I hope that you love you too. There is so much about you to be loved. Soak it in.
