My jiggely bits.

So. We are going to Cuba in a few weeks and I decided I should try on summer things to see what fits. Put my bathing suit on, and while it did indeed fit, the sight was not pretty. Not bad enough that mothers would cover their children's eyes as I pass by, but bad enough that I wanted to cover my own.

I realize that I have two choices.

1. Do nothing. The suit still fits.
2. Diet/exercise like mad for the next few weeks.

My mind is bouncing around with various thoughts.

Why should I kill myself with exercise and deprive myself of things that I enjoy just to try and make myself look like I looked 25 years ago? I'm not the same person I was back then, neither mentally, physically or emotionally. Who said that the goal of life was to stay as close as you can to looking like you did when you were 25? What's the point? I should kill myself to get in shape so that others can judge me and see if I'm hanging together pretty good? Oh Shannon, grow up!

I don't weigh much more than I did back in the day, but the few pounds that I have gained seem to have become the boss of the pounds I already have, and these new pounds have talked the other pounds into shape-shifting and turning into jiggley bits, as opposed to the firm bits I once had.

And really, is that so bad? Well, depending on how I feel (and what I wear) on a particular day, yes and no. *sigh*

I need to learn to live with my own values. No one can make me feel badly about my body without my consent.

Example: There are cultures in which women are ashamed if they don't have metal rings elongating their necks, or wooden disks in their lips. I don't have either of these, but I'm not ashamed...and why not? Because I don't adhere to these standards of beauty.

Dimples adorning your smile are cute, dimples on your thigh...not so much. That's the normal way of thinking. BUT, I have decided to embrace my dimples and enjoy my dinners, and wear my bathing suit with pride! Or, at least without shame.