Monday Motivation: Love Your Body, It’s the Only One You’ve Got & #SpreadTheKindness Link Up #184
Last June, my dear friend Monica of Jersey Girl, Texan Heart asked me if I would share a post for her Monday Motivation Series about building body positivity. And since I am heading to the Finger Lakes for the weekend and have no other content planned, I figured I would share the same post here on my blog as well. Plus this post features the gold dress that I shared in this month’s Good Buy/Good-Bye Book and I have never shared the full photo shoot of this dress on my blog before. So here we go…
Love Your Body, It’s the Only One You’ve Got
It took me a long time to appreciate the body I was given. I am just like probably every other woman on the planet who focuses on all the parts that I dislike about myself rather than praising the parts that I love. But even as we learn to praise our most noteworthy assets, we still need to appreciate the rest of it for all that our bodies do for us.
When I was younger, I was a highly active and motivated competitive swimmer measuring in with about 4% body fat (which is way too low for women, by the way). Even though I appeared to be an example of a very healthy lifestyle, 4% body fat is not at all healthy nor was my diet or my weight for that matter. I stand at about 5’7” and hit my lowest weight in my mid-20’s weighing in just under 120 pounds. And you know, I always thought I was fat. Every time I looked in the mirror, I saw a fat ugly girl who lacked femininity and gracefulness. I was clumsy and awkward and just felt weird in my own body for more than half of my life.
Then I found myself in a decade long battle with Bipolar Disorder, pumping my body full of all of sorts of psychotropic medications that made me feel lethargic, hungry, and tired all the time. In less than a year, I went from 120 pounds to 228 pounds, from a size 4/6 to a size 20/22. This was a major shock for me but something shifted in my perception. While I always thought I was fat when I was thin, I suddenly did not see an enormously overweight person when I looked in the mirror. Maybe because much of the weight was bloating from the medication or maybe because the medications were stabilizing my mental health and my self perception. After gaining over 100 pounds, I was just then learning to love myself and the body that I lived in.
Eventually, I made a conscious decision to do what I needed to do to get off the medications. I didn’t really like the way they made me feel overall. Under the strict supervision of an amazing therapist, I eventually was able to stop all psychotropic medications and manage my mood swings in more natural ways. (I have been medication free for over 12 years, by the way.)
Within 6 months, I had lost 56 pounds, weighed 172 pounds, and wore a size 10/12. I was comfortable there. When I looked in the mirror, I saw an image of health and vibrancy. It was right around this time when I met my husband and when you get comfortable with someone (and start cooking lots of rich foods to impress them), you tend to gain some weight! We like eating. Lots. Then I had kids. My peak weight since being married was 208 pounds. I was okay with it for a while as long as I didn’t get too near that 228 pound mark.
But now I was in my 40’s and started noticing some health issues like high blood pressure that required daily medication to manage. About a two years ago, I decided that I definitely needed to make some changes towards a healthier lifestyle. Not because I was unhappy with the way I looked, but because my parents both died in their 50’s due mostly to unhealthy lifestyle choices. My kids are young (ages 7 and 9) and I am in my mid-40’s now and honestly, I just got scared of not being there for my children.
So in September of 2018, I gradually started making changes to my diet. Not crazy changes, just small ones. And I don’t exercise much because I really just don’t like it. But I walk more when I have the opportunity and limit my intake of sugary fatty foods. I still indulge occasionally because life is short and I want to enjoy all of it. Just making these minor changes, I have lost 27 pounds since September. I would love to get back to my 172 pound mark (what I weighed when I met my husband), but I feel great at 181-185 pounds, too. (Note: After 5 months in lockdown, I have definitely gained that dreadful quarantine 10 pounds, but I weighed in at 190 the last time I stepped on the scale, so I am not too concerned about the minor weight gain.)
Of course, when I stare for too long in the mirror, I take notice of all the bumps and rolls and wrinkles and crinkles. But I am in my mid-40’s and some of that just comes with age. I am okay with all of it. I have more energy, I feel better about myself, and I own the fact that I am a midlife woman who has some curves.
I appreciate my body now more than ever. This body that grew two human lives and brought them into this world. This body that provides me with all the things I need to do all the things I love. I can still walk and run and jump and laugh and have crazy wild sex when I so desire. And I realize that as we women learn to appreciate our bodies with age, the men in our lives have always appreciated our bodies through all the changes. Our men who love us look at us and all they see is sexy, beautiful, wonderful, miraculous us.
When I was in my 20’s and 60-70 pounds lighter than I am now, I would have never had the confidence to wear a gold lace bodycon dress. But here I am now, a 40-something year old woman, a little bit overweight, and owning a gold lace bodycon dress. Holding my head high and strutting around town like I am some kind of rock star. Because you know what? I am a rock star. In my mirror, in my husband’s eyes, and in the eyes of everyone who loves me. And really, that is all it takes to feel positive in your body. Love. Lots and lots of love. So find your love from within and without. Feel it. Embrace it. And just be you. Beautiful, wonderful, sexy, miraculous you.
What makes you feel sexy and confident and miraculous?
And now the favorite posts from last week.
Reader Favorite (Most Clicked)
Jennifer of Curated by Jennifer shared her post, 5 Shoes to Never Ditch from Your Closet, with her list of 5 timelessly classic styles in footwear that every woman should own.
Favorite Fashion Post
Michelle of My Bijou Life shared her post, Style Imitating Art – A Kick in the Butt, featuring her vibrant interpretation of Morning Glories by Suzuki Kiitsu. The colors and the prints make me smile so big. And I simply adore Michelle’s story of how a fun little style challenge gave her the motivation she needed.
Favorite Non-Fashion Post
Tiina of Elegance Revisited shared her post, Summer Moments, that made me feel nostalgic for our uncommon world at some time in the future when we return to the banal once again.
Keeping it on the edge,
Shelbee
Linking up with these Fabulous Link Parties.
Shop my look…
Outfit Details: Dress-Thrifted / Shoes-Payless / Clutch-Old Navy / Earrings-Claire’s / Stockings-Target
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.
64 Comments
Kellyann Rohr
Thanks for sharing your journey Shelbee, I love your honesty and optimism and realness. I think we can all identify with where you’ve been. Body positivity is so necessary, and I feel like it is work that has to begin when we are young. But it is never too late to start.
xo,
Kellyann
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Kellyann, thank you so much for your kind words. It really does need to start when we are young and I am still trying to figure out where I went all astray from self love. But I make my way back to it time and again. I suppose just like most of us do! I hope you are having a fabulous week!
xoxo
Shelbee
Jennifer
You look absolutely stunning Shelbee!!!
Jennifer
Curated by Jennifer
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Jennifer!
xoxo
Shelbee
Maureen A Melnik
I think you look amazing!! Thank you always being so honest with your mental health – something we try to hide from world. God Bless
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Maureen, thanks so much for your very kind and thoughtful words. I really appreciate that!
xoxo
Shelbee
Tamar A Strauss-Benjamin
That dress is gorgeous and you are ROCKING it!! Such an important message, I need to have more self love.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Tamar, thanks so much! I think we definitely all need to practice more self love!
xoxo
Shelbee
Claire
Happy Monday Shelbee. Love your dress, it looks beautiful on 🙂 Thanks so much for hosting. Love your sandals.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Claire! I found these sandals at Payless for around $3 when they were going out of business!
xoxo
Shelbee
Lizzie
You look stunning! I love this dress on you!
Lizzie
http://www.lizzieinlace.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Lizzie!
xoxo
Shelbee
jodie filogomo
I can so relate to this Shelbee!! I feel like as I’ve gotten older I wear more and more things that I didn’t when I was younger and more fit. Yet, you’re so right…we only get one body and it serves us so well. Embrace and love it!!
OXOX
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Jodie, thanks so much! It really is amazing what our bodies do for us and how we keep going for as long as we do in these often broken down things! Haha. All the more reason to love our bodies and treat ourselves kindly, right?
xoxo
Shelbee
Michelle
Excellent, excellent post! I, too, have found far more appreciation of my body through age and illness (hypothyroidism, fibromyalgia, CSF) – in spite of the weight gain. And I am also on a journey to improve my health. As the thyroid medication has been ramped up closer to where it needs to be, the weight is slowly coming off, but my body and I have been on good terms anyway. It just took banishing the criticizing voices in my head.
I do sometimes wish I could have told my younger self to stop cataloging such minor imperfections.
And, you look absolutely fabulous and sexy in your gold body con dress!
Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Michelle, thank you so much for the lovely compliment and for sharing your experiences with body image and self love. I have seriously been criticizing myself and how I look for as long as I can remember. We do have to constantly remind ourselves to be kind to ourselves and sometimes it even takes an outside reminder or two as well to stay on track! I am so glad that you were able to banish those nasty voices!
xoxo
Shelbee
Michelle
Also? I’m so surprised, I was the most clicked! Thank you!
Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Ahhh, actually, you were the favorite fashion post! But also coincidentally, you were the second most clicked post with Jennifer’s shoe post being first!
xoxo
Shelbee
nancy
I think you are gorgeous! And that dress looks divine on you!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Aw, Nancy, thanks so much, my beautiful friend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Joanne
Isn’t it just so sad that we spend so much our lives unhappy with our bodies? I too am just now starting to love my body in my 40’s and also have realized that my husband has never seen what I see when I look in the mirror. I do think part of it was my ability to shed so much weight but I think partly too it’s that I realize how much my body has done and continues to allow me to do.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Joanne, thank you so much for sharing your personal experience with body image. The same here, no matter how much my weight and how much my body may shift and change with the years (and of course, child bearing), my husband has always thought and always lets me know how beautiful and sexy I am to him. I don’t know why I have such a hard time believing him! But I do think when we realize how incredible our bodies really are and the miracles they are capable of, it makes a bit easier to love our bodies. I hope our week is off to a great start!
xoxo
Shelbee
Kathrine Eldridge
You rock this amazing dress Shelbee! I love that you photographed it in front of this red door. Perfection! Thanks for sharing your body story. We all have them and listening to yours was really inspiring. I am also trying to be healthier since my body is going crazy with peri menopause. Trying to accept my body is one of the hardest things to do. Thanks for the link up!
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Kathrine, thanks so much! We really are so hard on ourselves when it comes to body image. The quote I shared with this post on Instagram really hit me hard and effectively, “If we make self-love or body acceptance conditional, the truth is, we will never be happy with ourselves. The reality is that our bodies are constantly changing, and they will never remain exactly the same. If we base our self-worth on something as ever-changing as our bodies, we will forever be on the emotional roller coaster of body obsession and shame.” — Chrissy King
And this journey into menopause is seriously no joke! While it changes our bodies, it also messes with our heads in some of the worst ways! But we will get through it because we are super heroes! We just have to keep reminding each other, that’s all!
I hope your week is going well.
xoxo
Shelbee
Jill
First, I didn’t know you were a competitive swimmer! My daughter swam competitively from age 7 through high school. Thank you for sharing your journey and your positivity! I think having a positive body image gets easier the older we get for some reason. With a daughter, having a positive body image was so important, and being aware of the comments I was making about my own body. You are totally rocking this bodycon dress and look gorgeous!
Jill – Doused in Pink
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Jill, thanks so much for your very inspiring words! Even as a mom of boys, I try to be careful what I say about my own body. My nine year old is hitting that stage where he is very self conscious and won’t even go shirtless in his swim suit. So I think it is important that the messages we are telling ourselves are positive ones since our kids do hear us! And yes, I was very much a swimmer through and through. It was all did and thought about for many years. I even went to college on a full swimming scholarship and held our school record in 100 Breaststroke from 1993-2007. I hope your week is off to a great start!
xoxo
Shelbee
Bojana
Thanks for sharing your story on your blog today. As you pointed out many women will be able to relate to this, myself included, and that makes me sad. As a mom of girls I am so desperately trying to do better and give them tools to help combat this later on in life, although my dream is to just not have it be something they have to face at all. I love how you’ve taken such a healthy approach to this in your life. Your decisions are based on your health, your happiness and living your best life for as long as possible, rather than just the way you look. Also, this dress is smokin’ hot on you.
bosbodaciousblog.blogspot.ca
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Bo, thanks so much for the lovely comment as well as for sharing your own personal experience with body image. Even as a mom of boys, I have to be careful about the ways I talk about myself and my own body. My 9 year old has reached a point where he is super self conscious removing his shirt while swimming. That makes me kind of sad, too. It really is something we all have to battle all throughout our lives, I think. And we must approach it from a healthy standpoint or else we are doomed to a life of poor self image. Nobody wants that! I hope your week is off to a great start!
xoxo
Shelbee
Rosemary Davis
Shelbee,
You look amazing, but more importantly, you are amazing inside and out!
Rosemary
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Rosemary, thank you so much! What a wonderful compliment!
xoxo
Shelbee
Christina Morley
Wow! Looking gorgeous! Thanks also for sharing that because I am no longer in my 20’s either and sometimes it’s hard to accept the fact that one’s body has changed.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thank you, Tina! It really does become challenging when our bodies change so much over the years. But man, our bodies do so much for us, too. They deserve more love and respect! But it is hard to accept and approve of all the changes we go through. Like Debbie said somewhere in this comment thread, we just need to keep uplifting one another if that’s what it takes! We need to own our experiences from the years like the brightest badges of honor. I mean, we have made it this far and that is a wonderful achievement! I hope you are well, my gorgeous friend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Jessica A Jannenga
Hi Shelbee
It was very cool to read that you were a comp. swimmer! I love to swim and got a lifeguarding cert, years ago and think it is great sport and exercise. You look smokin” in that dress! I bet hubby loves it too. I think it is interesting that many of us are more accepting and i think it comes with age as well. In my 20s I was on Depo Provera ( shot) and it made me look so bloated and ratain water, I felt horrible Got off of that!
Hope you had a great time at the Finger Lakes!
jess xx
http://www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Jess, thanks so much! I was also a lifeguard but I hated it so I only did it for two summers. It was much too stressful for me to be responsible for the lives of ill equipped swimmers! And I can totally relate to medications making you all bloated. That was the biggest problem with all the psych meds I had to take. So much of the weight gain was just bloat. But at least it came off easy when I stopped the meds. The Finger Lakes was a super peaceful and relaxing retreat to an Amish farm in the middle of nowhere. I could have stayed there in that quiet place forever!
xoxo
Shelbee
Nora Minassian
Hot mama!! I think you look fab in this dress, so chic. Love it!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Nora, thanks so much for such a wonderful compliment! I hope you are well!
xoxo
Shelbee
mireille
I definitely feel much better about myself in my 40s and after 4 kids than I did in my 20s. You look stunning in that dress.
http://www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Mireille! Isn’t it weird how it works that way? How does that old saying go? Something about youth is wasted on the young. It is so true in so many ways. For me at least. When I was young and thin and super healthy and energetic, I didn’t appreciate a damn thing about any of it! If only I had the body to go with the confidence of my youth. Ha. Who am I kidding, I wasn’t all that confident in my youth either! It definitely does get better as we age, for sure! Thanks for sharing your experience, my gorgeous friend.
xoxo
Shelbee
Mitch
I love it! You are gorgeous! And I love coming to your site because it screams of self-esteem, which is so important!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Mitch, thank you so very much! Wow! That is such a lovely compliment and you just made me smile so big! I hope you are well!
xoxo
Shelbee
Deborah Stinedurf
Omg…you my friend, are a smokin’ hot goddess! Even though I’ve gotten myself to the place that confidence is my middle name (lol), body image is one area in which I still struggle. I always believed I was fat when I was young (I wasn’t) because I grew up around adults who would refer to me as “Miss Piggy” and then laugh. I pretty much got past that however with all of the social conditioning that is hardwired into the female brain, the body image bullshit, imo, is the toughest to overcome in regard to confidence. Most days I do pretty well & I am able to acknowledge the things I love, even out loud to other people, but between the last 6 months weight gain and um, gravity, I can still be pretty rough on myself. Long story short, women just need to continue supporting one another and stop the body shaming/judgement across the board. We need to rewire our brains to believe that we are beautiful regardless of the numbers on our jeans label. xo
Debbie
http://www.fashionfairydust.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Debbie, my friend, you are such a beautiful, brilliant example of a confident woman. Thank you for sharing your empowering and inspiring words with me. It really is the social conditioning that does the worst damage ever. I was just telling a friend the other day how back when I was about 150 pounds and a size 8, I could walk into a clothing store, try on everything in the store, and literally every garment fit me perfectly. It actually got kind of frustrating because I could then never stick to a shopping budget because everything looked great on me. But still I lacked confidence in my appearance (that was in the immediate wake of a divorce that shattered my self confidence). And now here I am, 40 pounds and 4 sizes larger, and I have much more confidence than the skinny 26 year old did two decades ago. But yet it continues. It is like a lifelong struggle. I think confidence definitely does grow with time and life experience. Maybe the confidence is in the wrinkles! And with each new wrinkle we gain, we get a bit more confidence, too! I hope you are having a fabulous week, my beautiful friend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Cheryl Shops
Thank you for sharing your story, Shelbee. So many of us go through ups and downs with our weight, and the more we can normalize it (and accept and love ourselves at any weight), the better. That said, you look absolutely amazing in this sexy gold dress, and OMG your legs—I am totally buying a pair of nude suede heels now!
Cheryl Shops | http://www.cherylshops.net
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Cheryl, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on the topic. I know I am not alone in the struggle towards self love. And like most people, I have good days and bad days and can shift from feeling super confident to feeling awful in a moment (like yesterday), but we just have to keep talking ourselves through the down times until they become less frequent. I can say with confidence though that I do love my legs the most and rarely have bad days when it comes to at least that one part of my body! Ha. I look forward to seeing how you rock some nude suede heels with your fabulous legs!
xoxo
Shelbee
Darlene
Shelbee, when I read this, I hear the voice of a confident beautiful person who is happy in their body, who has learned to love themself. I know you sometimes have self-doubt, hey, we all do!, but you have done the hard work and come out on top. You look absolutely gorgeous in that dress, and honestly, your smile is what truly shows your beauty, my friend. My fight is with aging, so I get it. I look in the mirror and wonder where that less wrinkled person has gone so I keep blogging to convince myself that I can still look confident and show others that we can still look good as we age. But some days are hard. I get it. Thanks for your honesty and for sharing your journey with us.
xx Darlene
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Darlene, thank you so much for sharing your experience with me. Our bodies change so much with age and we fight against it but it is the marks of age that should be revered as evidence that we have lived good, long, healthy lives. Every mark, every lump, every wrinkle is beautiful by its very essence because it shows that we have lived and are living our best lives. I am just like everyone else when it comes to self confidence. I have good days and bad days and lots of in between days. I notice every little change that my body goes through and I simply need to respect it all rather than criticize it. It is just the natural way of things! And I love that you continue blogging to show just how beautiful you are, we all are, with each year that we grow a little older.
xoxo
Shelbee
Patrick Weseman
You look very nice. Learning to love all of our imperfections is a journey. Going to share this, about 25 years ago I decided to take a bit of a softball. One problem-it was moving at the time. Messed up my front teeth, knocked a couple out. My bridge fell out about two weeks ago and it is taking a lot of dental work to get a new bridge which means time. So last week we started meetings and I didn’t hide it and was honest about it. I was the same with my students when school started yesterday (I had a dental appointment after classes yesterday). Told my admin about my dental appointments and I would most likely be in the hurt locker after them.
I am somewhat new to my school and pretty much kept to myself last year after I got there. One of the teachers there who I don’t know emailed me and said I showed courage by being honest about it. It is what it is. It is one of my imperfections.
Also, two of crazy ass students (all last year they would say F-you B to me) wished me well at the dentist and this morning asked me how I was doing.
Sorry for being so long. You look sweet and wonderful (being respectful). Thanks for hosting and I hope that you have a wonderful Wednesday.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Patrick, thanks so much for sharing your personal experience. I think I would have been the same in just explaining up front what I was going through. It is kind of hard to hide any kind of issue that happens to your face! So why not just be open about it? People will wonder what the heck happened anyway and there is no shame in sharing something like that. Although it does totally suck that your bridge came out and now you have to go through all the hassle of getting it fixed. I am glad that your two crazy students were able to exhibit a softer side of themselves as well. It means you’ve impacted them in a positive way! How did the dentist appointment go, by the way?
xoxo
Shelbee
Laura Bambrick
I think you look absolutely fantastic! I try to remember that my tummy is because of my two beautiful girls and I wouldn’t change that for anything! Women put their bodies through so much more than men ever could and we need to recognize and applaud ourselves for that!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Laura! Seriously, when we think about what our bodies actually do, we really should respect and love every bit of ourselves. Our bodies really are nothing short of miraculous in strength and perseverance. I mean, we grow actual human beings! And every mark or extra jiggly part that comes along with that ability should be praised rather than hated and hidden. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and personal experience on this topic, my beautiful friend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Lucy Bertoldi
Love this post Shelbee- so on point. We really should love our bodies…and start that from a young age. When is it that girls forget how much they loved themselves when they were little- to then go on to completely want to change everything about themselves? Posts like this are fantastic and need to be shared with our teenage girls as well. Thanks Shelbee xx
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Lucy, thank you so much for your wonderful comment! I have no idea when it happens that we lose sight of our beauty. But it happens really young and then we spend our lives trying to get back to that place of pure, innocent self confidence. Share, share, share away! We must continue to uplift each other as well as those young girls that follow in our footsteps!
xoxo
Shelbee
Carrie @ Curly Crafty Mom
This dress is just gorgeous on you! It shows off all your beauty! I have never been to the Finger Lakes, but have a friend in New Jersey that visited them last summer and wow… I’d love to seem them sometime!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Carrie, thanks so much! The Finger Lakes is such a beautiful region. We stayed in a cabin on an Amish farm and it was so peaceful. We walked some lake trails and made S’mores on the fire pit. There are lots of wineries as well which we didn’t visit because we had the kids, but if you ever get the chance to visit there, it really is a beautiful place with lots of things to do. Have a fantastic day, my friend.
xoxo
Shelbee
Maureen
First of all, you look amazing! The confidence you exude is simply beautiful and attractive. Secondly, kudos for being med free for 12 years. That’s truly a job well done. Lastly, I love that you don’t make food the enemy because it really isn’t. For me, I always struggled with my weight too because I never really learned to eat properly. Whatever my parents put on the table is what I ate and well, Filipino foods have a lot of fried foods. Aside from that I had different opinions from mom every time I was home from college. One day I am too thin. The next I am too fat. Those words stick to you like glue and seriously, without proper context can be so hurtful. I finally got a chance to educate myself on food and the ones I need. That was 20 years ago. I have my moments of weakness but like you I just embrace it and enjoy myself.
Maureen | http://www.littlemisscasual.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Maureen, thanks so much for the lovely compliment and for sharing your experience. We absolutely get mixed messages about our bodies from all around us and some of the worst offenders usually happen to be our parents or grandparents or very close loved ones. My group of “friends” when I was in middle school were absolutely horrible to me and systematically destroyed my self confidence throughout my most vulnerable years. It all stays with you even if it gets buried deep, it still make its way to the forefront of our minds every once in a while. I am glad that you found a healthy lifestyle that works for you. Finding the perfect balance between what we are taught and what we learn on our own is key. I hope you are having a wonderful week, my friend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Chrissy Rowden
Ahhh the body. I am amazed at what the human body can endure on the one hand. And then I think about how fragile we are on the other. Then when I read about how much our physical health is tied to your emotional health, it blows my mind. Now more than ever we need strong immunities….get sleep, they say, don’t stress, they say…easier said than done, isn’t it?? Of course, all these factors affect our physical appearance. Anyway, here I am droning on and on, but you know where I’m going. The healthier we are emotionally and physically, the healthier our hair, skin and nails are, and the better we feel about ourselves. Also, you’re right. We need to appreciate ALL of our bodies. My hair is far thinner than I’d like but boy am I thankful I have enough to cover my scalp (lol – just!). My legs are veiny but I can walk, run, swim, etc. Thank you for the reminder Shelbee. You’re beautiful and rocking that bodycon suit!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Chrissy, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on the amazing human body. I read somewhere that science can easily explain illness in the human body but what science has trouble explaining is how the human body has survived for so long in an environment that should have long ago destroyed our species. That right there is the miracle of our existence, I think. And gosh, if only we could appreciate that we are given physical bodies to enjoy this world for a finite period of time, maybe then our perspectives would change. You are beautiful in every possible way, my friend! And I love reading your thoughts on these uncomfortable topics that I so enjoy discussing! Love ya!
xoxo
Shelbee
Michele Morin
Hi, Shelbee, I can’t begin to tell you how encouraging thus post has been to me. Thanks for your vulnerable sharing.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Michele, thank you so much! That kind of validation means the world to me.
xoxo
Shelbee
Lauren Renee Sparks
You do rock that gold dress. And I never would have guessed that you don’t like exercise because your legs look so toned! Thank you so much for sharing your story. So inspirational and I can relate on so many levels. Beating cancer gave me a new appreciation for my body and the strength God has given me. And the truth is, we are all image bearers of God and you don’t get more beautiful and miraculous than Him!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Lauren, thanks so much! What a wonderful perspective, too. We mustn’t insult the work of our greater power. I did not know that you are a cancer survivor. Wow. So inspiring! And that would definitely give new perspective and appreciation for what our bodies do for us. Thanks so much for sharing this comment! I hope you are having a lovely weekend, my friend.
xoxo
Shelbee
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