I read somewhere today (forgive me for not remembering where to give credit) that when you are trying to make a hard decision listen to your body. It doesn’t know how to lie to you. Your mind is an expert at lying to you! And that resonated a lot. My mind has been one of the greatest assets in my life, I’m so grateful for it. And, also (my favourite words for describing the complexity of human experience read about that here) it has absorbed untruths and been very mean to me too!
How many times have we overridden the truth from our bodies with the logic of our minds to our own detriment?
My body has never been mean to me. I cannot say the same in return. It has been found wrong in every possible way in every stage of my life. From the doctor with the diet plan for my pre-ten-year-old self who was actually a victim of sexual abuse and just wanted to be safe in a body that the world said was undesirable. (Guess what that’s not true either!) To gaslighting instead of cherishing my aching knees because aging was actually to be avoided at all costs and I should be stronger than it. The list of disrespect my body has been handed is long.
Now I’m an overweight, 52 year-old woman with undyed mostly silver hair. And I feel like I’ve finally got to the point where I trust my body. Can you believe we live in a world where that is something we have to re-learn??? And it’s not so much trust. It’s respect. I respect its faithfulness. I respect how it just kept showing up for me in all phases of my exploration of being human. I’ve asked it to do so much. I know some bodies break under the burden of living and need all the care and support we can give them to thrive. And I love how they keep trying with whatever resources they have for as long as they can.
At this moment when I’ve finally gotten to this place and am filled with love for my body I just can’t fathom forcing it to change even though there are medical miracles like Ozempic and others now available. My body is not wrong. I’m open to conversations about my health, but not the shape of my body. MY BODY, I have no opinion about your body or what you do for your health and well-being besides I wish you oodles of both. As the conversations and pressure ramp up around these drugs I just wanted to add in my reminder that Permission is always an inside job. No one else can give it to you and it’s not for you to give to anyone else.
Choose your own adventure.
If you want my help on feeling a little more solid on the process of How to Give Yourself Permission to make your own decisions and take action you can grab my short audio course here.